# week 34 of 2025 **August 18-24** ![[ramon-nunez-14.jpg|Practices July]] [Ramón Nuñez](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/qJXZQy) shares his digital sketches on ArtStation. I like this doodle of a cat sleeping in a box. Have three cats at home and this perfectly captures when they crash ass-out in a random box. --- > Praise others. It will bring them peace of mind.  > > Do not expect others to praise you. It will bring you peace of mind. > > — James Clear This one felt relevant today. I'm back to school this week and have been busy meeting all my students. Love the excitement and energy of building those relationships. So many of the students are sharing their artwork with me. There's a lot of good work already being created and I tend to be quite enthusiastic for what they are making. That praise visibly lifts their spirits which lifts mine. The happy look in their eyes is what has brought me a bit of peace this week. > The person who learns the most in any classroom is the teacher.  > > If you really want to learn a topic, then "teach" it. Write a book. Teach a class. Build a product. Start a company. > > The act of making something will force you to learn more deeply than reading ever will. > > — James Clear Another good one from James this week. You should all probably sign up for his [newsletter](https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1). I definitely learn a lot from my students. I've been sharing my dislike for giving tests with my classes. The students seem to appreciate that. Simply regurgitating information on a test is such a shallow way to check for understanding. Applying your understanding through making something is a much better demonstration of knowledge. That's why my classes are almost completely project-based. --- [Social Media & Ad Cheatsheet](https://mediacheatsheet.com) has a breakdown of dimension and resolution specs for ads and elements on various social media platforms. I had no idea there were about twenty different configurations for Instagram alone. [Design Thinking resources from TeachThought](https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy-posts/45-design-thinking-resources-for-educators/) covers approaches from Stanford's D.School, IDEO and others. There are case studies and frameworks. I want to sort through these for my own interest and for a class I'm taking on Design For Innovation. Listing the link here so I don't forget it. [The Art of First Impressions](https://www.ted.com/talks/chip_kidd_the_art_of_first_impressions_in_design_and_life?subtitle=en) is a TED talk by book-cover designer extraordinaire Chip Kidd. I will need remember to share this with my design students when we get to the book cover design project. --- An important distinction… > Design is a solution to a problem. Art is a question to a problem. > > — John Maeda