Guest bloggers on The Inspired Classroom and I have often touched upon personal philosophies of education.  These philosophies have ranged from technology to special ed, to education and teaching in general.  My first written philosophy of ed (from about 13 years ago) compared teaching to gardening, and I was brought back to those images once again while reading Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work – New Insights for Improving Schools (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, 2008).  Early in the book, the authors mentioned how throughout history, many schools have tended to use teaching strategies and assessments in particular to “weed” out the less successful students so that the other students can move on to greater success; a “sort and select” process.

When you first hear this, you may think this is horrible.  I did.  But sometimes you have to face reality and realize that methods of “sorting and classifying” children and young adults happen all the time.  But the image of “weeding” out the students who are not getting it at a steady pace?  That is simply not what education should be about.  So – I ask you (and myself): Are we weeding or cultivating?

If the purpose of education is to develop high achieving students, then we also need to develop learners, life-long learners, people who show a love of all learning as they strive for their personal best.  Sounds corny, huh?  But it’s true.  We need to help students understand that learning is a natural part of life.  Whether they are learning basic skills, necessary curriculum or more about what interests them, our job is to cultivate that learning, not squash it.

In the chapters on assessment that I have read, an example of this really stood out for me.  In a school culture build around PLCs, if  students are given a common formative assessment and fail in any aspect, they are given extra support as well as another opportunity to retake the assessment.  But here’s the clincher: The student’s new grade replaces the old one.

All through my schooling, that would not have happened.  Instead the two grades would be averaged for a final assessment grade.  And this is a practice I have carried into my own teaching (that is until about 2 weeks ago!)  I had to pause for a moment and really think this through.  If a student works hard to learn the material for which he is accountable (even after the majority of the class is done), retakes a variation of the assessment and does considerably better, shouldn’t he receive the new grade and not an average of the two?

Here are two quotes from the book that helped transform my thinking:

• We have yet to find a (school) mission statement that says, “(Students) must all learn fast or the first time we teach it.”
• If some students must work longer and harder to succeed, but they become proficient, their grade should reflect their ultimate proficiency, not their early difficulty.”  (p. 219)

Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Another example of this, which I LOVED, was when the authors wrote about how teachers in one school assigned students to write an essay and then they didn’t give them a grade.  Instead, the teachers wrote feedback for each student, handed the essays back, gave students time to revise and then graded the next draft.  I think this is a wonderful practice that really demonstrates to students that you want them to learn and succeed at what they are doing.

Students who are told that feedback ‘will help you learn’ learn more than those who are told that ‘how you do tells us how smart you are and what grades you’ll get.’ (p. 223)

Again, it just makes sense!

One of my goals in teaching is to cultivate learners.  I try to spend a lot of time getting students to become aware of their learning styles, getting them to take ownership of their own learning.  It’s important to not just preach this, but practice it.  Students deserve the opportunity to learn and even practice how to learn.  And in the 21 century, it’s not about weeding anymore in education, it MUST be about cultivating life-long learners.

~EMP

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When you think of the creative process – a learning process – you may think that the person involved needs to be inspired by something and that they are constantly coming up with creative original material.  But that is not always the case, nor should it be.  In fact, I am a firm believer that, as you begin or continue your own process in creation, you may start with or find need for imitation.  To some, imitation is necessary, to others, it can help them through a tough patch.  Sure, there are those who can skip it altogether, but it’s important NOT to devalue imitation and modeling for those who need it.

What is imitation?  It’s  not simply copying.  It’s not copying someone’s paper to get the right answers on a test.  It’s deeper than that.  Imitation happens when someone sees something that inspires them, inspires them enough to want to do something just as great.  (And imitation IS flattery!)

I remember when I was taking my first (and only) post-high school art course.  I had some of my own ideas, but I also liked walking around and observing what others were doing.  I’d see my buddy Steve using some technique with paint and a butter knife, or my friend Cathy putting colors together I’d never tried, or my girl, Erin swirling cray-pas like nobody’s business.  And I’d rush back to my spot and try something new, making it my own.  (Yes those are real people who did really inspire me! )  And what was happening to me?  I was growing as an artist, as a learner.

