WEEKLY WHITEBOARD 📝
8billionideas
Our mission is to give every student on the planet the skills and belief to change the world.
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In a hurry? Here's a quick look at this edition:
71% of our huge parent database want their child to develop creative problem-solving skills. Discover how you can nurture this in your classroom.
In this week's spotlight, we cover three fun ways to get students to flex their creative problem-solving muscles.
News updates that matter:
📚 A must-read for anyone interested in innovation in the classroom
Looking to spark creativity and innovation in your classroom? The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros is an excellent read for teachers and students alike.
Couros, a seasoned educator and thought leader, challenges the traditional approaches to teaching and learning. His book provides practical insights and actionable strategies to foster a culture of innovation. With a focus on empowering students, you'll learn how to create environments that encourage risk-taking, problem-solving, and resilience. Happy reading!
1 in 4 students experience mental health issues during their time in education. How can we prevent this?
We believe in prevention over cure that's why we developed our 'Wellbeing' programmes. These are designed to empower students to develop tools such as resilience, confidence, social skills and emotional regulation.
Example programmes include:
🦋 Wonderful Me, Amazing You — Ages 6-7:
Exploring wonderful self-esteem and self-respect, developing amazing compassion and empathy.
💬 How to Talk about Yourself — Ages 11-12:
We'll explore the art of conversation and how to talk about yourself in any context without feeling awkward.
🌞 Positive Psychology 101: How to be happy — Ages 16-18:
Learn the science of happiness and explore how we can all find our own unique kind of fulfilment.
THURSDAY SPOTLIGHT: INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION OF PROBLEM SOLVERS
In this era of AI, the ability to solve problems in imaginative and innovative ways has never been more sought after. We don't know what kind of jobs our students will be going in to, but we do know that the ability to solve problems creatively, to embrace challenges and be comfortable with making mistakes will set them up for success.
🧩 Steps to solve a problem
Age range: 5+
Teach students these four steps that can be applied to help them solve a problem
1. What is the problem?
2. Brainstorm solutions
3. Compare and choose a solution
4. Did it work?
How it helps: Explicitly providing a structure to solve problems helps students move on from that point of stopping a task the moment they get stuck.
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⬇️ Put it into action ⬇️
Escape Room (Classroom Edition)
This student favourite activity can be linked to your current class focus. Set up a series of simple challenges or clues around the classroom that students must solve in a sequence to 'escape' the room. You can weave regular classroom tasks with more creative ideas, such as solving a math problem and then playing the human knot challenge.
Skills: Problem-solving under pressure, teamwork and critical thinking
Construction Challenge
The aim of this challenge is to get students to build the tallest free-standing tower in a set time. Materials could include spaghetti, straws, tape, marshmallows, pipe cleaners, paper or even their shoes!
Skills: Creativity, communication, teamwork, trial and error
Innovate the Product
This is a quick and simple way to spark their creative problem-solving. Hand groups an everyday object and get them to reinvent its purpose. For example, a glue stick can become a mini drumstick or an invisible ink pen.
Skills: Challenges assumptions, creative thinking, critical thinking, collaboration
TOP THREE EDUCATION UPDATES THAT MATTER💡
The latest news:
1️⃣ School starters lack communication skills: An Ofsted report highlights that children born during the pandemic are entering school with significant communication delays, impacting their ability to engage in lessons and make friends. Schools in England are adapting to provide additional support in speech and language development
Why it matters: Lockdown's effects are still evident, and delayed communication is causing struggles to manage classroom behaviour and deliver foundational knowledge.
2️⃣ The importance of life skills: More than 250,000 adolescent girls in India have attended life skills sessions. This initiative has seen a huge positive impact, empowering students to dream beyond societal norms, while equipping them with critical thinking, self-awareness and how to manage emotions. One student commented "(This) helped me practice and develop skills that will be useful for my future...I want to serve my country as a lawyer, and then as a judge".
Why it matters: This programme highlights the powerful impact of explicitly teaching young people life skills, despite initial concerns from some parents and teachers about the step away from traditional curriculum. (Via UNFPA.org)
3️⃣ Safeguarding in 2025: With UK schools only receiving minor changes to safeguarding policies over the summer, this article notes that schools should be prepared for changes in 2025. It is expected that much of the changes will come from the call for evidence run by the DfE earlier this year, including the role of the DSL, online safeguarding challenges, digital safeguarding and sexual violence.
Why it matters: Understanding these updates is crucial to ensure a safe and supportive environment for students. (Via School Management Plus)
8billionideas Tales
Engaging with our parent community!
We're always looking for new ways to equip students with the skills and beliefs to change the world. 🌍
Last week, we were thrilled to host our first parent webinar on 'How to Raise Future Ready Children'.
The response was fantastic, with 400+ parents signing up. Thank you to everyone who participated. Stay tuned for more talks to share with your parent community! 🌟
Expert Innovator and Leader across many fields, delivered $2Bn benefits. Investor on Education Avisory Board for 8billionideas for Global Edtech, Nuclear Engineer, 40 Years IT, AI Consultant, Innovation expert
1mo(As an 8billionideas Investor, Advisor and 60+ years of problem solving) Whiteboard October 18th re Teaching creativity & problem solving.... Great skills to arm all Children ... BUT ..... It is vital that we teach students STEP-0 On Critical Thinking! 1. Who says this is a problem? and how can I trust what they say? (What is their history of stating problems?) 2. What parts of what they say makes most sense?... what does not? 3. How much can I believe each part of what they say? 4. How can I better clarify & restate the problem? 5. Other questions about the problem and who is asking it to be solved ...... 6. where can I find any supporting logic, truth or real science and earlier examples behind this problem? Only then should people get into creative solving mode 😎👍 We must teach Problem Probing up front🤔🤔🤔 Or we are teaching to potentially try solving false or impossible problems ...