When we were all basically home bound during the worst of the pandemic, I started walking my neighborhood daily. I’ve continued the habit, even throughout Michigan winters, except when ice makes me fear for life and limb. One of the joys of neighborhood walks is discovering new little libraries, those small delights in which neighbors … 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
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
In creativity, as in all of life, beliefs and emotions matter. When individuals feel confident in their ability to work creatively, they are more likely to undertake creative projects and stick to them when times get tough. Teachers who have confidence in their own creativity are more likely to teach to support students’ creativity—and find … Continue reading
When does creativity not look like creativity? Perhaps, sometimes, because we do not recognize it. Recently, Kaufman and Glăveanu suggested we may need a new concept to describe the space between “Wow, this is creative!” and “Nope, that’s not creative at all.” They’ve called it “Shadow Creativity.” Most definitions of creativity focus on two dimensions: … Continue reading
Here I am back. Again. It is true that, like everyone else, I’ve had my life rhythms disrupted by COVID. But I am among the fortunate in that my immediate family and friends have been spared major illness thus far, so that isn’t a great reason for my absence. I do have one good one, … Continue reading
What a beginning to a school year! All around me, my teacher friends and parent friends are struggling over what young people need most. How can we protect them from illness while maximizing their learning? How do we balance the social and educational needs of vaccinated adolescents while protecting their unvaccinated siblings? What should we … Continue reading
What makes sound? What makes music? If you’d like to explore these questions, and perhaps set your students on a summer quest, consider Frank Pahl. Frank Pahl is a Michigan musician and composer who works with automatic music, or music created using automatic instruments. Automatic instruments don’t require a human to directly operate them, like … Continue reading
I was a young adolescent when the Beatles first appeared on Ed Sullivan. Their music sounded from every treasured 45 rpm record (yes, actual records) and boys in school were suddenly send home from school for combing their inch-long hair forward in the dreaded “Beatles hairdo.” After that phenomenon, nothing much has compared, so there … Continue reading
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