Visualization Tool

Challenge

I’m the Program Director for a non-profit that works to bring hands-on educational experience in  food and entrepreneurship to under-resourced youth. Our programming takes places at local  schools and community centers, typically after school. One of my primary roles is to train and  mentor 15 classroom facilitators in their planning and execution of high-quality programming  with 19 different cohorts of students. Given the nature of our work, there is significant variability  between cohorts. Some cohorts contain mostly middle-school students, others contain high- school students. Some cohorts have 5 students, other cohorts have 25 students. Some cohorts  have consistent attendance, others are shakier.

Given the variability, it can be difficult to train our facilitators on implementing the curriculum  in a consistent way. What looks good on paper often doesn’t play out as intended. For example, a  lesson planned with 15 students in mind might not offer enough hands-on opportunities for a  class with 25. This creates boredom, which in turn leads to rowdy, disruptive students. Or maybe  one smaller cohort has 3 particularly disruptive students

Selection & Application

In the effort to improve lesson planning, I selected the visualization tool. As mentioned in  Module 1, visualization uses images and visual thinking as ways of dealing with complex  problems. I chose visualization because I thought it would help our facilitators tailor their lesson  plans to the specifics of their classroom. I introduced the tool during our weekly classroom  facilitator meeting. We typically use this 2-hour session to both discuss issues that have come up  in the past week and train classroom facilitators on new tools and lesson plans.

During the session, I modeled the visualization tool. With input from the audience, I sketched out  an example classroom with 20 students, 10 working tables, and a build-a-smoothie lesson plan. I  sketched out the tables, the produce washing station, the starting location of ingredients and  supplies, the location of each student, etc. Using this technique, we were able to envision the  flow of students through space and time and ensure that each student was engaged with a hands- on activity.

I then asked facilitators to pair up with their co-leads and use the visualization tool to plan their  lessons for the following week. Given the aforementioned variability, each cohort is at a different  point in the curriculum schedule, so facilitator pairs were planning a variety of different lessons.  I circulated the room and made myself available as facilitators were excitedly mapping out the  specific details of their classrooms, expected student counts, spatial flow, and lesson plans. After  an hour, we reconvened and discussed the experience. Facilitators reported a rejuvenated level of  confidence in their abilities to execute an excellent lesson and foresee potential issues.

Insight & Approach

The following week, we reconvened for our weekly classroom facilitator meeting. There was a  certain buzz and excitement in the room as facilitators cited the helpfulness of the visualization  tool in their execution of successful sessions. There were fewer incidents of student disruption  and boredom. Sessions flowed more smoothly, and students were more engaged. There was even  a report of a specific disruptive student who was proactively engaged with a leading hands-on  activity and consequentially thrived.

Upon reflection, I believe the visualization tool allowed facilitators to breathe life into the lesson  plan and get a quick practice round in with minimal effort. There are a variety of subtle details  that affect classroom management, and the tool allowed our facilitators to better anticipate and  plan for those details. This experience made me realize the importance of embracing real-world  variability. Rather than shy away variability and pretend our written plans ever function as  intended, we must lean into and actively manage the real-world complexity. Visualization and  other Design Thinking techniques are part of the toolkit and journey to embrace real-world  complexity and to quickly pilot and experiment.

In the future, I will ask facilitators to use the visualization tool during all lesson planning.  Because Design Thinking is an iterative process, I intend to continue monitoring its  effectiveness, best practices, and unintended consequences. I also intend to use the Learning  Launch tool to test and roll out brand new lessons. I’ll start by role playing the new lesson with  just our facilitators. I’ll play the facilitator, and facilitators will play the students. From there, I’ll  ask a few facilitators to experiment with the lesson in their classrooms. We’ll collect feedback,  document issues and successes, and incorporate the learnings into our living, breathing  curriculum. I’m excited to see what the future holds. I believe these tools will have an invaluable  and lasting impact on the quality and effectiveness of our programming.

