Nurturing Your Student's (and your own) Creativity with Mr. Jonathan Maki http://tinyurl.com/6hpgr4a jonathan.maki@minnetonka.k12.mn.us twitter: jonathanmaki Hi, while you're waiting, take a lemon and a sheet of paper and list 100 things you can do with that.
Which egg is the creative egg?
Get into groups of 3 and find as many things as possible that you have in common in your education practice. You have 2 minutes. This is in preparation of helping people see connections to their learning environment.
Purpose, mastery, freedom Flexible, optimistic, fun, humorous, curious 21 st Cenutry Skills
Why should you listen to this guy? Experience: 2006 Regional Air Guitar Champion Practicing Artist (inspired by student art) Songwriter/performer (4 cds, tent building during show, or crayons at shows) Scavenger Hunt (later bought by Vita.mn) sailboat mural Facilitating public art with students (Liz Miller inspired mural, Totem Gargoyles) Numerous excellent Halloween costumes Continual quest for teaching creative thinking strategies for my students (even if they re not going to work in creative fields) Our goal 1. Leave feeling inspired. 2. Convinced because of the amount of information you learned 3. Actual tools you can use in your classroom, family, and life. -
Your Relationship to Creativity
What really is Creativity? 1. Big C = big breakthroughs (like the invention of.) 2. Small c = problem solving examples (everything is a remix) 3. Attributes of creativity are analytic, synthetic, and practical, observable and novel 4. Behaviors adaptive, innovative, flexible, open, go with the flow, collaborative, connector, funny, playful, selfknowledgeable, self disciplined, self actualizing http://vimeo.com/25380454
Myths Nature vs. Nurture
Creative Experiences Promote Young Children's Development Physical Skills Sensory Awareness Communication and Literacy Cognitive Growth Social/ Emotional Growth Eye-hand coordination Auditory awareness and vocal stimulation Nonverbal, sumbolic expression of emotions Experience cause and effect based on choices Independent sense of self Fine motor coordination Tactile stimulation Verbally and nonverbally connect to others Plan and organize Social cooperation and sharing Dexterity with tools Observe color, detail, shape and line Vocabulary to describe ideas and creative process Decision making Pride and sense of accomplishment Large motor/ body coordination Multi-sensory awareness Reflect and communicate on process and outcome Problem solve Using artistic process to express feelings from Crayola Seminar NAEA Conference 2011
Creativity between the teacher and student and environment The learning environment is a promising landscape for creative student work when the teacher can: Recognize creative work as original and unique Value open-ended outcomes Facilitate for choices of media and subject matter Encourage self-directed learning by teaching strategies for independence Embrace emergent curriculum that arises from students discoveries Shift the locus of control from teacher to learner Multiple answers are encouraged Learners are more likely to exhibit creative behaviors in the classroom when they can: Define problems through inquiry Think divergently Engage in topics of personal relevance Persevere unconditionally when intrinsically motivated Take risks and grow from mistakes without fear of consequences Are given a clear path Collaborate in self-selected groups Feel autonomous (http://naea.typepad.com/naea/2009/10/cre ativity-in-the-classroom.html) Clear objectives + encouragement of creativity = purpose, intrinsic value, fewer class disruptions!
design accounting Creativity is everywhere and for everyone law Teachers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbeka wcockw&feature=player_embedded
What were the objectives here? Where do you see creativity? Did the students mimic the teacher's directions or were they truly creating? If it's art, it has to be creative, right? Really? How do you know? How could the creativity be more evident?
Creative Problem Solving Steps 1. Identify problem (what if) or Preparation 2. Define Problem (analyze to understand) or more preparation 3. Generate variety of solutions (. Play, scamper, synthesize ) then Incubation 4. Choose and implement solution (choose the best to complete) or Illumination 5. Evaluate (critique, revise) or verification
Let s try a few strategies Pick random words that go along with something in your room. Substitute: exchange something Problem Reversal: Put to other uses Problem your students often have: Ask why 5 times Magnify Eliminate Combine: Adapt Rearrange/Reverse
Let s try some more. Provocative Idea List 100 things Problem your students often have: Elaborate metaphorical/analogy mindmapping How is this problem like a... (lawnmower or shoe)? storyboarding
Look at the connections!
