Tips for Build

Refine Your Ideas! Make Them Awesome!

It’s time to move on to the Build phase, where we focus on a smaller subset of all-star ideas to refine. Here are some tips to help you build on ideas — whether your idea is moving forward in this Collaboration or you are taking ideas forward into your classroom or school!

1. Build to Think

It’s amazing how getting tangible helps you learn so much more about an idea’s potential. Instead of sitting around talking about the nuances of your ideas, start making them! There are lots of ways to “build to think”. Here are few examples:

• Create a Story — Tell the story of your idea from the future. Describe what the experience would be like. Describe the idea as if it were being published on your school’s website.
• Role Play — Act out the experience of your idea with your colleagues or even students.
• Storyboard — Visualize the complete experience of your idea over time through a series of images, sketches, or cartoons. Stick figures are allowed!
• Create a Diagram — Map out the structure of your idea. Show its journey or the process behind it.

2. There are no devil’s advocates in prototyping

We’ve all said it: “Just to play devil’s advocate…”. Sure, sometimes that kind of thinking can help you address blind spots. But in prototyping, it’s all about optimism. Instead of focusing on why an idea won’t work, figure out what could make it awesome! Imagine the possibilities rather than dwell on the limitations. Doing so will help you prototype and iterate faster.

3. Find a Friend (This Is Important!)

It’s a lot easier to make stuff awesome with a friend. At least that’s what we think. So, saddle up! The Guild community is about finding new friends who can show you the potential behind ideas. Don’t be shy! If you see an idea emerging in Build that you’re interested in — ask to join that team! Or — if you’re the leader behind a post, go out and build a team by identifying community members who can help push your idea forward.

4. Iterate, Iterate, Take a Nap, Iterate

Posting can feel “final” — but actually, it’s a process of constant revision. Show version updates by dating your post to let us know when the last revision was made! (We also encourage power naps.)

5. Have Some Fun, Will You?

We want to showcase teacher creativity and allow more opportunity for teacher-led innovation to influence the greater educational landscape. And — we want to have fun along the way. This is about pushing ourselves to try something new and learn with each other! So have a little fun. We find that Ryan Gosling memes go a long way.

With Love,

The Guild Team