https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity?language=en
10 TED Talks Every Art Teacher Should Watch Hopefully, when I tell you I have been watching Ted Talks non-stop for a month, you know I am talking about the short, inspiring videos and not the rude, crude talking bear. TED Talks started back in 1984 when a conference was held for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. Speakers were challenged to present powerful speeches in under 18 minutes. Since then, it has grown into a national movement with one mission– to spread ideas. My first TED talk happened to be by Matt Cutts with his challenge to do something new for 30 days.
What Colleges Can Gain by Adding Makerspaces to its Libraries Libraries are one of the fastest-evolving learning spaces. As many resources move online, and teachers require students to collaborate more and demonstrate their learning, librarians are trying to keep up. Some are even spearheading the changes. Public libraries have led the effort to provide access to 21st century technologies and learning resources, but now university and K-12 libraries are beginning to catch up. Creative Teaching and Teaching Creativity: How to Foster Creativity in the Classroom “Describe the tongue of a woodpecker,” wrote Leonardo Da Vinci on one of his to-do lists, next to sketching cadavers, designing elaborate machines, and stitching costumes. Da Vinci filled over 7,000 notebook pages with questions, doodles, observations, sketches, and calculations. He nurtured creativity as a habit and skill every day—and it paid off. Da Vinci’s work reshaped multiple disciplines, from science, to art, to engineering. I was intrigued when my co-teacher suggested using “Da Vinci” notebooks in our 2nd grade classroom. The idea was simple: students keep notebooks, independent of any academic subject, where they can try creative exercises and explore personal passions.
School Library Surfer: Library Design Considerations The first year of librarianship at Northbridge InternationalSchool Cambodia has been less a roller coaster ride and more a rocket blastoff. I arrived to find a very capable Khmer paraprofessional who was just waiting for the opportunity to learn more about Destiny Quest, helping patrons, and increasing circulation. By the end of the 2012-2013 school year, circulation had increased 70% over the previous year and a culture of reading is beginning to take hold of the school. How did we increase circulation by 70%? Is our math wrong?
What creativity really is - and why schools need it Although educators claim to value creativity, they don’t always prioritize it. Teachers often have biases against creative students, fearing that creativity in the classroom will be disruptive. They devalue creative personality attributes such as risk taking, impulsivity and independence. How to Reinvent Project Based Learning to Be More Meaningful By Thom Markham This is a crucial time for education. Every system in every country is in the process of figuring out how to reboot education to teach skills, application, and attitude in addition to recall and understanding. Helping students be able to grapple with increased problem solving and inquiry, be better critical and creative thinkers, show greater independence and engagement, and exhibit skills as presenters and collaborators is the challenge of the moment. That’s why so many educators are using the project based learning (PBL) model.
The Quest for Creativity in Schools - EdTech Researcher Few terms in education are as ill-defined as creativity. A 2010 report on the study of creativity and innovation in education within European Union (EU) member countries (Cachia, Ferrari, Ala-Mutka, & Punie, 2010), found that while educators touted creativity as a transversal and cross-curricular skill, they struggled to implement new practices, assessments, and technologies to support its development. The authors determined that five factors impacted the potential for educators to help students develop creativity: Discussions about the need for student creativity have dominated education conversations since at least the turn of the century. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills lists creativity as one of the critical skills that students should develop alongside critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. Educational thought leader, Michael Fullan, promotes creativity as a critical global competency.
Why Teacher Staff Meetings Suck Bring TeachThought Professional Development To Your School! Why Teacher Staff Meetings Suck–And How To Make Them Better by Terry Heick Time for a staff meeting? Need an idea? Something that engages teachers? The six thinking hats of De Bono The 6 hats The White hat This is the rational hat. You focus on practical and available data. You don’t interpret. These are facts, figures, information. 20 Classroom Setups That Promote Thinking 20 Classroom Setups That Promote Thinking by TeachThought Staff This is part 1 in our #iteachthought campaign. This is our equivalent to “back to school,” and is intended to help you focus in the 2015-2016 school year on taking a thoughtful approach to your craft as a teacher. Among these shifts we’ll talk about is turning our focus from content and teaching to thinkers and thinking.