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
Tagged with creativity and motivation …
The Progress Principle Comes to School (or Not)
It is sad, but perhaps not unexpected, that since I recently wrote about discouraged educators, I’ve spent a lot of time coaching a young teacher friend. She’s trying to find her way through an interaction with an administrator that has her questioning whether she belongs in public education at all. The specifics don’t matter because … Continue reading
Motivation and Me: Part 2
Again, today, I’m thinking about motivation, specifically, motivation to learn. Needless to say, teachers hope students will be motivated to learn the content they’ve prepared. There are few things more frustrating than facing a class with a carefully crafted lesson only to be met with indifference. Thinking about what motivates students to learn—and how it … Continue reading
I Think I Can, I Think I Can….Be Creative
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