Warning! The Scale of the Universe is addictive. You may have trouble pulling yourself away from this fascinating exploration of size, scale, and relationships. It takes a moment to load, but once it does, it presents items in order of size, from quantum foam at 1X10-35 meters, past microbes, ants, giant earthworms, the Titanic, and … Continue reading
Tomorrow I’m getting on a plane and flying to China. How beyond amazing is that? It is a small and wonderful world, for sure. In a whirlwind week I’m going to have the opportunity to visit schools in several cities, with educators who are interested (among other things) in developing students’ creativity. But, of course, … Continue reading
Today I welcome guest blogger Holli Weaver. When she told me about this activity I just knew it needed to be shared, so I’m thrilled that she was willing to step in to the guest-blogger role. So, with thanks, here’s Holli. During a unit on Earth Science, my third graders engaged in a creative project … Continue reading
Do you ever have those moments when a principle you know to be true is demonstrated, and you are amazed anyway? Watching eggs being sucked into a bottle or cans being crushed by air pressure do that to me. I know it should happen, but I’m still amazed, especially if I do the experiment myself. … Continue reading
I love TED. I love it because when I have a few free minutes I can learn about no end of fascinating things. But I love it even more because sometimes TED brings me moments of mind-boggling delight. Here is one of them. It is a human kaleidoscope celebrating the “Power of X” to multiply … Continue reading
A few years ago Dallas Clayton wrote a book for his son, all about dreaming big. But no one wanted to publish it. Fortunately for us, Dallas Clayton is not easily daunted, and the phenomenon of An Awesome Book was born. Wait! Don’t read on. Go back and click on that link. Read the book … Continue reading
It’s April already–let the (real) spring begin! Spring brings thoughts of growing things and, for many, the health of planet earth. With Earth Day coming up, it’s time to think about incorporating creativity in solving some of our earth’s many problems. The Earth Day Network’s educator site has lots of materials for Earth Day, including … Continue reading
Last Thursday I introduced the variables designated as “creativity killers” because they have been found to inhibit intrinsic motivation: evaluation, surveillance, reward, competition, and lack of choice. I know, the list is depressing. Procedures that are so familiar and common in classroom life can, vampire-like, suck the creative lifeblood from our classrooms. To add to … Continue reading
“There was a lot more to magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.” Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J. K. Rowling A strange thing happened to me on the way to planning a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando. In my search for information on … Continue reading
Creativity killers. Sounds pretty scary—my immediate image is of brain-sucking aliens or some such thing, draining creative energies from the people around them. The reality is less dramatic but still pretty frightening. Last week I talked about the importance of intrinsic motivation in creativity. In fact, Amabile proposes a three-part model of creativity in which … Continue reading
creativiteach 