It wouldn't let me post in a comment, either. So here goes. (:
Laura - there is SO much you've said and so much I want to respond to!! So I'll try my best to respond...we shall see. (:
Basically first things first, I totally agree 100% with how you said that teachers absolutely have to at least TRY to foster that creativity in the classroom. As a teacher, that's our job! We have to pave the way for our students to obtain the best possible education - that's the whole reason why we got an education ourselves anyway, isn't it? (: Certainly they can learn a lot about being creative and even utilizing the media that they are familiar with to do so, but we (as educators) have more knowledge and experience that we can teach our students. We can be the ones to give them even more venues through with to express themselves and learn to understand themselves, as well. Having taken both 352 and now bring in 377D with you, it's really neat to see how teaching students creatively and with the "big idea" concepts and thinking more outside the box can really enhance a lesson. I think back to a lot of the lesson plans I've created myself or that others in our class led us through in 352 last semester and how they made subjects that I previously was not very interested in (history especially) seem like the most exciting and engaging topics ever. All because they were based in this essential teacher-led creative process, that allowed us as students to become engaged in our own learning process.
I loved the example from Hobb's book about Mr. Wagenhoffer and his chemistry class. He stated that, "We're a school that values integrating the arts across the curriculum, and for many students, this intensified their curiosity about that periodic table" (p. 85). I can only imagine the number of students who could be reached and perhaps (hopefully!) even better understand these typically difficult subjects if more schools and the teachers within them had this same mindset! I have always been a hands-on learner, and doing something similar to what was done in Mr. W's classroom is something that could have really helped me as a student - and many of my peers - back when I was in high school. When you give students room to be creative and explore something on their own (within safe and previously outlined boundaries), they can really thrive. You just need to give them that chance to foster their own creativity and make their learning just that – their own!
I could go on and on about Hobbs’ perspective (and a discussion on problems with this creative approach would take probably more room than I can fit on this response alone), but I want to comment a bit on what you said about the Seeing and Writing excerpts. I LOVE the idea of teaching about current events and what is going on in the present. To me, as an educator, student, and just as a human being in general, I am always way more interested in what is going on now – in the present – than for any other time period. Maybe this is the reason why I find it difficult to engage with history, as I mentioned previously…But all in all, I do agree that finding not only a real-world but also that PRESENT-DAY application and connection can really help our students to engage in their own learning.
Our students will be growing up in the same grades, with many of the same peers from grade to grade, and will no doubt have a lot in common with one another for those reasons alone (as well as many others). However, they will also be very different and two students in your classroom could be worlds apart in terms of economic standing, race, family life, and so on. Therefore, using the photography example, I think that would be a beautiful way to not only showcase but explore how the students in your classroom are similar, as well as how they are different. They will be able to connect immediately on some of their similar levels, and then be able to hopefully learn to understand one another far better than they did previously, based off of the exposed differences that they have – whether literally (i.e. in a photo of where they live or of their family dynamic) or perspective-wise (in how they interpret these photos that they took or those of their peers).
There's more to say but I think I’ll stop here. Basically, I agree with a lot of what you said (Laura). And I think creativity is SO, so key in the way we educate our students. There are infinite ways of going about doing this – but there are also many (maybe even “easier”) ways to go about teaching them. I think we just need to find ways that are accessible for both us and our students, and work together as a team to make sure we are all on board to fostering this creativity for us all.
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