I found a cricket in my bathroom this morning. He (or maybe she, who knows?) seemed perfectly content to watch me brush my teeth, but I knew that he wasn’t going to find what he needed in that environment. As far as I could tell, there was nothing for crickets to eat nearby, and moreover, … Continue reading
This is Part 2 of my resolutions for a creative new school year. Perhaps, like me, you have more success writing resolutions—at least professional ones—in September. If so, come along and think with me. This year I’m trying to think in broader terms about the types of classroom I want to establish. For more specific … Continue reading
School days are jam packed. I don’t know a teacher who doesn’t feel the need for a 25th hour in the school day—and perhaps a 26th after school to catch up on grading! In the midst of such days, it can be hard to find moments to teach directly about creativity, even for teachers who … Continue reading
This post is about short stories. Really short. Only some of them in language arts. Ernest Hemingway once wrote a short story using only 6 words. “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” It is said that the story was the result of a bet with friends—who paid up. Hemingway thought it was one of his … Continue reading
Want to be more creative? Take a trip! Maybe. When I think about “highlight memories” of my life thus far, many of them revolve around travel. When I was a teenager, I had the chance to live in Luxembourg for a summer, speaking fractured French (and a little Luxembourgish!) and having the time of my … Continue reading
One of the best things I’ve read about creativity recently did not come from a book on creativity—it came from a book on learning targets. In their book, Learning Targets: Helping Students Aim for Understanding in Today’s Lesson, authors Connie M. Moss and Susan M. Brookhart describe the use of learning targets (goals) to focus … Continue reading
What happens when you mix Carl Sagan, profound ideas from science, illustration, and video/music remix techniques? Magical things. Recently I came across a video, created as a thesis project at Sheridan College. In it, student Adam Winnik used animation to bring part of Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot to video life. It made me wonder how … Continue reading
For the last few weeks I’ve been writing about teaching for creativity and the Common Core State Standards. The Common Core State Standards Initiative outlines core math and language arts content to be addressed at each grade level. In my first Common Core post, I clarified that the Common Core State Standards are not intended … Continue reading
Would your students like to share information through the image of Abraham Lincoln, a space alien or a cat? Would you? How about through an avatar that looks something like you—or maybe the way you’d like to look! There are many technology tools that use avatars in very sophisticated ways. Creating this type of avatar … Continue reading
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
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