I have a friend whose son is in second grade. It is now March. As far as his mother can determine, the teacher has yet to make a positive comment regarding a child’s work. Accurate work is met with more work. Mistakes are met with red marks and, “Do over.” The intent is high standards, … Continue reading
Every family has sayings that stick with them forever. Some of these seem common to a lot of families: “If Johnny jumped off a bridge, would you jump, too?” Or, “If you can’t say anything nice about someone, don’t say anything at all.” In my family, one of my mother’s classic sayings had to do … Continue reading
Few things concern teachers more than student motivation. The degree to which students are invested and engaged in classroom activities is basic to their success. We may sometimes talk of “unmotivated students,” but the truth is, every student is motivated. Every student attends to and puts effort into something—it just isn’t always the things we … Continue reading
CREATIVITY: A Celtic Knot I’m coming near the end of my first year of creativiteach.me, and like most anniversaries, this one has prompted some reflection. In the past year I’ve been honored by thousands of visits from 114 countries. Creativity, it seems, is on people’s minds. But, in the face of all the challenges of … 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
Today I’d like to (for now) wrap up my comments on the so-called “Creativity Killers,” common classroom routines that stifle both students’ motivation and their creativity. Today we consider choice—or the lack thereof—and its impact in the classroom. Collins and Amabile (1999) put it bluntly, “The best way to help people maximize their creative potential … 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
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
One of the most interesting and puzzling dilemmas in thinking about creativity and schools is the relationship between creativity and intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation, of course, is defined as the motivation to do something for its own sake, for the sheer pleasure or satisfaction of the task. A runner may run marathons for the joy … Continue reading
creativiteach 