Creativity in the Classroom

Ted Talk with Sir Ken Robinson

A recent Ted Talk by Sir Ken Robinson ask the question, do schools kill creativity? This is something that piques the interest of not only those in education but those outside of this work force. In education there seems to be a trend since the beginning of the public-school systems in the 19^th century and that is the hierarchy of academics. As mentioned by Robinson the level of importance in schools is placed with mathematics and language at the top while more creative subjects that involve humanity are placed at the bottom. Over time a hierarchy of the arts was established that was lower than that of academics and placed music above drama or dance. This has resulted in educating children from the waist up, into the head, for mental growth and not personal creativity. Robinson states that all children are originally born artistic, but the challenge is to remain an artist into adulthood as one ends up losing their creativity due to the fear of being wrong because when one is wrong mistakes are made, per corporate America.  Robinson further stresses just how important creativity is, and that creativity should be recognized as being just as important as literacy.

 

Validation of Robinson's Thoughts

In the Ted Talk with Robinson there are many key points that are validated with research and findings. It appears at the beginning of the speech Robinson is more of a storyteller than a speaker but as time proceeds, he makes valid points in favor of creativity in the classroom. One of the many elements of Robinson’s speech that I agree with is that children are now medicated more than ever, when in previous years they were not. Before ADHD or ADD was a medical condition, before it was recognized as a condition, people were exploring their personalities or outlets in other methods. This is something that I see all to often in education. A student who is vocal, actively moves around the class, must be on the go constantly is more times than not medicated to calm them when they may need a physical or kinesthetic outlet to express themselves. As an educator who fully supports kinesthetic movement and teaching, I agree with Robinson that there are many highly talented individuals who are taught to suppress their desires to conform to the norm of society. In education we are sometimes more concerned with how a student test, what score they will bring in for the school in terms of financial gains or training them for a career when they may have been meant to dance, or sing, or paint. When we are constantly pushing students to pursue careers and earn degrees, we are decreasing the value of certain degrees. Robinson puts out that a degree is no longer as valuable as it one was. An individual who earns a bachelor’s degree now needs a master’s degree and an individual who earns a master’s degree now needs a Doctorate in order to be successful or land a job. With such a high demand or request for higher education we are stressing the factor of learning academic and devaluing the importance of creativity.

 

How Technology is Used in the Class

Currently in my classroom, during summer school teaching, we are required by the state to complete 30 minutes per week using iReady. This is a program that is funded through the state and each school is to meet the minimal requirements in both reading and math. Another program that students are required by the school to use is a testing platform called ELS, Education Longitudinal Platform. During the summer months we are not required to incorporate as many districts required items as educators do not have to submit a lesson plan and are allowed to teach based on the individual needs of their students. Since this is something that is allowed over the course of the summer it has allowed me to use other platforms in my class such as math-play, time clock bingo, camping with fractions, and outside learning curriculum other than iReady books. When students are completing the 30 minutes we work together as a class, with the lesson on the board, and work out all of the problems together. We incorporate this into our weekly lesson every Monday and it introduces the new concept for the week. With summer school being 4 weeks long students are spending a total of two hours over the course of the summer working on iReady. All other time spent using technology in the class differs from week to week depending on the material that we are covering.

 

Introducing New Technology in the Class

One item that I might be trying at the end of the summer school program is the new feature that Google introduced where students are able to take a picture of any item and turn it into a coloring sheet. This can be a useful tool with younger students as it will help the students to learn about a concept they may be struggling with and see it broken down into different pieces. In teaching it is not always about pen and paper but rather expressing oneself and finding a way to relate or enjoy the material being taught. Last week, in honor of Father’s Day, students were allowed 15 minutes at the end of their math class to create a card for their father or father figure in their life. The enjoyment that they showed with this from being able to pick their own image, color, and write a personal note is what has led me to the idea of the coloring sheet for a lesson. Students often struggle with concepts in every content area but finding ways to make learning fun can change the perspective that one has on the lesson. This is something that could possibly be done by allowing students to take a picture of a concept they find challenging, breaking it apart as black and white, and then building off of it in colors to see how it all comes together.