9th Grade — How to Talk About Design: Critique Language & the Growth Mindset

⏰ Do Now — Start Here

Someone once told you "this is good" about something you made. Did that comment actually help you improve it? Why or why not?

🎯 Today's Big Question

How do designers talk about work -- their own and each other's -- in a way that actually helps it get better?

📈 By the End of Today, You Will Be Able To

Explain why critique is a normal, expected part of the design process, not personal criticism.
Use the "I notice / I wonder" sentence-frame protocol to give feedback that names a specific design choice, not vague praise.
Practice self-critique on their own work before showing it to anyone else.
Explain how classroom critique is direct practice for a future client feedback meeting, where a first design is always treated as a draft, not a final answer.

🧰 What You'll Need

Printed vague-vs-specific feedback examples
One shared sample piece (printed) for guided practice
Sticky notes
An early sketch/doodle from earlier this year, for self-critique practice

📋 Your Plan for Today

Day 1: Learning the Language

Do Now + discussion (5 min, above).
Mini-lesson (12 min): why critique is a normal part of the professional design process, not an insult -- introduce the "I notice / I wonder" protocol side by side with vague comments ("I like it" vs. "I notice the dark line stands out sharply against the white background, which is the first thing my eye goes to. I wonder what would happen if you used that same dark line somewhere else in the piece too.").
Guided practice (15 min): as a class, critique one shared sample piece together using the protocol, naming real elements/principles vocabulary already learned (line, shape, contrast, balance).
Independent practice (10 min): write 2 "I notice / I wonder" sentences about a piece of your own earlier work -- this is self-critique.
Share (3 min).

Day 2: Practicing & Connecting to Client Work

Do Now (5 min): reread your self-critique from yesterday -- does it still feel true? Mini-lesson (8 min): growth mindset -- a first draft is *expected* to change; professional designers show early drafts specifically to get feedback, because that's the actual job, not a sign something went wrong. Preview: later in this pathway, a client feedback meeting works exactly like the critique protocol practiced today.
Partner critique practice (20 min): trade a piece of work with a partner and critique it in writing using the protocol.
Reflection (10 min): read your partner's critique and write 1-2 sentences on what you'd change.

🖨️ Print Your Handout

Word, picture, and definition for today's vocabulary, plus a place to write and draw. Available in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Chinese.

Day 1: EN · ES · FR · AR · ZH
Day 2: EN · ES · FR · AR · ZH

🖥️ Today's Slide Deck

Short, on-the-board pacing slides — project these to follow along. (The full details are in the handout above, not here.)

Day 1

⬇️ Open / download this slide PDF

Day 2

⬇️ Open / download this slide PDF

📚 Key Words

Critique: Structured, specific feedback on a piece of work, focused on what's working and what could grow -- not personal criticism.
Self-Critique: Looking honestly at your own work before anyone else sees it, and naming what you would change yourself.
Iteration / Draft: Any version of a piece of work that is expected to change -- the first idea is a starting point, not a final answer.
Growth Mindset: The belief that a skill grows through practice and feedback, not something a person either "has" or doesn't.
"I Notice / I Wonder": A critique sentence frame that separates plain observation ("I notice...") from a suggestion phrased as a genuine question ("I wonder what would happen if...") instead of a command.

✅ What Your Finished Work Should Include

Written self-critique + partner critique notes scored with a simple rubric: correctly uses the "I notice / I wonder" frame, names an actual element/principle (not vague praise), and stays specific and kind.

Exit Ticket: Rewrite this vague comment into a specific one using "I notice / I wonder": "I like it, it's cool."

📊 Before You Leave

Quick, anonymous class check-in -- takes less than a minute.

Class Check-In

📤 How You Submit This — For Credit

Your physical projects don't stay in the classroom past the day you finish them -- you're responsible for your own completed work, the same way you'd be responsible for it in any job. The one exception is your class notebook: it has its own designated spot in the room (ask your teacher exactly where), and most students leave it there day to day -- but it's yours, so if you'd rather keep it with you or bring it home to study from, that's your call. Either way, always know where your own notebook actually is. Before a finished physical piece leaves your hands for good: ask your teacher for one of the classroom cameras, photograph your finished (or in-progress) work, then plug that camera's SD card into a classroom computer and upload the photo into your portfolio folder. That uploaded photo, with a short caption, IS your submission for credit -- the photo is what gets kept and graded, not the physical piece.

📁 Portfolio Update — Once a Week

Once a week (e.g. every Friday, or your class's last meeting of the week), photograph or save your best finished or in-progress piece from that week into your portfolio folder (a physical folder for now, or a Google Drive folder once one is set up) with a 1-2 sentence caption: what it is, and one skill it shows. In Grade 10 this becomes your Google Sites portfolio -- keep adding to it weekly from here on so you're not trying to reconstruct a whole semester of work at the end.

✍️ Example description for your Google Sites portfolio (fill in YOUR blanks -- don't just copy this):

For this piece, I made ______________ (name what you made) for “How to Talk About Design: Critique Language & the Growth Mindset.” This project asked: “How do designers talk about work -- their own and each other's -- in a way that actually helps it get better?” I used Critique by ______________ (explain how you used it in THIS piece). The hardest part was ______________, and I solved it by ______________. I'm proud of ______________ because ______________.

🎓 ACP Exam Prep

This lesson connects to the Photoshop Adobe Certified Professional exam: Domain 1: Working in the Design Industry

🔗 Want to Learn More?

National Art Education Association

🚀 The Extra Mile

Cross-Class Connection: The same peer-review protocol your English class uses for workshopping essays — specific, kind, actionable feedback.

Career Connection: Giving and receiving critique gracefully is a daily skill in every studio job on the Careers hub, especially Advertising & Marketing agency work.

Go further -- turn this into a portfolio piece:

Run a real critique session for a classmate's non-design project (a paper, a video, a model) using this same language. Start here: write your three critique sentences — what works, what's confusing, one suggestion — before you sit down with your classmate.
Write a one-page "how to give feedback" guide for a club or team you're part of. Start here: list your sentence starters, like "I like how..." and "I wonder if...", before you design the page around them.