Fostering creative thinking

As a student, I was outstanding at listening and following directions.  This allowed me to feel successful in school as I got mostly A's throughout my K-12 education by doing what was asked.  There was one small problem in that process...I failed at becoming a creative and innovative thinker - at least in the context of a school/workplace setting.  When no one told me what to do - I did not know what to do.  What is funny is that the thing that I valued the most about my free-time was being creative.  Whether it was writing music or media design, I longed to get wrapped up in these activities while I was being forced to do menial tasks through school that proved my knowledge of whatever it was we were learning about.  I saw no connection with school to the creative outlets that I enjoyed the most.  Whenever I did get a glimpse at using this creativity in my school experience, I remember the amount of care and effort I put into it.  I still remember the fun and pride that came with those projects.  I wish I had more moments in school that I could reflect on in this light.  I definitely remember those teachers that regarded creative thinking as the priority, not just a special project.  It was those teachers that helped me to find my voice - not someone else's, and I am grateful for them.  We need to show our students that their voice is what defines them.  Information is cheap and easy to access - what we do we that information is what will shape our lives.  Let's allow our students to form and defend their opinions.  Let's give them creative opportunities to communicate these opinions.  Let's stop telling them what to do, and start making goals with them.  Their voices are the most important in our classrooms, not ours.

I am constantly impressed with the culture that I experience in classrooms throughout our district.  I get to experience examples on a daily basis of teachers truly reflecting what I am speaking about.  I love being able to help in any way that I can to contribute to this effort.  Whether it is in the training, planning, teaching, or support phase - I am thankful to be able to be a part of it.  Never hesitate to contact me if I can help in any way.

You might be asking why I'm rambling about philosophy on my edtech blog. Truth be told, I had the intention of writing about something else, but once I started - it turned into this.  Call it a random moment of creativity.  I'm still working on my voice too (and its my blog, so I can do what I want).  Thanks for reading - my goal is to build off of this idea and illustrate the connection that creativity and technology have.