Fall is a wonderful time in a university town. Students return, with all their hustle and bustle and enthusiasm. For those of us who teach, there is the task of getting courses ready, but also the promise that this year we’ll teach just a bit better than last—at this point, all things are possible. One … Continue reading
Since I posted the first reprise of beginning-of-the-year tips earlier this week, I thought I might as well post this 2015 reprise as well. I know I still need the reminders, so perhaps you do as well. The first set of tips were instructional strategies. These are more global tips for the type of classroom … Continue reading
Sometimes I feel guilty about re-blogging something, but other times I look at old posts and say, “Still true. Still useful.” This time of year, when for many of us the school year is reborn, I always think about how I want to have a good beginning–one that helps my students know what I value. … Continue reading
As teachers, it is fun to dream about nurturing the next creative inventor or scientist—perhaps someone who will help us harness pollution to make energy or feed those in areas where drought devastates crops. Or maybe we imagine one of our students thanking us in a Tony award speech, or seeing her writing on a … Continue reading
Today I completed my grades for my university’s summer term, so I’m ready to breathe a big sign of relief and maybe celebrate a bit before I think about the next semester. Maybe that’s why I was so intrigued by a recent article about the amazing variety of official (and semi-official) days we can celebrate, … Continue reading
If curiosity is the beginning of creativity, what does that mean for us in schools? Sadly, as I’ve noted previously, curiosity isn’t necessarily welcomed in many school environments. One of my favorite curiosity researchers, Susan Engel, describes a study in which she and her students set out to learn about how curiosity might be exhibited … Continue reading
Toddlers are the most curious of beings. I’ve been spending time lately with a young girl who spent her first nine months in the hospital and several additional months tethered to a respirator. Now she is two. She still has health issues and breathes through a trach tube in her neck, making it difficult for … Continue reading
I’m back! Again. Interesting how time I need to spend writing and teaching about creativity sometimes keeps me from, well, writing and teaching about creativity. I’ve been busy putting the finishing touches on the 6th edition of Creativity in the Classroom and writing for another project on creativity and talent development. So I’ve had a … Continue reading
All creativity involves some risk. We know that. Any time we try something new, there is risk of failure, of ridicule, or getting ourselves in over our heads. And yet, if we want to make creative choices, we persist. How do we decide when to risk? One factor is our creative self-efficacy, that is, how … Continue reading
I will admit I’ve frequently railed against using business models to design and evaluate schools. There are so many ways schools and businesses are different that attempting to translate one to the other risks assuming children are some kind of consistent raw material that can be transformed into a uniform product. I can see teachers … Continue reading
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