Creativity in Education

by Jodee Steffensen on 07/08/11

What do teachers do all summer? Most of us sleep in, take classes, research, and heal our wounds. The classes and research often help the healing process by inspiring us with new ideas. The first book I read this summer helped ignite my badly dimished flame. "Out of Our Minds," by Ken Robinson, challenges the traditional "assembly line" educational model. He maintains that the future demands creativity, which is mostly decimated in today's classroom.
Any well intended teacher will argue that creativity in the classroom is severely compromised by increasingly pervasive core standards, district directed curriculum, severe time constraints, and high stakes testing. We've all been taught that creativity in the classroom is more engaging and results in greater understanding and retention. Yet most of us struggle to apply it.
Ken (I'll call him Ken because his writer's tone is that inviting) offers several recommendations I can't help but support: flexible schedules, greater student choice, differentiated curriculum, emphasis on social interaction and problem solving, and an explicit focus on brainstorming, research, evaluation, application, analysis, and re-evaluation strategies. Okay, these are my words (teacher speak), but the concepts he presents are familiar. And okay, I have no control over scheduling and student choice. But I'm trying to incorporate the rest into my classroom, and find his endorsement of those efforts reassuring.
No, he didn't forget to mention relevance of subject matter, recommending service  projects to develop community awareness. Nor did he neglect the importance of risk taking and learning from trial and error. "Creativity is not about generating ideas; it involves making judgements about them. The process includes elaboring on the initial ideas, testing and refining them and even rejecting them, in favor of others that emerge during the process." (pg 153)
So how do we explicitly teach this process? How do we do it in a way that enhances student confidence by rewarding risk taking? And how do we do it within the constraints of our current, over loaded, under resourced system? Fortunately, Ken also pointed out that creativity doesn't grow out of unrestricted chaos. It's best developed when supported by a firm frramework of requirements and limitations. "The internal challenge is to evolve structures and processes that are supple and responsive." (pg 237)
Bottom line - this is a great book which I highly recommend. I'm planning to pursue implementation and would love to hear from anyone out there who might have experience and/or ideas. Comments please?

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TRACK THE ENEMY - BY USING YOUR PLANNER

by Jodee Steffensen on 11/26/10

The first critical step in any military maneuver is knowing your enemy.You can't hope to have the advantage until you know exactly what you're dealing with.
THAT'S WHAT A PLANNER IS FOR!
But often you get one and have no instruction as to how to use it. So you carry it around for a while until it falls apart and then you chuck it.
Look on the organization page and watch the planner power point for specific step by step instructions on how to use this critical asset. To get you prepared, make sure you:
1. List all assignments and tests, along with any other information that may affect your schedule.
2. Check off each assignment as you complete it (yes, even if you finish it that day in class).
3. Cross off each assignment as you hand it in (ditto above). Acknowledge that sense of power that surges through you as you cross an item off. That's one of the great reasons for using a planner. That's why you list even the small assignments and go through the process. LET IT EMPOWER YOU!!!

Questions? Comments? Let me hear from you!!!