Creativity in the Classroom: My version of Heaven

"If you're not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original." -Sir Ken Robinson
"We don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it." -Sir Ken Robinson
"The creator stands out in terms of temperament, personality, and stance. She is perennially dissatisfied with current work, current standards, current questions, current answers. She strikes out in unfamiliar directions and enjoys—or at least accepts—being different from the pack." -Howard Gardner


These three quotes really stood out to me this week during my readings and viewings. Being that I have always taught intermediate elementary grades, I find that much of the creativity my first couple years only existed in Art class. We didn't color pictures, and we didn't create pieces of art. However, we sure did practice for those state assessments! Where is the creativity in reading a passage and answering multiple choice questions about it???

Then, I discovered the power of technology and digital media! I was pretty sure I had died and gone to heaven. My first year of using technology in my classroom was very centered around trying to find activities and create lessons using the tech. Then, I learned to turn things around. The technology wasn't my curriculum, but it sure did enhance it! Instead of giving my students a test at the end of a story in reading class, I had them create a comic strip or a slide show. I learned very quickly that the power of creativity lies in the options my students are presented with. 

As for the question of "Do schools kill creativity," I don't believe they do it on purpose. With all the high stakes tests and even higher teacher responsibilities, teachers don't feel they have "time" for their students to be creative. There is so much stress put on teachers today. All the negativity that weighs down on teachers causes us to lose steam, thus dampening creativity because it requires a bit of chaos. 


References:
Ken Robinson - "Do Schools Kill Creativity" on TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) 
Gardner, Howard (2009-02-01). Five Minds for the Future (p. 83). Harvard Business Review Press. Kindle Edition.