How to Use Design Sprints, PBL, and Genius Hour to Get Kids Making
When John Spencer and I wrote Launch, we specifically set out to write a book that could support all kinds of creative learning in classrooms. We realized that this work is not easy, it is often difficult to do in our current environments, but it was worth it. Here’s how we put it in the opening chapter:
You’ve seen the changes around us. Many successful people in this world are self-starters. They build solutions, problem-solve on the fly, and make products that serve thousands and millions of people. They are creative. And their creativity helps them navigate new technology, new problems, and new environments. Their creativity gives them the tool set to succeed in a world where there is no proven path, and no guarantee that anything will stay the same.
This is why so many people have pushed for more creative classrooms. It’s why videos about creativity in education go viral. It’s why the Maker Movement has filled schools and classrooms around the world, inspiring young minds to build, tinker, and play.
Yet, as a classroom teacher or school leader, we know this not as easy as snapping your fingers and saying, “Waala! Let’s put creativity back into our schools!”
When we talk with teachers around the world about creativity here’s what we hear:
“Yes I want my students to be creative, but I don’t have enough materials. Do you know how much that technology and maker equipment cost? My school doesn’t have the funds for that!”
“How are we supposed to be doing creative work when following a scripted curriculum. It seems impossible to cover all the standards and prepare my students for these assessments, let alone give them TIME to create and make.”
“I see all of these examples of creative work students are doing on Twitter, and blogs, and education conferences--but I don’t know how to actually pull that off in my classroom. I’ve never been trained on these methods and it seems hard to make it all work smoothly.”
“I’ve done creative projects and innovative learning in my classroom before, and I’ve gotten in trouble for it. I’ve had parents saying I’m not teaching. I’ve had principals say my classroom was a mess. I don’t have the support and permission from my school to do this type of creative work.”
“I know that my students should be doing project-based learning, making, and creating--but I’m just not that creative of a person. I’m a good teacher, but I don’t think I can keep coming up with all kinds of creative ideas for my students.”
“My students are too young.”
“I don’t know if that would work in my subject area.”
And we want to say it loud and clear: We hear you!
The problem is that almost everything you’ve heard about creativity in our schools is wrong. These myths about creativity that pop up in business books, TED talks, and the evening news all make it seem like something unattainable unless you have a big breakthrough idea and are letting students free to create at all times.
This book is written to let you in on a little secret. One that we don’t want to be kept hidden anymore.
Everyone is creative.
It’s time we stop listening to the myths and giving in to the barriers that are keeping us and our students from unleashing our creative minds. We are going to do this together, and fight back against the idea that creative work is only for the few and gifted.
It’s for all of us.
Three Ways to Get Your Students Creating and Making For An Authentic Audience Right Now
If we can agree that creativity is for all of us, then how can we bring it back into our classrooms, while still covering the curriculum, and hitting standards in our lessons, activities, and assessments?
Enter Design sprints, Project-based learning, and Genius Hour.
I’ve seen hundreds of teachers use these three to get kids making and creating in ways that lead to deeper learning and true engagement.
Are these the only three ways? Of course not!
However, each has a distinct use and purpose in the classroom.
Let’s break it down.
#1: Design Sprints
One of my favorite ways to boost creative output, collaboration, and problem-solving is using Design Sprints.
Now you may be asking the questions I get a lot at workshops: What is the difference between Design Thinking and Design Sprints?
I love these two charts by Martin Backes to break down the differences:
Design Sprints use many of the same processes and approaches as Design Thinking, just in a very short and contained time frame.
Typically we use the Double-Diamond approach to running open-ended Design Sprints in the classroom. What this allows is any grade level and any subject area to start solving problems, and creating solutions to those problems in a very short and directed sprint. In the simplest terms here is how it works:
Learners in the room have sticky notes in front of them. They are asked to write down as many problems about ______ _(whatever you are working) on the sticky notes (one per note). 5-7 minutes.
They all place their sticky notes up on the wall or board. Then learners walk around with 3-5 little dot stickers and place the stickers on the problems that they believe are the most important for what they are working on right now. 5 minutes.
The facilitator organizes the sticky notes and puts the top 1-3 notes with the most stickers on the board written out for all to see. 3 minutes.