I see this with my students.  They NEED to imitate others sometime.  It’s a good thing.  And when that smartie girl gets frustrated because one of the boys was copying her, we have a chat to discuss what’s really going on: he saw something she did that was cool and he wanted to try it out.  Just the other day one boy was working to design his small poster depicting the different types of sentences and he saw a girl doing it a certain way.  He took the girl’s idea, but made it his own.  The girl was using the varying end marks for declarative, interrogative, imperative and exclamatory sentences in her boarder designs.  He took the idea of end marks and started to create small logos using them for his own poster.  It was a perfectly legitimate way to imitate in an appropriate manner.

Some teachers encourage a type of imitation through modeling.  For example, teachers write a sentence and then the students do their own, teachers write a poem and then the students, teachers create a project followed by the students.  Teachers should model, as long as students are given more than one opportunity to try out the procedure.  Here’s what I mean.  Take writing sentences: teachers need to model this process, but as time goes on, they slowly release the responsibility to the students, and students create sentences (and paragraphs and essays) all on their own.

In the beginning of the process, students may need to imitate exactly what the teacher has.  I think that’s ok – as long as students are then given the chance to try things out over and over again, eventually creating their own work.  When a colleague was teaching me how to create a cartoon character, I needed to copy the eyes she made on hers.  For whatever reason, I just couldn’t think of any other way to draw them in the face.  I made my own nose and ears, but the eyes, I just couldn’t figure out.  The thing is, after that when I made my next character, I experimented with different eyes.

Again, I’m going to go back to writing as an example in the classroom.  As I matured as a student and was expected to do more and more writing, I always asked my parents to look over my work.  In high school, and even in college, both my mom and dad would read over my papers.  My mom was great for editing conventions and my dad was great for fine tuning content.  They took this job seriously.  I would get papers back from them all marked up and full of suggestions.  Many of the wording suggestions my dad would write in, I’d take, sometimes word for word.  I’d always feel kind of devious about that.  After all, I was kind of using someone else’s words to enrich a sentence or flush out a paragraph.  But in hindsight, I realize that’s was what I needed to become a better writer.  Slowly, the need for me to ask them for assistance died down and when I did, I often challenged some of the things my dad would put in, explaining to myself or to him, that I meant something different.  I was learning.  I was growing.  (And that was when I was in my early 20s!)

Now, I’m at a point where I feel confident enough in my writing to look it over myself and ask for another set of eyes only from time to time when something of importance is going out to parents or to the state ed departments.  My growth in writing was directly affected by my level of imitation.

Imitation is an important part of the process.  We need to make sure we do not devalue it or cut it short.  We need to be aware of the role imitation plays in the process so that it can positively affect our own journeys and that of our students.

~EMP

Related posts:

1. You Just Can't Skip the Process
2. The Creative Process and Revision
3. The Creative Process is a Learning Process

It’s exciting to have Alicia guest blog here at The Inspired Classroom.  Her work as an artist and educator gives a great perspective on the creative process.  Here she talks about the 5 Ps of the Creative Process – inspiring, for sure!  ~EMP

The creative process is so often shrouded in mystery; perpetuated as this magical happenstance of a benevolent muse who alights on the shoulder whispering cosmic secrets into the ear of the ever awaiting starving artist soul. This fortunate interaction brings forth a sudden burst of inspired artistic genius, a frenzied period of work and the creation of a true masterpiece to be embraced by the adoring public for generations to come. This process is believed to be experienced however by only the fortunate few who possess the “gift” of artistic ability, a very rare condition bestowed upon an individual at birth as a preordained ordinance by the powers that be. The rest of the world must simply look on in awe, repeating the mantra; “I could never do that, I don’t have a creative bone in my body.”

