I attended a Caring Counts meeting at Lil Lusher. The discussion turned to communication. The faculty discussed the school newsletter and website, tossing around ideas to enhance both. Since they were familiar with Design Thinking, I suggested I could have my class participate in a DT Challenge, and the issue would be the communication component of their school. They liked the idea, so I created the challenge as the final project for EDLA 2000 Education in a Diverse Society. Through discussions, we decided the class would present their ideas to the faculty of Lil Lusher at the end of the semester. I needed time to introduce DT to the students and allow them to practice the process before they began working on the real project.
After the mid-term, I introduced DT, and the next two weeks were devoted to the process and DT literature. I set up a tour of the school, so that the students could become familiar with Lusher. I wanted them to see how the school functions and have the opportunity to get to know the students and faculty. In the meantime, we were learning about SEL and discussing how Lusher is an Ashoka Changemaker School. It was also important for the students to understand the role of SEL at Lusher.
