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Empathize

Sympathy is looking down at someone stuck in a hole, empathy is jumping in there with them.
Artifact
Notes taken while observing Beckys sixth grade class (Green Team) for two days.
Artists Statement
In order to empathize with Beckys students, I went into their classroom on a Tuesday and
Thursday morning to observe what their class was like. Being in the classroom as Becky taught
helped me to put myself in the students seat and empathize with their learning process. This
process of observing to understand the user, in this case the students, is the empathizing stage.
Learning how they learn and how their class typically runs helped me to tailor my lesson to one
that would meet their needs. I also learned that the Green Team is strong in communicating
their thinking. After the observations, I discussed what I observed and any questions I may have
had with Sarah. Debriefing with Sarah helped me to take away more from the experience
than I would have had I not had a chance to discuss what I observed.

Define
Framing the right problem is the only way to create the right solution.

Artifact
Point-of-View Want Ad

Artists Statement
The define step includes synthesizing what we have learned about the user to create a
statement that explicitly states the problem, or what it is that we are trying to address. I used
what I learned about Beckys students while empathizing with them to create a want ad that
seeks a lesson that will fit their needs. I worked with my peers to identify what the students
strengths were and where they need more support. We identified these characteristics by
reading and interpreting the Pre-Assessment we designed for the Green Team. This step taught
me how to present what I learned, through empathizing with the students, in a concise manner.

Point-of-View Want Ad

Teacher seeks an engaging lesson that will be


accessible for all students.
Lesson must promote discussion, encourage further
exploration of statistics, and be challenging, yet help
students to be successful mathematicians.

Ideate
Artifact
Idea Board

Nothing is off limits.

Ideate
Nothing is off limits.

Artists Statement
I worked with Andrea, Rebecca, and Sarah, to brainstorm all of the different ideas that
came to mind when considering ideas for our lessons. We wrote our ideas on sticky notes and
organized the sticky notes on a poster board to create an idea board.
While creating the idea board, I learned the importance of brainstorming without
restrictions. When we allowed ourselves to brainstorm all of the different ideas and strategies
pertaining to our lessons, we ended up with an idea board filled with over 40 different ideas.
This is a crucial step in the Design Thinking process because it provides several ideas that have
the chance to be refined when prototyping.

Prototype
Artifact
3 Acts

Quick and cheap. Think minutes and cents

Act 1

Centers

Games

Bubble Maps/ Graphic


Organizers

Act 2

Act 3

Prototype
Quick and cheap. Think minutes and cents

Artifact
GREAT Lesson Plan Prototype

Prototype
Quick and cheap. Think minutes and cents

Artists Statement
I used what I learned about the students when empathizing with them, my POV statement
from the define step, and the different ideas that we brainstormed when ideating, to create a
lesson prototype. Using the ideas from our idea board, I used the 3 Acts model to attempt to
refine my lesson. This included my three ideas, what I would do with the ideas, and what they
would look like in the classroom. I used feedback from Becky, Dave, and my peers to adjust my
lesson. I also used what I observed during my first day teaching in Beckys class to adjust my
prototype. This step in the process taught me the importance of not getting too invested in one
idea. I believe the heart of prototyping is work smarter, not harder.

Test
Artifact

Prototype as if you know youre right, but test as if youre wrong.

