This week we looked at our storyboards together and those of the students from LCC. Seeing the kids and their Idas were wonderful, but I felt the method we used to communicate could be improved. Some would talk so softly that we could not hear their ideas, others had stories that we wanted more detail from and gaining their attention to ask questions was nearly impossible. There seemed to be a miscommunication in the themes that we wanted within the stories – pollution, plastic, conservation – as many were simply stories of superheroes who overcame obsticals. I feel a little uneasy about the time we have to colloborate and come up with three project ideas by next week. It seems like a daunting task to further turn these stories into digital manifestations of AR/VR. However, I am hopeful and excited for the project ideas to come together despite my reservations. Next week we will be in the classroom with the kids, and I am curious how physical presence will affect our dynamic.

I had a wonderful time working with the LCCS students! I was paired with a lovely team of three young ladies who each had their own environmental passions – my team was mostly concerned with the problems surrounding plastics. Especially the plastic bags that they see people using at their local stores. I learned that there is a tricky balance between support and guidance. Somewhere along the way we got stuck in an idea that did not grow. I found myself throwing out a suggestion to spur more ideas and it seemed the children would work narrowly within that idea. I must find a way to become better at collaborating – to truly create along side the LCCS students without the pressure/authority of a typical teacher-student dynamic. 

This week we are going to visit the middle schoolers – I’m extremely excited and inspired by the different links found on the syllabus. Particularly the ones about K-12 schools adapting design thinking educational methods. I was rarely given the opprotunity to problem solve outside of the textbook, or apply what I learned to real world problems during my earlier education. It gives me great hope that children today – the future of tomorrow – are learning how to work in teams, critically think, and value the process over the outcome. These children have expressed some massive ideas about the things they would change in this world – such as inequality, gun control, environmental concerns, and world-wide respect and empathy. I’m looking forward to engaging and brain storming with the kids using the design thinking methods I have learned at my time at Parsons.