Pick a sauce, any sauce.

I rewatched a video recently by  Malcolm Gladwell, author of several recent bestsellers that I would recommend (Outliers, Blink, and The Tipping Point).  Gladwell discusses the concept of individual customization and choice.  His discussion on the topic sheds light on what we should consider as we attempt to design work that is engaging, challenging, and meaningful for our students.    
    As we delve further into design, we must always remember that design begins with focusing on our individual students (or intended audience). This idea  of customization (or differentiation) is becoming deeply entrenched in every aspect of our students’ lives.  They customize their cell phones by adding ringtones, backgrounds, and varied apps to meet their needs.  Instead of buying an album or listening to the radio, they create a playlist of songs they want to listen to on their mp3 players.  Many of their parents pick and choose their news sources by using Google Reader to select the news that is pertinent to them.  Several of their older siblings are taking on-line classes and working on assignments at times more conducive to their needs.  However, when they come to school, choice often disappears and they are given a “one size fits all” curriculum in a form devoid of design.
    One idea that really made me think was Gladwell’s assertion that customers sometimes don’t know what they like and want.  No one, when asked years ago about their spaghetti sauce preference, said, “I’d like an extra chunky garden sauce.”   When applied to the classroom, this means we have to really know our students and ask deeper questions than, “What are your interests?” or “What type of work do you like to do?”   These questions, while possibly a step in the right direction, should not be only way we collect data before designing.  
    I am in no way saying that our students should have total control of their education. Giving 7 year olds free reign to choose their curriculum could lead to some lessons on topics of limited educational value.  However, it is essential to consider the student if our goal is to give them work they value and find meaningful.  We can’t order students to be engaged because it is of meaning to us.  
   How do we ensure that we are truly designing and customizing educational opportunities?  How do we balance students’ interests with their learning styles, needs and state curricular considerations? What things are we doing at Eastside to address this?
     

Failure and collaboration

      Here is a link to a video I watched this week. Pixar's Randy Nelson
     Since I was sent this video, I have watched it several times, getting a new piece of information each time.
Nelson's speech discusses many of the concepts we value as a system and a school.  One of the key components in our framework is protection from adverse consequences from initial failures.  This protection is important for both our students and our co-workers.  As we have discussed before, without the understanding that failures should be seen as learning opportunities, people will never venture outside their comfort zone.  Innovation can never occur where failure is feared. 
      Another idea that was meaningful to me was his idea of collaboration.  As we continue to focus on student work and begin to look at using protocols to discuss the work we design, this idea should be in the back of our minds.  When we work together, are we dividing up the work tasks to speed up our completion, or do we work together to make the finished product better?  Cooperation is not bad.  The assembly line revolutionized industry, and there are many times that dividing and conquering is necessary to do. However, that should not be the final goal when working together.  Innovation (often through collaboration) must always occur before the routine cooperation occurs.
      Is there anything else that stood out in the article?  What methods should we implement to ensure that students (and adults) feel comfortable venturing outside of their comfort zone?  If collaboration is meaningful, how do we guarantee that there is time for it to occur?