Inspire creativity.

Do traditional classrooms inspire creativity? Can anyone really inspire creativity?

These questions are what today's blog is all about. Face it. Most schools still use the traditional School room format for instruction. Sure, some schools are different, but for the most part in America it is traditional. Obviously we aren't doing everything identical to the 1930's. I mean we have computers and new class opportunities. Things are different, but still based on the same system. I once read that we should "scrap" the current system and start from scratch building a new education system with no set framework to start with. we should simply say "what do we want kids to learn? and how can we best accomplish that?". Wouldnt that be great. It won't happen anytime soon. So what can we do?

We can help to inspire creativity in our students, ourselves, and our colleges. First, inspiring creativity in other teachers I think is the easiest. All you have to do is show how well something creative you've done is working in the classroom. It will get others thinking. Now some may straight up copy what you have done, but that isnt bad. Hopefully over time they will adjust it to better fit their style and class.

Inspireing students can be much more difficult. One easy thing to do is reward creativity openly. That can be just praise, grades, or perhaps a prize. Sometimes you can simply have a project and give a prize for the most creative even if it isn't the best. You should recognize creativity for all that are creative, not just the most creative. Also we need to talk about creativity and what it means. Teachers like to say "be creative", but what does that mean to them. Give them examples of past creativity within the assignment. It gives them an idea of how others have been creative. You could even do creativity assignments in math class. Say "I want you to use your imagination to think of the most creative way to add the numbers from 1 to 10 together." You might tell them that a past student said "write one number one, two number twos, three threes and so on. then count up all the numbers you have". They may not think that is creative at all and that is great.

In the end I think to inspire creativity you need to be creative and affirm the value of creativity. Maybe someone does something wrong but does it in a very creative way. They should still have the method recognized.

What keeps me Creative?

What inspires me to be creative daily? Weekly? Hmmm....
What a tough question to answer. I suppose I could say my job or the problems I face daily, but I think that would be missing what is actually happening. I think my family and more specifically my wife inspires the majority of my creativity. She is very supportive of me and what I do and always has her mind going like crazy.
She may have dozens of ideas about what we should do and how to do it every day. Believe me when I say that sometimes that gets a little overwhelming. Still, it is those conversations we have where she shares what she wants to do and wants done. It is those that get my mind going. Sometimes I'm thinking about how to avoid doing work. It can take a lot of creativity to keep from having to build a porch or reroof the house. And this is what I do. I begin to think about what we really need accomplished as apposed to what we think we want or need. This is when I can be really creative. Most amazing inventions and creative things of any use were accidents or people trying to make life easier.
My wife and kids do this for me. I want to spend so much time with them, that I have to find ways to limit my time commitments elsewhere. I am really interested to see how others answered this question. I wouldnt be supprised to see answers like: my troll doll, God, my mom, the sunrise, or who knows what else. It is quite interesting when you begin to think about what makes you creative.

Blogging assignment 5

What are some of the blocks and barriers that you see or have begun to see to your own personal creativity? How will you go about addressing them?

Blocks and barriers that I have with my own creativity. First is time. With 2 small children, full time work, and church duties I find I have little time to allow myself to be creative. It frustrates me because usually I can't seem to find 15 uninterupted minutes to practice playing my guitar. How could I possibly be creative with it. Overcoming this block will take planning and decision making. I will have to carefully consider what I am doing with my time. I have to say, "what is most important to me right now?" and then allocate time to the creative process.

Second, is expression. I have good ideas, some of which are creative, but I have difficulty expressing those ideas either to others or in the form of the creative product. For this one, I try to use my wife some or occasionally my friends. Just someone to talk to about it and try and get things to where they can be expressed properly.

Another issue is that talent and creativity don't always line up. For instance, one could be very talented at doing something but not be creative with it. The opposite also can apply. This seems to be my problem. If I have creativity, then I lack the talent to implement it. Or just the opposite happens to me. I'm unsure how to attack this issue. Some things can be practiced and knowledge gained to supplement natural talent, but that may still not make up for the general talent not being there.