Assessment 1. Communication needs to be infused with the grade. 2. Criteria (Evidence of play, display of SCAMPER techniques...) 3. Specific objectives 4. Specific problem to be solved (but there are many unknowns)... 5. Successful solution has an identifiable outcome... 6.If you want to grade originality (suggesting appropriate uniqueness and novelty) is reaaallly tough, and cannot stand alone. When assessing creativity, you are acknowledging 21 st Century Skills (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, & creativity)
With your students: 1. Really know your objectives and criteria. 2. Use this poster stretch the rules, don t break 'em 3. Allow openness for What if I do it this way? (when they ask this, ask them are you stretching or breaking?) 4. Use the gallery items in this presentation or in SmartNotebook.
What do you show? 1. In displays, include reflections! (reflection is more than closure, it s a part of the creative process! 2. When kids clean up, you could have 2 kids who have the job of holding up 2 pieces of exemplar work. 3. Share with a peer 4. Gallery walk 5. Post its 6. Giving a title is a form of reflection 7. Kindergarten teachers can write reflections on the back of kids works. 8. In displays, include short poster of objectives 9. Could you have students reflect in some other way? (video?)
21 st Century Skills Creative Experiences tie all four Thinking Domains (Critical Thinking, Creativity, Communication, and Collaboration)
Now with the people in your group, draw a picture that shows nuggets you learned today, which could involve: 1. Creative thinking strategies 2. Pragmatic way(s) to get it going in your classroom. 3. How creative thinking is important to your life. 4. How your kids will be affected What images (animals, objects, people, toys, food) can symbolize what you think? Can shapes, colors, or lines help convey your point? When you're done, explain your artwork to the rest of class.
My Dreams 1. Be Prolific with whatever you do. (make stuff. Anything. A LOT.) 2. Try mixing it up. What if our PLCs were a mixture of all departments and grade levels? 3. What would happen if we told someone else about this stuff? 4. What if you used a few of these things in your room or life? 5. What would kids think of school if creative thought was encouraged and directed a little more? Nurturing Your Students (and your) Creativity Jonathan Maki - Scenic Heights Art & Design Teacher jonathan.maki@minnetonka.k12.mn.us twitter: jonathanmaki
one last thought: When life gives you lemons...
FLUENCY When improving your fluency, you can practice by listing as many, varied, and unusual ideas that come to your mind. The more you do this the better you can get at being fluent. Here are some exercises to improve your fluency. Give yourself 30 seconds to think about each prompt and then write as many ideas as you can for that prompt on a separate piece of paper. Have someone time you for the next 3 minutes. Record your score. Chart yourself. See if you improve from one prompt to the next by comparing your change in scores. FLUENCY: Name 100 things you look through. Name 100 things that are fast. Name 100 things that open and close. Name 100 different kinds of bars. Name 100 things as you can that jump. Name 100 things that are gold or golden. Name 100 ways as you can to use water. Name 100 things that fly. Pretend that you are a storybook character, what would you say? Example: "Grandmother, what big eyes you have." http://library.thinkquest.org/j002783/flex.htm
ELABORATION Gives details and expands your ideas when developing your product <prodt.htm>. To improve on your elaboration skills, you can add details in your illustrations and in your writing. When adding lines or words to your ideas, think about many, varied, and unusual ways* to your creative designs. With the pictures below, try to think of something that no one has thought of before. Then, try to make your picture tell a story by adding an interesting title on the lines provided below the picture. Elaboration on a simple line...
How is this picture like a? (pick a topic in your room)
Your Very Own Gallery for Creative Thinking Strategies 1. Make slides for the gallery. Ask what makes a space conducive to creativity. a. Fluency i. Brainstorming ii. SCAMPER 1. Idea each group can think of a question to ask the Magic SCAMPER sheet. And use china marker to write answers on it. iii. List 100 ways b. Flexibility i. What else can this be used? ii. Who,what, where, why, how about an idea c. Elaboration i. What details can I add that will show more about my subject? d. Originality i. What s unique/novel about this creative solution? e. Analysis: i. Comparing, contrasting, classifying, taking apart information f. http://members.optusnet.com.au/~charles57/creative/techniques/syn_ quest.htm g. PLAY PLAY PLAY. h. Analogies i. Two different things and put them together j. checklists k. Criteria lending in creativity l. In class, we stretch the rules. We don t break them.