Play is in the air. Maybe it is because the heaps of snow are, at long last, melting from my back yard, but thoughts about play and playfulness seem all around. I had just written the last blog post citing Hilary Conklin’s commentary on the value of play in middle school, when I ran across … Continue reading
Play is important. Why else would it be so consistent across the human and animal worlds? When we had kittens in our house, the two of them found the world a continual source of adventure. They stalked one another with delight, dove into our shoes just for the sake of popping back out, and chased … Continue reading
If I want fireworks in my brain, I’d better get back to practicing. That’s the message of a TedEd video by Anita Collins and Sharon Colman Graham, recently featured on National Public Radio. Take a look. I’ve said repeatedly that creativity ≠ the arts, because too many people assume that if they can’t draw realistically … Continue reading
I’ve always been curious. In one of my more memorable childhood experiments, I decided (age 5) that it was very important to know how loudly I could scream. I mean, if I never tried screaming my loudest, how would I know how loud I could be? What if something terrible happened and I wasn’t good … Continue reading
As more and more schools realize that creativity and problem solving are essential skills, we face a dilemma—how do we manage organize curriculum in ways that do both? One possibility is using design thinking to organize curriculum. And some schools are doing just that. For example, Vista Design and Innovation Academy, a magnet middle school, … Continue reading
How many times have you heard it—or said it, “Practice. Work hard. Just keep trying. All you have to do is work harder. Then you’ll succeed.” But in a recent Washington Post blog post, Alfie Kohn discusses a new meta-analysis that calls into question that traditional wisdom that links practice time and success. A meta-analysis … Continue reading
I’m back from an amazing 40th anniversary trip to Mainland China and Tibet (yes, obviously, we were married as babes!) On one hand, it was a blissful opportunity to leave everything work-related behind, but on the other, it was an immersion in creativity. One of the wonderful things about studying creativity is that it gives … Continue reading
So, when is failure not failure? When it is defined as an “iteration.” What does that mean? An iteration is a repetition, but not an exact one. An iteration is a repetition that changes just a bit, each one coming a bit closer to a goal. Think about times you’ve tried a recipe several times, … Continue reading
Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to work with some Korean teachers interested in incorporating more creativity in their teaching. We had only a short time together, and so it was important to stick to a few key ideas. Like many teachers, they have a required curriculum, and any creative adaptations must build on those … Continue reading
One of my favorite small education blogs is called “v. to put on one’s thinking cap: A reflection on social constructivism in the elementary classroom.” It recounts the learning and thinking of a class of elementary students who are consistently challenged to make sense of their world. Recently, the author described students’ representations responding to … Continue reading
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