When I first started teaching, eons ago, the one piece of advice we were given for “setting the tone” in our classrooms was the infamous adage “Don’t smile until Christmas.” I don’t know anyone who actually tried to manage that feat, but I suspect it had a real impact students’ early experiences in classrooms of … 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
One of the most powerful ideas in psychology today is the idea of mindset. Carol Dweck, in particular, has studied the ways in which our beliefs about our capacity affect what we do. If we have a fixed mindset—about any number of human attributes–we believe our capabilities are etched in stone. If we are smart, … Continue reading
Have you ever been in a situation when you really needed a new idea and your brain seemed to freeze? Or maybe you’ve tried to solve a problem and every idea seemed like a bad one? You are not alone. Creativity and anxiety—or even small amounts of uncertainty—don’t necessarily mix well. Researchers Mueller, Melwani and … Continue reading
creativiteach 