2026 MDC Lakeshore Elementary Winter Academy Template PBL JOURNEY by

REFLECTION

futureprepd2 — 2025-10-22 14:21:12 UTC

I couldn’t be more happy with this academy group! The students worked well together, took lots of time to reflect and make their ideas better, and produced amazing solutions! I loved the business connections that we made, and the excitement that came from the students! -- Mrs. Alston

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this group of smart, inquisitive, enthusiastic learners! It was a joy to see their creativity and passion come through in their innovative designs. -- Mrs. Barnes

QUOTES

futureprepd2 — 2025-10-22 14:21:12 UTC

"My favorite thing was coming up with ideas and talking to others." -- Maya

"I loved when we did the scavenger hunt!" -- Evelyn

"My favorite part of Academy was our field trip to the CTC." --Ryne

"I liked Crazy Eights." -- Molly

"My favorite part of Academy was definitely the protocols, especially Chalk Talk." -- Oakley

"My favorite part about Academy was when we came up with our ideas." -- Elliot

Business Connections

futureprepd2 — 2025-10-22 14:21:12 UTC

We met with three local engineers and the Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction at West Ottawa Schools. Two of the engineers work in the furniture industry. We interviewed them at one of our sessions and got some great ideas! We also looked at Henry Ford Museum's website and pictures of their furniture exhibits to see how furniture has changed over time. A parent is a member at that museum and shared this with us.

Team Photo

futureprepd2 — 2025-10-22 14:21:12 UTC

Our Driving Question

futureprepd2 — 2025-10-22 14:21:12 UTC

What if we could design the next great furniture idea—one that helps people, solves problems, and/or works in all kinds of environments?

futureprepd2 — 2025-10-22 14:21:12 UTC

Entry Event

2025-11-11 15:54:24 UTC

We had students complete a furniture scavenger hunt around the school. Here are the directions:

How does furniture help people learn, move, and feel comfortable in different spaces?

As you explore, look for each type of furniture around the school. Check it off when you find it, and write how it helps the people who use it.

After finding and checking off each type of furniture, students received the codes to the locks, and the Driving Question was inside the box.

Creative DNA

2025-11-11 16:03:17 UTC

To learn about everyone's strengths, we did Creative DNA. Students shared which strengths they most idntified with, and we compiled a list of students for each category.

Hopes, Fears, Norms

2025-11-11 16:03:27 UTC

We shared our hopes and fears about our Academy experience and came up with a list of norms to help us achieve our goals.

Interview Questions

2025-11-11 16:04:13 UTC

We watched a slideshow about how to write effective interview questions, and then, individually, wrote our own questions to ask our interview panel in the next session.

Finger Scale Check In - Day 2

2025-11-11 16:04:34 UTC

At the end of session two, we asked students to show on their fingers how they were feeling about the project so far. We had lots of threes!

Interviews

2025-11-11 16:05:11 UTC

We interviewed three professional engineers and an elementary curriculum superintendent. We asked questions to help us begin to generate solutions.

Stakeholder Map

2025-11-19 18:44:51 UTC

After the interview, we brainstormed people who are affected by our driving question.

Empathy Maps

2025-11-19 18:44:59 UTC

Each group of four took one person from our Stakeholder map and completed an Empathy Map.

Chalk Talk

2025-11-19 18:45:12 UTC

Based on what we learned from our interview, we wrote four questions on separate pieces of chart paper and placed them around the room. Students responded to each question without speaking. They could also "star" other people's ideas and/or draw lines to connect similar ideas on the chart paper. The questions were:

What type of environment do you see the most need for new furniture?
What is the most important thing to think about when designing new furniture?
WHO would benefit the most from new furniture?
What are some innovative features that could be added to a furniture design?

Crazy 8s

2025-11-19 18:46:17 UTC

Students had 8 minutes to generate 8 ideas for a new furniture design. They wrote their ideas on separate sticky notes so they could be grouped afterwards.

Saturate and Group

2025-11-19 18:46:34 UTC

As students shared their Crazy 8s ideas, we grouped similar ones on the board.

NUF Test

2025-11-19 18:46:42 UTC

We rated our top 6 ideas from Dot Voting with the NUF test - how new, useful, and feasible were the ideas.

I Like, I wish, What if?

2025-11-19 18:47:02 UTC

Snowball - Day 4

2025-11-19 18:47:19 UTC

Students reflected on what they are most excited about, wrote it on a piece of paper, and made it into a "snowball." They threw their snowball into the middle of the circle. Then, each student grabbed someone else's paper and read their reflection aloud.

Dot Voting

2025-11-19 18:53:55 UTC

Each student got three dots to choose their three favorite ideas from Crazy 8s. We chose the top 6 ideas to do the NUF Test.

Poster Session

2025-11-19 18:54:26 UTC

Students started sketching ideas for their piece of furniture.

Blob Tree - Day 5

2025-11-19 18:55:00 UTC

On the way out, we had students choose a "Blob" from the Blob Tree to show how they are feeling after today's session. Most students chose the happy Blob.

Start, Stop, Continue - Day 6

2025-11-19 18:55:37 UTC

After making changes at the CRC, students shared out their ideas to the other groups. Then students told the group what they thought they should start doing, stop doing and continue doing.

Creating Our Pitch

2025-11-19 18:56:05 UTC

Students created their pitch on a Google Slide presentation and made sure to include the hook, a problem, the stakeholders, the solution/idea, an image/prototype, and a summary.

Question Sort

2026-01-03 16:45:18 UTC

Students evaluated their interview questions for interest and usefulness, allowing us to weed out less effective questions and keep the ones most likely to generate helpful information.

Scavenger Hunt

2026-01-06 21:03:34 UTC

Scavenger Hunt

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Scavenger Hunt

2026-01-06 21:05:36 UTC

Lock Box

2026-01-06 21:28:17 UTC

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Question Sort

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Empathy Maps

2026-01-26 17:29:44 UTC

Empathy Maps

2026-01-26 17:31:13 UTC

Chalk Talk

2026-01-26 17:49:13 UTC

Crazy 8s

2026-01-26 18:09:51 UTC

Team Building

2026-01-28 22:04:34 UTC

After putting students into their final groups, we did a get-to-know-you activity. Students discussed questions about their favorites and would you rather type questions.

I Like, I Wish, What If?

2026-02-03 21:42:08 UTC

CTC Visit

2026-02-10 14:51:54 UTC

CTC Visit

2026-02-10 15:42:17 UTC

We got to visit the Careerline Tech Center to present our ideas and get feedback. Students found this to be very helpful!

Emoji Check In

2026-02-10 19:38:46 UTC

At the end of Day 6, students chose an emoji to share how they are feeling about their solutions.

Start, Stop, Continue

2026-02-10 21:28:25 UTC

The Cozy Cloud

2026-02-18 13:53:53 UTC

The Boosk

2026-02-18 13:56:30 UTC

The Regulation Station

2026-02-18 13:57:07 UTC

The Solar Chair 3000

2026-02-18 13:57:42 UTC

The Pitch

2026-02-18 16:00:19 UTC

Students made slide shows and presented their solutions to parents and some of the interview panel at the end of the Academy.

The Solar Chair 3000 Pitch

2026-02-19 15:50:02 UTC

The Boosk Pitch

2026-02-19 15:51:26 UTC

The Cozy Cloud Pitch

2026-02-20 15:32:19 UTC

The Regulation Station Pitch

2026-02-23 15:31:44 UTC