Would you like to use more creativity in your classroom? Could you use a little inspiration? How about some short videos for professional development? The American Psychological Association (APA) may have just what you’re looking for. You might start with the Psychology Learning Curve article on “Creative Teaching and Teaching Creativity: How to Foster Creativity … Continue reading
One of the most important things we can do to help students prepare to be creative scientists is to help them understand how science works. We need to share science that looks like science—unpredictable and full of questions—rather than simple exercises in direction-following. We need students to understand the struggles and dilemmas of scientists along … Continue reading
Ever scratch your head wondering how to make a coffin shaped paper box? OK, I haven’t either, but now that I’ve thought about it, I’m curious. The thing that sparked my musings, about coffin-shaped boxes, paper polygons, “exploding boxes” (no actual explosives involved) and even a paper icosahedron—along with other paper platonic solids—is a fascinating … Continue reading
It is hard to do experiments in schools, particularly large scale experiments. A true experiment requires randomly assigning participants to an experimental group (which gets some kind of treatment) and a control group (which doesn’t). Imagine trying to randomly assign students to two different math or reading programs, especially in the same school. You can … Continue reading
Sometimes even the most interesting creative project can start to feel like a burden. Experiments don’t work and have to be redesigned. Poetry needs editing. Interviews have to be transcribed and paintings need work. Those moments, when the initial inspiration and excitement have to give way to persistence and hard work, can be particularly discouraging … Continue reading
One of my favorite books about creativity is titled Beautiful Oops. It makes sense because creativity, by definition, means thinking in new ways—sometimes incremental changes, but sometimes a complete change of course, a different perspective. Sometimes that means recognizing that ways we’ve thought before don’t work any more. Sometimes we have to say “Oops, I … Continue reading
We are soon to have another actor in the family! My husband has worked in theater for many years so much of our life has revolved around the show-of-the-moment. We can recite dialog from one show or another for almost any occasion. Now we are becoming enmeshed in a different theatrical form, as our nephew … Continue reading
The Periodic Table is having a birthday! In March, it will be 150 years since the Russian scientist, Dmitri Mendeleev, took all of the 63 known elements and arranged them into a table. Today the Periodic Table contains over 100 elements and is found in chemistry classes and labs around the world. One of my … Continue reading
I’m not a sports fan. I almost never care who wins the Super Bowl. I’ll admit this year I rooted for the Pats, but that’s mostly because the older I get, the more I appreciate Tom Brady’s longevity. But regardless, when the Super Bowl comes, I want to see the ads. This year my favorite … Continue reading
Valentine’s Day crept up on me this year. My best excuse is that, like everyone in Michigan, my head is spinning from weather whiplash. Between the Polar Vortex and springlike temperatures, we’ve had 60 degree temperature variations in a three day period TWICE in the last few weeks. So no wonder I don’t know what … Continue reading
