Imagine a phone plays music but makes no sound. On paper, list three questions you would ask its owner. Pick one answer and write the next thing you would check.
When you’re done
Which question helped you narrow down the problem?
A Door Note · 1951
Joseph Thompson
MIT chose Thompson from a group of local high school students to operate the Whirlwind computer. Jack Gilmore taught him to run programs from punched tape. You can read Thompson’s own account of learning on the job.
Draw a shape made of four squares. Hide it and write instructions for drawing it. Ask someone to follow only your words, or follow them yourself on fresh paper. Rewrite the first confusing step.
When you’re done
What did you change so another person could follow your instructions?
A Door Note · 1960
Katherine Johnson
Johnson and Ted Skopinski wrote a NASA report explaining how to send a satellite over a chosen spot on Earth. NASA says she was the first woman in its Flight Research Division credited as an author of a research report.
What’s still open: Johnson was a mathematician writing about her research. Her byline documents authorship at NASA. Hiring into technical writer jobs has its own history.
Go further
Pick a guide you use at home or school. Find one step a newcomer might misunderstand and rewrite it in your own words.
On paper, sketch a reading room with two lamps and two switches. Invent a symbol for each. Use a legend to show which switch controls each lamp, then ask someone to read the plan.
When you’re done
What would make your drawing easier for the next person to read?
A Door Note · 1922
Sam Taylor and Charles Vernon Stewart III
Publishers refused to send electrical lessons to Black readers. A friend ordered the lessons so Taylor and Stewart could study. Stewart later helped his stepfather Taylor start Taylor Electric in Chicago.
A fictional patient named Alex says, “My room is noisy and I feel worried.” On paper, write two questions you would ask Alex. Write a handoff note that separates what Alex said from what you still need to ask.
When you’re done
Which part of your note came from Alex, and what would you still need to ask?
A Door Note · 1968
Anna B. Coles
Coles graduated from the Freedmen’s Hospital nursing school. In 1968 she became the first dean of Howard University’s College of Nursing. The school’s alumni recorded that change in who led nursing education.
Choose a rule from a game you know. Teach it with one example and one drawing on paper. Ask a learner when the rule would apply, or write the question you would use to check their understanding.
When you’re done
What would you change if someone misunderstood the rule?
A Door Note · 1924
Charles Lincoln Harper
Atlanta opened its first public high school for Black students. As its first principal, Harper hired teachers for the new school. The school’s historic nomination preserves the account of his role.
Door Notes