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on September 26, 2011
Katie Koch & Carmen Dukes
Posted project update #8Back to School; Around the World!
Post CommentHello Kickstarter friends!
We've had a busy summer leading workshops on the High Line and in the classroom at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. But this fall we're getting back to the project we love most: Project: Interaction.
We'll be teaching once again at the Urban Assembly Institute of Math & Science for Young Women in Brooklyn, NY. We're updating our class to include a community service project where our students will be able to work with a local organization through design.
We're on the move! We're headed to Philadelphia for the Design in Action 2011 Conference. We'll be speaking on a panel about the unique collaborators (that's you guys!) that made our project a success.
In November we're heading East to Hong Kong for the International Conference on Interaction Design where we'll present a paper we co-authored about the potential for design education alongside STEM initiatives.
That's it for now! We're excited to hear what you all are up to. Thank you all again for making our project possible. We are so lucky to have a great community of support here on Kickstarter!
More Information
2011 Design in Action Conference
International Conference on Interaction Design -
on November 28, 2010
Katie Koch & Carmen Dukes
Posted project update #7Heading Toward the Finish Line of Lap 1
This Wednesday is our second to last class at the Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women. It’s been a tremendous learning experience for us and our students.
Our top ten moments from this semester:
10. As newbie teachers, we were extremely grateful for the support we received from the UAI administration and Girl’s Inc. Offering great advice about teaching high school students, we entered each class with confidence in our leadership abilities and design expertise.
9. Using Moleskine sketchbooks and post-its to record their thoughts, we saw how creativity empowers students to share their ideas as well as support their fellow classmates.
8. In week 6 we learned about the effects post-Halloween candy binging has on high school girls. After an hour and a half of saying “Shh!” and “Please, no talking!” we were finally broken. Luckily we had a whole week off before coming back and starting anew, with a seriously heightened respect for teachers who do this every day.
7. We were amazed in our first week of teaching when all of our students could name off the components of feedback from the MTA turnstiles.
6. When we asked our students to share a problem they know about in the world we got this response: “Dude. I just found out that people are like, getting sued, for sharing information. Like Google buzz and stuff. What’s up with that?!”
5. On our Observation field trip in week 3 one of our students got an unexpected lecture from a Jane Jacobs-ian architect who told her about the horrors of restrictive urban planning.
4. Never content to do all the work themselves, our girls often ask that we participate in activities with them, including our class about bodystorming – they made us act out our own scene, with Carmen pretending to be a little old lady.
3. In response to design strategist Rachel Abrams’ story about her career path, a couple of our students took some amazing sketch-notes! Magic does happen when you give free reign to teenage girls armed with a marker and sticky notes.
2. After leaving R/GA one of our students turned to me and said, “Oh my gosh! I could make a sketch of how I want my video to be before I actually start making it. That would really save me a lot of wasted time.” Light bulb. On!
1. During our class with Transportation Alternatives, in response to a few of our skeptical students who questioned the effectiveness of redesigning city streets to accommodate bicycles and pedestrians, one student remarked: “It’s about the bigger picture.”
Read the all of the class recaps over on our blog:
http://projectinteraction.org/category/teaching/
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on October 14, 2010Funded!
Project: Interaction – We teach design! by Katie Koch & Carmen Dukes
Project: Interaction is a 10 week after school program that teaches high schoolers to change their communities using design.
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111% funded $8,386 pledged
- 125 backers
- Funded Oct 14, 2010
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on October 13, 2010
Katie Koch & Carmen Dukes
Posted project update #615 Hours Left!!
Post CommentHi everyone,
We made it!! We're in the last few hours of our project. Thank you all so much for helping us exceed our goal. We can't wait to share the great news with our schools and start getting additional programs set up in the spring time.
We had an incredible weekend at the Re:Form School, meeting a lot of new friends, and seeing some old ones too. Thanks to everyone who came out to support Re:Form School and our project!! With everyone's help we created a wall of Post-It note art in response to our inquiry: "What do the words Invent Design Change mean to you?" We got some pretty awesome sketches, with some people sitting for quite awhile contemplating the question we posed!
We still have about 15 hours to raise funds for the project. If you know of anyone who might like to help us with the purchase of supplies, including books, sketchbooks, pens, papers, pencils, post-its and more, please share our project with them!
We're looking forward to meeting many of you in the coming months as our project grows.
THANKS!!!
Katie & Carmen -
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on October 9, 2010
Katie Koch & Carmen Dukes
Posted project update #5We made it!!!
Post CommentThank you all for helping us surpass our fundraising goal, with 4 days to spare!
If you're in NYC we can't wait to meet you at our event tomorrow at 3pm at Re:Form School called "Invent Design Change!" Come help us create post-it note art, meet other design-minded folks, and record your own story about how you learned about design. Woohoo!
Details: http://projectinteraction.org/2010/10/07/invent-design-change/
See you soon and have a fantastic weekend!
Katie & Carmen
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on October 7, 2010
Katie Koch & Carmen Dukes
Posted project update #4Please join us Sunday!
Post CommentWe have only 6 days left to meet our fundraising goal, and we're getting close!
