Blog on Creativity in the Classroom

In the video “Do schools kill creativity?” by Sir Ken Robinson made some excellent points about creativity and learners of all ages.  He said “all kids have tremendous talent.”  This I believe is true and it is something I get to see every day in my classroom.  He also said “creativity is as important as literacy,” which is interesting because in schools it seems like most of the emphasis is on math and literacy.  To answer the question “do schools kill creativity in a lot of ways?” I think they do.  Especially now with standardized tests and focuses on getting all the information in and not on mastering the information.  Sometimes it would be helpful to let the students be creative with topics so they would master it instead of just go over it.  There are many ways digital media can be used in a classroom to support the students and creativity. In my classroom, some ways digital media could be used to enhance creativity are in the puppet area, during circle time, and throughout the studies. In the puppet area, I would like to have the students film their puppet shows that they perform.  I would like to have the kids watch their shows and show family and friends.  I think that this would be a great way to motivate students into creating more shows so they could share them.  During circle time, I would like to use digital books sometimes that way when we are reading the same book for a third time in a week it would still be interesting hearing and seeing it from someone else.  A lot of times now, some students are saying not that book again.  It is also hard to include digital media in my circle time because my students are limited to ten minutes of screen time a day with a total of thirty minutes a week, so if I use a book with the students that is six minutes long, that counts toward their time.  It would also be nice to have a way to play books for them besides on my laptop that way it is easier for the children to see and hear.  Another way is to let the students explore and be creative with the HATCH Pads instead of limiting them to the games that were downloaded for the HATCH programs. Even though there are many ways to improve digital media usage in my classroom, one way that students can be creative is with music and dance.  The students are encouraged to dance and make music every day in our music area.        

 

Resources:

Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? Can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY