Chapter 7 - Navigating IdeasVideo From: John Spencer's Blog - "Brainstorming is Broken. Here's How You Can Fix It." http://www.spencerauthor.com/a-different-approach-to-brainstorming/ I appreciate the focus of chapter 7 and the depth of "Navigating Ideas." I often feel we don't spend enough time in the brainstorming/pre-writing/planning phases of writing, research, and projects. In many cases, students are expected to work through the writing process or complete a project in a limited time frame. We also emphasize completion rather than focusing on the importance of each stage of the process. In the Launch Cycle, Phase Four: Navigating Ideas emphasizes the value of providing students time to brainstorm, share and explore ideas, and plan before creating.
Spencer and Juliani outline a brainstorming process (shown in the video clip) with a focus on the power of independent and collaborative brainstorming. The time students spend in this phase can strengthen their interest and desire to dig deeper into an idea or topic. Steps 3-5 add a new level of engagement and critical thinking to the brainstorming phase: Step #3: Make connections to other students' ideas. Step #4: Add "bad ideas" to the consolidated list. Step #5: Combine unrelated ideas. These last three steps engage students even deeper in what Spencer and Juliani define as "Divergent Thinking - a process of seeing multiple options and viewing solutions in a different way." I love this idea of thinking outside of the box to include bad ideas and look for connections. This process makes it more comfortable for students to share their ideas with less fear of being "wrong!" It gives them the opportunity to toss around creative, odd, different thoughts. Different and crazy ideas are good! Spencer and Juliani explain that it's in these moments that often times solutions to problems or creative ideas arise. The brainstorming and collaborative process lead to great ideas! To connect to our focus on the 4 Cs, this process practices communication skills, collaborative learning, critical thinking, and creative thinking!
2 Comments
Laura
8/10/2017 11:07:59 am
When I first started teaching, I glossed over the brainstorming portion when planning a new unit. I only allowed a little bit of time for my students to generate ideas. This had a negative impact on the eventual learning and art products my students designed.
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Laura
8/10/2017 11:13:19 am
Extra thought.... I was visiting some grad schools in Pittsburgh yesterday with my younger sister. Of all the places we toured, the school that stood out to her was the smaller school that offered PBL instruction instead of the typical lecture based instruction. In her particular situation looking at doctorate programs in Physical Therapy, the PBL would involve collaboration from RN, OT, PA, and PT students to solve real world medical problems. All of the potential students on the tour got excited learning about this new format of learning. It was so neat to see PBL and this LAUNCH technique being utilized in a graduate level education settings!
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Crystal GrossmanI love... reading, learning, instructional planning, brainstorming, being creative, working with young adults, collaborating with teachers, teaching. I love my job. Archives
February 2018
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