At this time you’ve selected your most important problems as a group. Now you work to rephrase the problems as “How might we…” statements. For example, if a problem is “No one recycles in our school”, you could rephrase that as “How might we get more people recycling on a regular basis”. You can create the “How might we” statements individually first or just as a group. 5-7 minutes.
Once again learners have sticky notes in front of them. This time they write down as many solutions as they can to the problems and how might we statements. They place these on the board or wall once they are done. 5-7 minutes.
Now learners walk around with 3-5 little dot stickers and place the stickers on the solutions that they believe are the most doable and appropriate for the problems selected. 5 minutes.
The facilitator organizes the sticky notes and puts the top 1-3 notes with the most stickers on the board written out for all to see. 3 minutes.
You’ve now selected your solutions to work on and create a prototype. You can do this as a group, can split up into teams, or work on them individually first!
The entire process took less than a class period and everyone had a voice and choice. You now have gone from lots of problems and all kinds of potential solutions to 1-2 problems and 1-2 solutions to work on!
#2: Project-Based Learning
When teachers ask me about my PBL experiences, they’ll quickly ask three questions over and over again:
How did you find the time?
What about the curriculum?
How did you assess it and make sure students were understanding content/concepts etc?
In reality, this is just one question, that I can phrase in a quick sentence:
How did you do PBL given the current constraints as a teacher in our educational system?
The issue is that we all have constraints. Are we supposed to as teachers and leaders NOT do Project Based Learning because we don’t have enough time…or can we start within the time we are given?
This isn’t a case of all or nothing.
I think teacher and author, Joy Kirr, put it perfectly in this comment:
I cannot redesign my entire school like I know you dream of. I am one teacher. I can, however, with the blessings of my administration, give 60 minutes of my week over to the students. It is TOO LITTLE time, I know. And I can’t make sure each project will change the world. But it is a start. And the lessons we all learn during this time seep into the other four hours I have with these students throughout the week, thank goodness. I don’t have numbers to show student progress. But I’m trying to create life-long learners. How do you measure that?
Project-based learning experiences give students opportunities that they would never have in school otherwise. To ME that is enough. It is enough to try this type of learning with your students. It is enough to take a risk and go beyond the curriculum.
I’d ask anyone who is criticizing PBL in the classroom to talk to the teachers and students who have had this opportunity. I’d ask them to look at what students are creating, making, and building during this time. I’d ask them to talk to the parents about their students’ attitude towards learning.
I’ve heard from so many colleagues and teachers around the country (and world) who have said this time has changed their teaching and the way they view learning.
I give two answers to the question above:
Try it for a day and see what happens. Start small and build from there.
Teach through the project, instead of using the project as an “end-of-unit” assessment that takes more time than a multiple choice test. When kids learn during the project, the time constraint goes away.
Want to see what it looks like in your grade level or subject area? Check out these three articles:
When I jumped into Project Based Learning I started to see articles, journal reviews, and videos of teachers around the world who had seen their students achieve at high levels when moving from a traditional teaching approach to a PBL approach.
When Edutopia came out with this overview of the research around PBL I nodded my head at the results:
Studies comparing learning outcomes for students taught via project-based learning versus traditional instruction show that when implemented well, PBL increases long-term retention of content, helps students perform as well as or better than traditional learners in high-stakes tests, improves problem-solving and collaboration skills, and improves students’ attitudes towards learning (Strobel & van Barneveld, 2009; Walker & Leary, 2009). PBL can also provide an effective model for whole-school reform (National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform, 2004; Newmann & Wehlage, 1995).
A 2016 MDRC/Lucas Education Research literature review found that the design principles most commonly used in PBL align well with the goals of preparing students for deeper learning, higher-level thinking skills, and intra/interpersonal skills (Condliffe et al., 2016).
No longer could the argument be about how well (or poorly) students would do on standardized assessments. The research was clear. When PBL was implemented well, students thrived in traditional tests and in a wide variety of soft-skills that are crucial to development and success beyond school.
The Buck Institute for Education also put out a research summary on PBL and 21st Century competencies that states, “Project Based Learning has been shown to yield a number of benefits for students, ranging from deeper learning of academic content to stronger motivation to learn. Looking specifically at how PBL supports 21st century learning goals, we can find several promising areas, including:
Academic Achievement
21st Century Competencies
Equity
Motivation
Teacher Satisfaction
I urge you to dive into this research more here on the BIE website if you have any doubts.