How I Learned More in Sixth Grade Than I Did in College


Recently, I had the opportunity to teach three lessons to two different sixth grade classes. The lessons, designed by myself
and my peers, were developed using the Design Thinking process (see Blog Post 4). The lessons were aligned to the 6.SP
standards.
I wanted to compile a list of everything that I learned while teaching, but I have found that each time I reflect back on
the experience, I learn something new. In order to avoid one very long post, I decided to choose five of the big lessons
learned to discuss.
1. Make your "hook" meaningful.
I wanted to have students estimate how many pieces of candy were in a jar. I introduced this at the beginning of my
lesson as the "hook" or "attention grabber". Then, we were going to plot their estimations on a dot plot and analyze the
data. They were very excited about the candy, and thats great, but I wish I would have gotten them excited about the
math. Next time, I am thinking that we'll estimate paperclips in a jar.
2. Ask good, thought provoking questions.
There is great power in the questions teachers ask. A good question is one that elicits students' thinking, encourages
students to communicate their thinking, and allows for reflection on their thoughts and others (NCTM Principles to
Actions). Posing purposeful questions is critical when teaching all subjects. In mathematics, we can use our questions to
make the math visible to our students.
3. Lesson plans do not go as planned, and therefore should certainly be referred to as lesson prototypes.
I have been told in each education course that I have taken, that while youre teaching, youre consistently thinking on
your feet. Lesson plans are loosely followed because we can never be 100% prepared for what students may do or say. I
always thought there was quite a bit of exaggeration going on. After teaching just three lessons, I no longer believe they
were exaggerating. Of course, experience provides teachers with the evidence they need to make predictions as to
what students may do or say, but we can never be certain. Thinking of lessons as prototypes, as opposed to plans,
provides for more flexibility while teaching. Having two additional lesson prototypes ready to test, in the event that the
first one needs to be redesigned, makes thinking on your feet a bit easier.

4. Just when you start to think, Ive asked them to explain to me how they found the range one too many times,
theyve got this, youll find out that you can never stop asking for justification.
See Figure 1. Using the data in Figure 1, I asked a student what the range of the data was, and she told me it was
5. Correct! Next, I asked the same student how she found the range, and she said she took the 7 points at 6 and
subtracted the 2 points at 1. That is a convenient coincidence. One that would have led me to believe that she
understood what the range is and how to find it had I not asked her to explain her thinking to me. This leads me to my
next big lesson learned.
5. Be intentional about the numbers you use. Theyre powerful and can provide insight into student understanding.
I would love to say that I intentionally chose the numbers in the data in Figure 1 to lead us to the discussion mentioned
above. Unfortunately, I cannot say that. I can say, however, that I will be certain to do this in the future! It was a great
coincidence that led me to the student's misunderstanding.
Overarching all of the above "big ideas", is the idea of attending to precision. As teachers, we model mathematics for
our students. It is crucial that we communicate our ideas in a clear and precise manner. What do the numbers
represent? When a student says the mode is 6, ask them, 6 what? What is it that is under investigation?
I have had access to an incredible education at Grand Valley. I have had several admirable professors who have
provided me with what I need to be a successful mathematics teacher. We have simulated classroom experiences,
prepared lesson plans, taught our peers, read countless educational research articles, all of which has aided me in
becoming an effective teacher. As helpful as my college experience has been, nothing can compare to being in the
classroom and really teaching.

Test
Prototype as if you know youre right, but test as if youre wrong.
Artists Statement
Using the lesson prototypes created by myself and my peers, I had the privilege to
go into Beckys classroom and test our lesson prototypes for three days. Those three days were
the most meaningful experiences I have had in college. I collaborated with my peers in
creating the lesson prototypes. I collaborated with Dave, Becky, and Sarah in making
adjustments throughout the lesson. We used the design thinking process to create our lesson
prototypes and myself, Sarah, Jordan, and Chelsea tested the prototypes throughout the
week. We tested the prototypes by teaching the lessons and making adjustments as we went
along. The idea of testing is to give the user the prototype and use their interaction with it to
make changes to the prototype. I learned a great deal while teaching. The major ideas that
resonated with me are included in my blog post.
Ultimately, this artifact is reflective of the iterative nature of the Design Thinking process. I
learned the importance of using my observations to make revisions to my prototype. I learned
that using the observations made while testing, I was able to tailor my prototype to better fit the
users needs. In this situation, there were several revisions made on the spot while teaching.
Throughout teaching the lesson, I was empathizing with the students by trying to understand
their thinking. I then used what I observed to make changes to the next parts of the lesson, or
the next days lesson. This speaks of the iterative nature of the process.

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