‘Broke out the good ‘ol “Disruptus” box and moved kids through a quick cycle of combinatory innovation. Presentations had to point to what the original objects were, then who they designed for, why they needed it, and how it worked. Though light-hearted, the presentations were prefaced by asking students to treat themselves as professionals. That’s something we’ll always be working towards.
Here’s a student’s take on the day…
“What happened?
So today in class we picked up with our activity from the previous day which was our Disruptus picture combination. We sat together in our groups from the beginning of class and started to brainstorm and wrap up our combination ideas. After that, each group took turns presenting in front of the class and we all had a great laugh. For some examples, we had a group that combined a recycle bin and a submarine. Since they explained that they had access to military technology, they had a sensor placed in the recycle bin to detect for racoons trying to make an entrance. Once the motion sensor went off, the submarine would launch a missile and blow up everything in a 4 kilometer diameter. Not the greatest solution, but I guess it solved the problem. After every group presented we went over where we were on the road map and analysed the reason for this mini project.
So what?
This project, whether or not we all realised, challenged all of the students’ abilities to problem solve, and think creatively to find a way to combine their crazy objects, and find a solution to a problem they found. Also, for the new kids who have never had Mr. Heidt and are nervous in the class, they stepped up and presented in front of the class. Whether or not they said a lot, they’ll feel more comfortable going forward. I know it made me feel really scared when I was up there, but once it was over, I realised it wasn’t so bad.
Overall, the students’ ability to find solutions to many problems and think of ways to combine two completely different objects is representative of a piece of the innovator and entrepreneurial skillsets we are focussing on in class this year.
Next what?
Now that we have created a closer community of innovators, we can start to focus more on our opportunities and how we can change schools for the better. Hopefully, we can still work on building relationships in the future and having a great laugh. Keep on creating mantras to help boost our confidence and our ability to produce new innovative ideas. Overall, I look forward to what we do next in class, I truly never know which is why it is such an amazing experience to learn and think about the future of Innovation Lab.
-Cole C
Innovation Lab 