Creativity.

 

I honestly don't even believe creativity can be explained in a definition. It has so many properties and functions that a definition could not do it justice. Creativity is what we strive on...it is partially what makes us so unique. Our minds are full of wonderful things and ideas that are just dying to get out and be heard. Creativity is so important in our everyday lives, especially in the classroom. If we weren't creative, everything would be the same and boring. I also think that we would not necessarily "know" anything to be real without a creative mind first thinking it could be. Our questions would be left without answers--and would ultimately make us stop asking questions in the first place. Creative thinking is a fundamental part of learning and growing in education. 

I remember growing up, I actually had a tough time being creative. Most ideas I had were not originally mine, but I have always been great at expanding on ideas. If a classmate or group member came up with the main task at hand, I would add the details or further explanation. When I think of creativity, I think of Volleyball, because it is one of my passions. I am the athlete to come up with "plays" and "tricks" to score against the other team. I really believe that I am good at being a Volleyball coach/athlete because it is something I love and have so much desire to expand the knowledge and creativity of the sport. 

Fostering creativity can probably be quite a difficult thing to teach. I grew up in classrooms where the only creative moments we had were during art--but even then, we were required to follow a specific process. I think that is why today's assignment frustrated me so much. I did not want to figure out how to time a car while turning it on while measuring it all. I wanted to know how to do it already. I have always had teachers/professors that just give me what I need. If it were any other teacher, I probably could have convinced them to change it into a partner lab rather than by ourselves. I do understand the importance, however. I just need to figure out how to teach in a way that I was never taught to prevent frustration from my students. 

The Harwood Activity Model meshes with creativity in that there is always room for more. More ideas, questions, experiments, ect. I noticed on our candle burning experiments that not two groups had the same Harwood order. Some groups had over 20 steps, and some had less than ten. The more steps taken, more room is made for creative thinking. It is infinite.

I believe that everyone is creative in different senses. For me, it is athletics and even math that get my mind going. It amazes me to see that people in my History discussion classes have so much to say about what they think everything meant in the 1700’s. I have no desire whatsoever about History. It is one of those things that you cannot comprehend. “To each his own” fits perfectly here. I think creativity is based off of passion and understanding. If you really want to grow in a concept, you’ll fight to find something new and unheard of. Creativity is in every person—it just takes the right kind of turn to express it.

I enjoy Ken Robinson a lot. I think he has an incredible way of showing his thoughts and desires for change. I agree that he does joke a little bit too much, but, that is his way of being creative. He keeps people interested in what he is saying. I seriously love his ideas..I just want to be able to teach like we should—not how it currently is. It upsets me how much potential (and creativity) is lost because we are forced into “standards” and specific ways of teaching.

Mel.
:o]