Do I Matter?

The drawing I drew on the whiteboard wall.

This week in KidsTeam we used a technique we've coined "Stickyboarding," which is essentially using lots of colorful sticky notes to brainstorm ideas for a story. And I got the task of Idea Bomber. Basically, the Idea Bomber's task is to go around to each group and help everyone come up with ideas. And it was immense fun, as there were pirate ships, balloons, fireworks, mazes, and monsters. Who knew vocabulary could be so fun?

Actually, the most bemusing conversation I've had so far was about who was going to be the idea bomber, and went like this:
R (who likes to be the idea bomber): Am I going to get to be the idea bomber?

The matching shirts we all wear on Wednesdays.

K: No, I made Kaitlyn the idea bomber.
R: Why?
K: Because she hasn't done it yet.
R (joking, of course): who cares about Kaitlyn? Kaitlyn doesn't matter!
L: Welcome to Pearson.
T: Welcome to corporate America.
L: You should put that on your blog!
Li: You should get a blog!
R: She has a blog!
Li: She does?
Me: It's for my school.
Li: Oh, you should get a Pearson blog!

So, now it's on my blog for your personal amusement.

I also got the chance to write on the whiteboard wall (shown above), although I was far from the children's first guess of who did it (I was more around their seventh/eighth guess).

Also, the email newsletter will be done next week, and then I can show you some pictures!

Hamburgers & Charades

If I were to ask you to design a web page, right here, right now, what symbol would you give the menu? A house? The hamburger? Just write out the word menu?
And where would you put it? In the bottom right hand corner? In the upper left corner? In the upper right corner? Why?

This week, I got the opportunity to watch some sessions of usability testing - where web designers test out their prototypes on target users - and got to witness these decisions. It turns out it tests the best when the menu icon (whatever it happens to be) is in the upper left corner of the screen, the best menu icon is an ongoing web design debate, and the best settings symbol is the cog (which is the actual name of the symbol I formerly referred to as "the gear") in the upper right corner. Also, the scroll icon at the bottom of a page is actually called a scrubber, and when you slide it, it's called scrubbing.

Meanwhile in KidsTeam...

We got to do charades, as a way to get better ideas for how words can be animated for the eventual prototype that'll be made. (Who knew acting out the word twinkle and sunshine could be so difficult?)

We got into a discussion of our favorite animated kids cartoons.

The girl who knows I'm obsessed with rainbows was quick to spot all of the rainbow items I sported this week, as well as discusses washi-tape crafts with me.

Disco dancing in the elevator seems to be a reoccurring thing.

Corporations, Computers, & Children

I assumed not having a computer for a few days wouldn't be a problem.

After all, I had my own laptop, cubicle, and notebooks.

I was wrong.

It turns out, at Pearson anyway, a computer is very important. Important for having a company email, which you need for assess to company calendars, which you need for video calls.

So the first few computer-less days were a bit slow, but only for that reason. Let's just say I was very pleased to finally receive a company computer on Wednesday afternoon.

Besides that...

I got to finally see the Behind the Scenes of KidsTeam this week: the planning, the consulting of the literacy expert, the last minute room scheduling, and everyone's candid opinions on everything from the correct snack decision (it turns out several people are surprisingly staunchly pro-popcorn) to magical dancing octopuses and stickers (I am always pro-magical dancing octopuses and stickers – if you were wondering).

I got to stroll into a company building with my official badge, and go out to lunch with my coworkers (everyone is incredibly nice). And I’m going to get to try out some graphic design software for the KidsTeam newsletter (which I’ve always wanted to do!)

And as always, the children were lovely to brainstorm with. After all, what’s not to love about being creative with children while drawing with colorful markers and snacking?

Some KidsTeam highlights:

The girl who knows I’m sort of a rainbow fanatic. She’s already seen my rainbow scarf, shoes, purse, bow, and frankly seemed a tad disappointed I only had on my rainbow ring on Wednesday. I apparently need to step up my rainbow game.

RTB. Stands for Respect The Bubble. This began with the group norms, and continues to be the best way to say, “You’re in my personal space, please move away. Now.”

Everyone’s synchronized disco-ing in the elevator.