In the middle of a snowy New York winter, my colleagues and I were able to navigate between storms and travel to Washington, DC and New Orleans, two of four cities in which we’ve established relationships with school districts for Cooper-Hewitt’s Smithsonian Design Institute (SDI), an intensive, five-day innovative professional development program offered each summer...
Two years ago, the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum closed for renovations and the opportunity opened up to explore a school-based program: Design in the Classroom. This free 45-minute, single visit workshop introduces K-12 students to design thinking. In short, design thinking is a term describing the way designers critically assess the "things" all around us....
We're proud to announce an innovative new program, Target® Design K-12: Design in the Classroom. This FREE design-based workshop comes to your classroom, and all K-12 teachers in New York City are eligible. The 45-minute session focuses on teamwork, brainstorming, and problem-solving. Led by a museum educator, the program includes a brief introduction of how...
Join Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum for a presentation and discussion on teaching graphic design with Ellen Lupton, Curator of Contemporary Design, graphic designer, educator, and author of several books on design including D.I.Y.: Design it Yourself, and D.I.Y. Kids. The presentation will offer strategies for explaining and teaching graphic design principles and ways to move...
Cooper-Hewitt’s education department hosts a conversation board for K-12 educators interested in bringing design-based learning into their classroom. The conversation board hosts links to articles and teachers around the country posting their thoughts. Below are a few highlights from this months postings. Take a look and join in. Educator Resource Center Conversation Board No Right...
Were you the kid doodling in the back of the classroom? During gym did you draw elaborate designs on your arm with a Bic pen while waiting to be picked for a team? If you are reading a design blog I would think you might have been one of those kids. In my previous post...
Cooper-Hewitt’s Summer Design Institute, a week-long series of lectures, workshops, and discussions for K-12 teachers focused on design-based learning, is in Minneapolis this week at the Walker Art Center. Cooper-Hewitt’s exhibition Design for the Other 90% is also on view in the Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden. Our friends at the Walker will be blogging...
An amazing group of teachers just spent the week at Cooper-Hewitt, participating in our on-going City of Neighborhoods program for educators. This year, the museum invited around forty teachers from New Orleans to take part in a week-long study of how design can work in the classroom, with a focus on exploring one’s local community....