I recently had a disturbing conversation with a young teacher who is one of the brightest people I know. My friend has been teaching for six years in high-stress environments. Like many teachers, her life is very full. Because her teaching assignments seem to change yearly, she is constantly preparing for new classes. She takes … Continue reading
Doesn’t every teacher dream of setting students’ minds aglow? We envision classrooms full of enthusiastic students, digging into new ideas with vigor. Sometimes it even happens that way. Sometimes. And, despite some teachers’ “just tough it out” approaches, students’ enthusiasm is important. Without it (and the effort it inspires), in-depth learning doesn’t happen–and neither does … Continue reading
The more I think about students and creativity, the more I come back to the same idea: Classrooms that are supportive of creativity are supportive of learning. It all comes back to the complex (and wonderful) relationships among creativity, motivation and learning–really learning, in ways that help us use the things we learn. Classrooms … Continue reading
Do you know a young person who likes to build things? To help young builders move to the next level of thinking without the demand for high-tech gizmos or expensive materials, you might explore Engineer This! 10 Amazing Projects for Young Mechanical Engineers. In Engineer This!, Carole McBride and Francisco Gonzales have compiled projects including … Continue reading
This was an awful morning. You’ve had those, right? In my case, the morning was one long meeting—the kind where people talk at you for hours, without even a bathroom break. Each presentation alone would have been interesting, but in total they resulted in a crowd of grumpy uncomfortable professors squirming in their chairs and … Continue reading
Two of the key things creative scientists do are 1) Ask questions and 2) Gather data to try to answer the questions. This month, your students can gather with data-seekers around the world to help answer the question, “Is the earth flat?” Now, for those of you in globe-filled classrooms, that may seem a silly … Continue reading
I’m always on the lookout for good, non-gory Halloween fun. This year I found it in Aaron Reynold’s Creepy Pair of Underwear! Why is young Jasper Rabbit afraid of his underwear? Just because they glow ghoulish green, and keep reappearing unexpectedly, that’s no reason to worry, right? Jasper isn’t sure. There is so much to … Continue reading
When I listed to 10-year-0ld author Oummu Kabba talk about her work, the sentence that struck me was near the end of the interview. Oummu described why she loved writing, saying, “When I write I feel like I’m in control of the whole world. . . I like having that power over my characters. . … Continue reading
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
Sometimes the creativity in the world just makes me chuckle. It happened this week as I reviewed the materials for the 2017 Dance Your Dissertation Contest. Yes, dance. For most of us who managed the dissertation process, any dancing that occurred was at a post-defense party at which we celebrated our academic survival. But the … Continue reading
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