Do schools kill creativity? -Ken Robinson

I really enjoyed Ken Robinson's talk on cultivating creativity in education. I agree with him in that creativity has been pushed aside in education. When reflecting on my own thoughts about my own personal journey throughout education, I also fell in the mindset of putting subjects into a hierarchical  list. I was taught that math/science and literacy/language were much more important than the arts. Arts and creativity were subjects that were extra, an add-on to the other subjects that mattered more.

In my own classroom, I see a struggle in creative thinking and use of imagination. I think there are more issues than the lack of cultivating creativity (too much exposure to things that are already fully created-no imagination required), but in seeing this, I can only imagine what it would be like in their future. It would be a very sad world if all creativity was lost.

We live in an era where information is very easily accessed. I think that it's important to let our minds be creative in taking this information and using it creatively. I agree with Robinson when he said that "creativity, which I define is the process of having original ideas that have value-more often than not comes about through the interaction of different disciplinary ways of seeing things" (2007). This is something that I believe we need to focus when teaching our students.

Another aspect of this is to look at each student in a holistic way. I loved his story about Gillian Lynne. I think when we expect a student to fit in the typical mold of being good with the mind (math, science and language), we forget that all they need is an outlet for their creativity. We should know this, we are all made differently. It would be a boring and lame world if we were all the same. Why has our education system encouraged us to teach students to become the same person with the same goals? We need to be preparing our students to be the best that they can be and were created to be. I am a true believer in that all students have the capability to succeed as long as their talents and skills are nurtured and encouraged.

As Robinson said, we need to "see our children for the hope that they are. Our task is to educate their whole being so they can face this future" (2007).

Tech Standard: Kindergarten

Grade Level:  K  
  EALR:  1. INTEGRATION: Students use technology within all content areas to collaborate, communicate, generate innovative ideas, investigate and solve problems.  
  Component:  1.2 Collaborate: Use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.  
  Grade Level Expectation:  1.2.1 Communicate and collaborate to learn with others.

Different Schools and Districts

What and awesome opportunity!
It was great to be able to work at four different schools this quarter. I learned a lot in terms of how different schools worked. It was so evident to see that each place is different; including students. It is important to get to know your students and your school to best benefit learning and teaching. That is what I have learned this quarter.
We have to be aware of the resources provided to us as teachers as well as come up with creative ways to do things if we don't have resources.
Overall, this was a great opportunity! I'm very grateful. :)

Organization

I have seen and learned a lot of things through my main placement. One thing that I saw last week was the importance of organization. My cooperating teacher and I really like to stress the idea of being organized so that the work that the students do gets turned in.
My teacher and I like to show students that in doing this, it prepares them for their future. Especially since this is a highly capable class, we emphasize that in fifth grade and sixth grade, they need to keep this up. If they fail to turn in assignments because of lack of organization, they have to leave the program.
So last week, my teacher went around to each student and organized their binder for them. She showed them what it means to be organized as a student. This is the kind of teacher I want to be. Through this, I saw so much dedication and care for her students. She took her own time, to do this for the students, so that they will succeed.
I think that as a teacher, these kinds of things are important. What can I do to help a student succeed? Seeing this the other day allowed me to reflect on what I will do and what kinds of things I would sacrifice to help students succeed.

choral counting!

Choral counting is something that I believe to be beneficial. I think that it's a great way to see patterns in numbers and sequence. I really liked what we did in class by counting by 19. I thought the patterns discovered here were quite interesting.
I think that this is a good way to show students that math is about finding patterns. It's that satisfaction feeling when you can solve things in a different way.
It's interesting to see how elementary students go about choral counting. They find patterns that we don't even find.
I think that this is a great opportunity to explore numbers, especially with students learning their basic multiplications.

quick images

I very much enjoyed quick images. I think that it is a good way to start a math lesson because it engages students with a fun challenge.
I learned a lot working with the group of third grade students. They seemed to have very much enjoyed this activity because presented them with a challenge (a game) to do.

This is an interesting way to see what the students are thinking. The challenge that is presented is a group of dots that are shown for three seconds at a time. The students' task is to figure out how many dots are in the group. Here is an example: This example uses tally marks instead of dots but it is the same concept.

I love this, definitely something that I hope to use in the future!

constructive feedback

Some of the constructive feedback that provided valuable to me were one that were detailed. They tell me what was missing and how I can include them. I thought that this type of feedback helped me the most because it provides more reflection. Through this type of feedback, I am able to sit back and see what I did that was either missing or wasn't as effective.

I definitely prefer detailed feedback versus a general statement.