The Common Core State Standards Initiative outlines core math and language arts content to be addressed at each grade level. That is, the Core Standards carefully delineate WHAT is to be taught at each grade level, at least in those subject areas. But is does not address the ways that content is to be taught. … Continue reading
The Artful Thinking website, from Harvard’s Project Zero, is a fine resource for teaching art—and just about anything else. The program uses the image of an artist’s palette to outline six dispositions, or ways of thinking, that can be mixed to create masterpieces of teaching and learning. The dispositions include: Reasoning Exploring Viewpoints Questioning … Continue reading
In the United States, The Common Core State Standards Initiative is one of the most powerful forces we’ve seen in education in a long, long time. So what is it? And how does it influence teachers’ options for developing creativity in classrooms? This is the first of several weekly posts on the Common Core and … Continue reading
September is here, summer is slipping away, and most of the students in the U. S. are beginning the new school year. As promised, I am beginning a first-of-the-month post of creative activities focused on families–after all, we can’t have all our fun in the summer! Many of the activities will be appropriate for school … Continue reading
It would not come as any surprise to any teacher I know, that the United States’ current obsession with high stakes testing may not be the best thing for student learning—to say nothing of student creativity. Test scores appear to have become our ultimate goal, as if we believe that raising scores, particularly on international … Continue reading
I am fortunate enough to live just a quick-trip-down-I94 from one of the country’s most interesting museums, The Henry Ford. While there as part of a one-day vacation recently, I discovered a treasure trove of resources for teaching students about innovation and creativity. Home base for the materials is a site called On Innovation. There … Continue reading
Having a more creative school year not about cute bulletin boards or expensive materials—it is about becoming a classroom in which students are encouraged to be their most creative selves, while engaged in your interesting learning activities. Here are a few places to start. First, think about your classroom. 1. Consider the physical atmosphere in … Continue reading
Can it really be time for back-to-school? Teaching all summer has confused my inner calendar! Still, one of the great benefits of the academic calendar is that it gives us two “New Years” each year, two opportunities to resolve to do things just a little better this time. For those of you whose September resolutions … Continue reading
A few weeks ago I had the interesting opportunity to be interviewed for BAM Radio, an internet radio station that addresses all manner of important issues in education. I was part of a conversation with writer/researcher Dr. Yong Zhao and Justin Snider, who teaches creative writing. We talked about the dilemmas posed by “One Right … Continue reading
It seems impossible that we are in the waning days of summer, but so it is. So, this will be the last weekly “Family Fun” collection for now, as I go back to a focus on creativity in school settings. But Family Fun, has been way too much fun—really—to give up entirely, so for the … Continue reading
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