In the last three weeks we’ve brought together an online community of people who are passionate about design education. Now we’re inviting our online community to join us offline for an event this weekend to celebrate arts and design in education.
We’re teaming up with Re:Form School, a REDU project that has transformed an abandoned school into a gallery of art for the enjoyment of all.
If you're in NY, please join us!
- Record your own story answering “How did you first learn about design?”
- Contribute your ideas and sketches to our giant wall of sticky note art!
- Meet other awesome people who love art, design and education!Invent Design Change!
Sunday, October 10, 3pm-6pm
Re:Form School
233 Mott St. (at Prince)Check out the other things we've been up to on our blog:
How did you first learn about design? - See the answers to this question from a few of our favorite designers, and send us your story!
Greetings from Rhode Island - Read about our weekend at the Better World by Design conference in Providence
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on October 4, 2010
Katie Koch & Carmen Dukes
Posted project update #3Rhode Island, Inspiration, and BRAINSTORMING!!!
Post CommentCarmen and I just got back from an exciting weekend in Rhode Island for the Better World by Design conference. We met a ton of new friends who were excited to hear about the project, and took away a lot of nuggets of advice for designers interested in doing social good.
All the details are on our blog: http://bit.ly/bkFM1l
This week we're teaching a lesson on brainstorming! What an awesome way to spend our second class. We learned a lot from the guys at Project M this weekend in Rhode Island, and Carmen is planning an activity inspired by Dave Gray's book, Gamestorming.
Do you have any suggestions for fun ways to get kids thinking BIG in a short amount of time?
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on September 28, 2010
Katie Koch & Carmen Dukes
Posted project update #2Our First Class is Tomorrow!
Hello friends!
We're halfway through our Kickstarter timeline! We have 15 days left to make our funding goal, and a big push ahead of us.
I'm feeling a range of emotions as we prepare for our first class tomorrow. Most of what I'm feeling is excitement; everything will change when we set foot into our classroom. Suddenly we'll have fifteen other people counting on us every week to show them something new, to help them when they're stuck, and to inspire them.
I'm also feeling a little nervous. That's a big job! We've done everything we can to prepare, but there's an infinite number of possibilities for unexpected brilliance (or disaster!) when we catalyze our ideas with the minds of high school girls.
I received great advice from a teacher yesterday who told me a secret he's learned over the years: in the end, you might be going for only a few kids each week. It's likely that our whole class won't be 110% dedicated and enthusiastic like we are, but if we can keep going each week just for a few passionate students then it's entirely worth it.
I posted a link and solicited feedback from my Facebook friends, many of whom are current or former teachers. Their comments are below, including my cousin's note, which recommended we drink heavily to get through class. What's your advice to us as we head into our first class tomorrow?
Thank you all so much for the support you've already given us. Please share our project with anyone you can!
Katie
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Page Remmers on September 29, 2010
As Marsha said they are there by choice, so you do not need to come down hard on them. Be your self, and show your genuine care for them and design. I run an after school art program for middle schoolers, and this has worked for me from start to finish of each program year. You are about to start amazing adventure! Enjoy!
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on September 22, 2010
Katie Koch & Carmen Dukes
Posted project update #1The Gift of Sketchbooks
Post CommentHello!
We are a little over a week into our fundraising campaign with 27% funded and 21 days to go. Thanks again to all of our friends (new and old) who are supporting design education in high school by donating or helping us spread the word. We are extremely humbled by all the support!
Our first class is next Wednesday, September 29th and one of the most important things that we will give to our new students on that day is their very own Moleskine sketchbook. We're expecting some funny looks when we hand them out, especially to a group of math and science whizzes, but that's the exciting part about teaching Project: Interaction - we're introducing a new way of thinking. Sketching is a great way to observe the world, brainstorm, and write out ideas. We expect our 9th and 10th graders won't be able to put their sketchbooks down once they experience it for themselves!!
My first sketchbook as a kid wasn't a book at all, it was reams of recycled computer paper that my mom would bring home from work. I would sit on the floor with my younger sisters for hours drawing pictures of dinosaurs and cheetahs (my favorite animal back then), ladybugs and butterflies, and whatever my little sisters challenged me to draw. I remember how fun it was to have the freedom to express my ideas and stretch my imagination simply by using pencils, pens, crayons, markers and paper.
I'm looking forward to extending that gift to our students.
We appreciate your continuing support by sharing our project with everyone who might be interested in helping!
We have a couple new posts on our blog, with more interviews and design bites to come:
“Get things out of your head and into someone else’s.”
Don't Share
We Have Buttons!Cheers!
Carmen -
on September 14, 2010
Katie Koch & Carmen Dukes launched a project
Project: Interaction – We teach design! by Katie Koch & Carmen Dukes
Project: Interaction is a 10 week after school program that teaches high schoolers to change their communities using design.
- $7,500 funding goal
- 10/14/2010 Funding Ended
Katie Koch & Carmen Dukes
New York, NY
Last fall, prominent interaction designer Kim Goodwin spoke to an eager audience of new students at the School of Visual Arts about the importance of education in preparing new practitioners to join the growing and still maturing field of Inte... view more
What a cool program! Excited to hear about the successes...great inspiration indeed. :)