Students develop flexible thinking skills and apply learning to their daily lives. They make sense of facts and build relationships across school subjects. They become skilled at presenting information in a variety of ways, and learn to work in teams. They hold equal responsibility for assessment with their teacher, and the criteria for success are shared and made public. The use of design in K-12 classrooms transforms teachers as well as the student.
Teachers shift from authority to facilitator.
I can follow their progress in conversations and journals, and move in to assist in developing understanding or to help with a momentary frustration when the opportunity arises. In that way, I don't teach 'beyond' them. I can guide with questions, gestures, musings, and modeling, without the demands of direct telling. She was a very quiet, introspective student with large gaps in language skills. She experienced a great deal of difficulty ex- pressing her ideas in written or verbal form.