As an artist and an educator, I would like to clear up some misconceptions about the creative process. Are there moments when the stars align, the moon is full, mercury is on its direct course, and the universe gifts an individual with talents so great they are considered to be a prodigy at the age of four? Well yes, perhaps Mozart was one such person. However what about the rest of us mere mortals? Are we doomed to live a life without color, without song, without movement until the next great mind saves us from our drudgery? Absolutely not.

The truth is that the creative process is actually a process, meaning it requires a lot of time, work, and energy. But the best part about this being a process, is that anyone can be creative. Every person is a creative person. Yet a 2010 study performed by researchers at the College of William and Mary, found that creativity has decreased among American children in recent years. Children have become less able to produce unique and unusual ideas, are less humorous, less imaginative, and less able to elaborate on ideas than their peers of just ten years ago. While I won’t go into the details on the many potential reasons why creativity among our children or population as a whole has declined, (To read full article on study go here: http://tinyurl.com/3rgukq3 ) I will however let you in on my vision for how we may remedy this situation and allow even the most staunch denier of his creative aptitude embrace their inner artist. It all starts with the process. Allow me to introduce you to the 5 P’s of the creative process, which I believe to be absolutely essential to the success of any creative endeavor no matter the medium. They are: Perception,

Practice, Perseverance, Patience, and Passion.

Perception
Perception requires the individual to be a careful observer and an active listener, taking in the subtleties of their surroundings, be it in the classroom or out in nature. The creative process requires us to take note of the delicate intricacies all around; the various shades of blue that make up our sky, the complex patterns on the wings of the butterfly, the way that light and shadows dance across our reality to shift our point of view, the grace and fluidity of motion of the cat, the quality of the bird’s song, the body language, facial expressions and terms of speech from the people we see in our communities. All of these interactions become a part of who we are and how we choose to express ourselves as creative beings. The artist is ever observant and present in their daily life, and knows that every moment has the potential to be transformed into a work of art.

Practice
One does not become a star overnight. In order to be successful at any endeavor in life, you must practice. Practice helps us to hone our skills, become more proficient, more adept, and better prepared. Actors, dancers, and musicians rehearse, athletes train, fine artists spend hours in the studio learning to master techniques. And while practice may not necessarily make for perfection, it certainly can bring us closer to our goal. Especially when combined with the next P.

Perseverance
Perseverance is good old fashion stick-to-it-ness. That means not giving up when things get difficult or push you beyond your comfort zone. Trust me in that most artists and creative individuals make many mistakes along the way before producing something of true beauty and innovation. There will be stumbles along the way, people will tell you no, that it cannot be done, they won’t understand your vision or your voice. Sometimes life will get in the way of your creativity and you can’t find the time or will to practice. This is normal and the key to unleashing your full creative potential is to press on and keep creating despite the difficulties.

Patience
Patience and perseverance go hand in hand. Sometimes we feel as though we just have nothing to say so therefore we have no reason to create. When you are stuck in a creative slump the best advice is just to have patience with yourself. Go back to your notes, your journals, and your sketchbooks. You may find an old idea floating around that will inspire something new. Check in with yourself and see if you are truly being perceptive and an active participant in your daily life. Get involved with a group, learn a new technique, read some poetry, or take a trip to your local art gallery, museum, or performing arts center. Experiencing great art inspires great art.

Passion
In the end it all boils down to this, passion. In whatever you choose to do in life, however your creative spirit manifests, do it from a place of passion. Be excited about your work. Be hungry to learn more; to continually grow, change and evolve. Share your passions and ideas with others; you never know who you may inspire.

Remember that creativity takes shape in many forms, not just in the ability to draw or sing, as many may believe. Creativity lies not in the technical proficiency with which one moves a pencil across the page or in the maintenance of perfect pitch, but in the means in which one chooses to express their inner thoughts and communicate them with the outside world through their chosen medium. Creativity lies in the color choice on the palate and the attitude of the brush strokes, the emotion expressed through the performance of song, the fluidity of words on the page and the voice the author gives them, the way in which the mathematician approaches a difficult problem, how the engineer finds a solution to an everyday issue, the scientist generating his hypotheses and executing the experiment, the historian digging deeper to learn both sides of the story. Creativity is at the heart of innovation.

