I know that in other parts of the country, school is already in full swing, but here in Michigan we are enjoying the last few days of summer before the academic year starts in earnest. Teachers are preparing their rooms, buying way-too-many supplies out of their own pockets, and planning those vital early lessons. During … Continue reading
Like so many other people, I‘ve needed to get out of the house throughout the pandemic. And, again, like so many others, I’ve been walking. I walk around my neighborhood, with occasional excursions to local parks to meet friends or have a change of scenery. But mostly, I walk the same routes, and I need … Continue reading
![The Museum of [Creative] Failure](https://creativiteach.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/museum-of-failure.jpg?w=160&h=120&crop=1 "The Museum of [Creative] Failure")
All of us fail. A lot. Failures come in all shapes and sizes, some serious, some not-so-much. Most recently, I’ve been failing repeatedly at trying to get a determined mother mouse to relocate her nest in the lovely brush behind our fence rather than on our deck (or in our grill!). I’ve failed at inventing … Continue reading
What’s good teaching? How do we recognize it? Are good teachers the ones whose students score highest on standardized tests? Or might they be the ones whose students learn to love learning? What about those whose students learn to be amazing problem solvers? No simple answers here. It reminded me of a response I used … Continue reading
The Beer Festival is back in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In most ways, this doesn’t matter to me at all. I’m not a beer drinker and my tolerance for crowds is greatly diminished after more than two years of pandemic. But still, the notion of any kind of festival is a joyous jolt of normalcy. Our county … Continue reading
Ever since I was young, I have loved inventing new worlds. I have quite vivid memories of sailing into space in a rocket constructed among the clothes in my closet, visiting planets unlike those anyone else had seen. As I grew older and learned to write stories, I wrote about characters with magical powers (always … Continue reading
At its best, creativity allows individuals to pursue new ideas, express themselves, and explore problems that are important to them. This month I read about a group of middle school students who did exactly that. AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Youth Rising describes itself as follows. AAPI Youth Rising is an organization started by … Continue reading
I’ve written before about the role of emotion in creativity. I’ve thought about the social and emotional learning necessary to develop a creative environment, and about the challenges of dealing with the inevitable failures along the creative path. What I haven’t considered, at least not here, are the times when emotions overwhelm the possibilities for … Continue reading
Recently I was heading to my back yard with a 5-year-old friend, and she dropped a ball, which then bounced down the steps to the lawn. She looked at me and without missing a beat, she said, in perfect rhythm: What’s that bouncing down the deck? A ball, a ball! Oh, what the heck. It … Continue reading
“Creativity comes from the right side of the brain.” “Children are more creativity than adults.” “Creativity happens primarily in art.” “Only a few rare geniuses are really creative.” Not true. None of it. Creativity myths are found across the globe. In fact, Benedek et al. (2021) examined beliefs about creativity across six countries: the United … Continue reading
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