Learning from students by shadowing a student

When I return to school next week I will lead a second session on Design Thinking.
Last month we got to experience and overview of DT by playing the extraordinaires game. I thought it was a great way to experience the phases of design thinking. I also presented at our leadership meeting a road map to transforming a lesson connected to teaching in a 1:1enviroment. I’ve been thinking about how to connect the two elements and basically arrived at the process should start from a student perspective.

As I went to my go to PD, twitter I found the following post
http://www.gettingsmart.com/2018/02/shadow-a-student-reinventing-school/
A quick summary  “The global Shadow a Student Challenge (designed by School Retool, IDEO, and Stanford’s d.school) can be particularly helpful and enlightening as it provides methods (including a free toolkit) and a network. The Shadow a Student Challenge is a journey that starts with seeing school through a student’s eyes, identifying opportunities to improve the school experience for students, and then taking action to create change. The Shadow a Student website provides resources that help to ensure that the shadowing experience will be meaningful, including email templates and permission slips. There are tips for creating learning goals for the shadow day, choosing a student, and coordinating with the student, parents, and staff.” 

There is an open invitation to join the 2018 challenge, which will run from February 19th to March 2nd. Spread the word to your networks, and remember to share about your experience on Twitter and Instagram with #shadowastudent!

Should this challenge start with building leadership and department chairs? What an interesting way to start a conversation! Or maybe it’s a group option for my PLC/PLT next week!