If you asked any teacher, administrator, parent, school board member, student, or community member to list their top goals for an academic program, you would see achievement, 21st century competencies, equity, and motivation all at the top.
Project-based learning is shown to work in all kinds of schools, in all different grade levels, with students of varying backgrounds and abilities.
#3: Genius Hour
If you haven’t heard of Genius Hour or 20% time in the classroom, the premise is simple: Give your students 20% of their class time (or an hour each week) to learn what they want. These projects allow students to choose the content and still acquire/master skills and hit academic starts.
I’ve written extensively about Genius Hour and 20% Time, but wanted to share a list of the 10 reasons you should consider Genius Hour in your classroom (for those of you on the fence) and why you will not regret making that choice!
1. You will join a great community of learners
When I first did the Genius Hour project with my students I didn’t have a community of teachers or learners. Within months that changed as a number of great teachers before and after me started to share their stories online. The largest active group is the Genius Hour teachers (inspired by Daniel Pink) who have #geniushour chats, a big resource at GeniusHour.com, and a great Joy Kirr Livebinder. Get involved and see what others have done!
2. You will allow students to go into depth with a topic that inspires them
One of the major issues we face in schools today is covering a wide breadth of information, instead of allowing students to get a real depth of knowledge. Students using Genius Hour and 20% time are able to delve into subject matter that means something to them, often times taking their free time at home to learn more. Isn’t this something we should be promoting at all levels?
3. There is so much positive peer pressure
When students in my school have their Shark Tank pitch day, they get to share with the entire class what they are working on. Publicly announcing what they are trying to accomplish makes the goal real. Students get to see what their peers are working on and want to make sure their project stands up to the rest of the class. Regardless of a grade being attached to the project, this makes for students going the extra mile.
4. It relieves students of the “game of school”
Too often our students complete assignments for the grade. They go through the motions to receive an external pat on the back (or bump on their transcript). Genius Hour and 20% time take away the “game of school” and brings back the love of learning for learning’s sake.
5. It’s fun!
Randy Pausch famously said, “If you think you can’t learn and have fun at the same time. Then I don’t think you have a good understanding of either.”Without a doubt it is the best time of the week. Student feedback is not only positive, but also transparent. This work often carries back to their homes where parents/guardians share their passion for learning beyond the school walls.
6. Your class will be covering all types of common core standards
It doesn’t matter if you teach elementary, middle, or high school. The Genius hour and 20% time projects cover multiple common cores standards. We’ve had teachers propose this type of learning to their administration backed by awesome research. Remember, the community will help if you are fighting a battle to get Genius Hour or 20% time started at your school.
7. It’s differentiation at its best
Students are working at their level, and as teachers we should be helping to challenge each one of our learners at their best pace and ability. Because each project differs, students are not bogged down by following the same steps as their classmates. The entire class is learning, but it is truly differentiated.
8. You learn by what you do, not by what you hear
Experiential and challenge based learning puts the mastery back into the student’s hands. We provide guidance and pushes along the way, but they are the ones “doing” and “making”. Confucius put it perfectly: “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” Let your students make and they will understand and thank you for the opportunity.
9. It is a perfect way to model life-long learning
I did Genius Hour with my students and took it upon myself to learn how to code and make an app from scratch. I failed to make that app. But my experience learning how to program left me with a whole new perspective, and was a teachable moment about what we call failure. There is no real way to fail a project in which “learning” is the end-goal.
10. Your students will never forget what it felt like to create
Have you seen Caine’s arcade? It started out as a little idea and now Caine has inspired hundreds of other kids his age to create something unique. When you create a product, it becomes part of who you are, and there is a “care” involved that we just never see with multiple-choice tests. What would you want for your child?
This is the most important time to be in education. It is the most important time to care about education. It is the most important time to impact a different type of education.
Now, more than any other time in the past 100 years, education seems on the verge of a paradigm shift. You see, for the past century, most of the educational change has been doing old things in new ways. Today, we are beginning to see educators, educational institutions and educational companies do new things in new ways.
My challenge to you as a teacher is to allow your students the choice to learn what they want. That’s what Genius Hour and 20% time is all about, and that is why it is so successful.
