The Creative Spirt of Design- Students as Designers

This week in class, we made commercials!  Working in a group of 3, we brainstormed, story boarded and then filmed a commercial promoting the Doodles program.  We needed to synthesis all six design principles in a creative, fun and engaging way.  It was great to create with my fellow students and experience the principle of " Students as designers" firsthand.

As always, it prompted questions in my mind...

How can I allow my students to fully create and not get in the way too much?

How can I allow them to use their imagination and naturally creative spirit and express it in a meaningful way?


Priscilla let us know that she intentionally chose the camera that we used for our filming project.  This camera didn't allow editing and had some limitations that kept the focus on the content, not on the bells and whistles of some other cameras.  She explained that she used affordance analysis to reach the conclusion of which camera fit our goals the best.

I'm learning more and more about the delicate balance between setting limits and being more flexible in my students' design expression.

For example, a recent lesson in my music class involved creating your own body percussion.

 First we brainstormed potential body percussion movements:  snap, shoulder tap, clap, etc...
Then I let them know they could choose one of four rhythms....(two measures of four quarter notes, etc...)
Then I put them in groups of 4 and they had to create their own body percussion and it worked very well.

I think if I had just said " make up your own body percussion " without giving them the parameters, it would've been a mess.

The desired goal in this lesson was incorporating body percussion and rhythm, and creating their own so they could internalize it and know it well enough to teach it to others.

This design principle makes us think of many conversations I've had with people who tell me they're not creative.  I always disagree with them and say that everyone is creative.  I know what they mean; they're saying that they're not a painter, or a singer, or crafty, etc.

But if you think about it, everyone creates every day.  The physical therapist creates the plan for better health and wellness.  The web developer creates more efficient websites for companies.  You get the idea.  Some of our creative outlets are more obvious than others, but I think if you go through life not seeing yourself as a creator, or not attempting to express yourself in this way, than you're missing the mark.

It's exciting to think that we, as teachers, can inspire and motivate students to be their true, authentic, creative, designer selves.

I'm excited to have the opportunity to design lessons that fit the instructional goal with the creative spirit of design in students.  I hope that just a few of these lessons stay with them for a long time to come.