If we are acknowledging that our children need to be able to function well in collaborative groups while expressing creativity, innovation, and ingenuity of thought, practices, and ideas to be successful in our future global economy, then shouldn’t we be encouraging the development of those key characteristics now? By fostering the growth of a creative mind early on and supporting its continual development throughout the various stages of learning and cognitive maturation, we are granting the individual students the opportunity to stretch their thinking, reach outside the box, and take risks that will help them attain a higher order level of understanding than ever before.

I encourage you to put the five P’s into practice in your daily life and instill them in your student’s work across the curriculum. There is no limit to what the creative mind may achieve.

Related posts:

1. Learning through the Creative Process
2. Navigating Learning via The Creative Process
3. The Creative Process Series

In this wonderful post, guest blogger, Karen Steffensen describes how real learning can occur through the creative process using wonderful images and examples.  You will enjoy this one! ~EMP

If “thought is the wind, knowledge is the sail and humankind is the vessel” (Augustus Hare), then “let us navigate our learning journeys through the Creative Process.” (Steffensen, 2011)

In this blog post I share some of my current thinking about the role the Creative Process plays in shaping authentic, exciting, engaging teaching and learning opportunities in our classrooms and schools.

Before I go into specific examples of how the Creative Process frames my learning and teaching experiences, I would like to share a resource that outlines what the Creative Process embodies. The Ontario Ministry of Education’s 2009, Grades 1-8 Arts Curriculum offers a wonderful framework for learning in and through the arts, based on the Creative Process (page 20 of the Curriculum):

The various stages within the Creative Process, outlined in the diagram above, are not linear in nature. It is not a requirement for your creative journey to start at the top of the circle (Challenging and Inspiring) and progress in a clockwise direction through the various phases or stages. The double headed arrows that lead in and out of the outer circles remind us that learning can (and often does) involve multiple twists and turns, moving in and out of the circle via self-reflection, conversations and interactions with others along the way.

After self-reflection and/or interaction with others, we sometimes return to the same stage or phase of the Creative Process continuing from where one left off; sometimes, we end up back at an earlier stage to rethink what we are trying to do; or, we are propelled into a totally new phase. The Creative Process is a constantly evolving series of interactions or actions that lead towards a final work. If this fluidity could be represented by a dance it might look something like this: (Click the image to view the video.)

As the Creative Process more and more deeply centers itself within my thinking and in my practice, I realize how strategically it helps me navigate and think about curriculum. I no longer feel bound to simply follow a set of curriculum expectations in a linear, hierarchical fashion (teacher driven, top down learning). Instead, I am freed up to seek out, with the students, the essential essence of the learning (held within those expectations) and re-frame the learning as a Challenge or Inspiration. By re-framing this learning together with the students, we then have a mutual understanding about the significance of what we are embarking on together and its relationship to our world and its inter-connectedness. From there we can dive fully into the process of discovering and uncovering new learning together. By thinking of the curriculum in this way, new possibilities for how we design and shape learning opportunities within our classrooms and our schools can emerge–rich, engaging, deep thinking learning that so many of us are searching for through project-based and passion-based learning.

An example of the real power of the Creative Process can be found in the recent work I embarked upon with a group of Arts Teacher leaders in our school district (York Region District School Board Ontario, Canada). As part of a Collaborative Inquiry, we were seeking to find out:

• How can we improve creative and critical thinking skills of our students by differentiating our instruction (content, process, product, environment) within the Creative Process?

The work we did together over the course of the school year resulted in a unit entitled “One Earth, Many Voices”. To explain the thinking behind this unit, here is the context summary:

“In an ever-changing world, we are faced with a range of events and perspectives that unfold daily. If the earth could sing, what would be the songs? How might the songs of the earth reflect the events and perspectives that have unfolded around us? Some of these songs might be joyful, filled with beauty and celebration, while others may be shrouded in destruction, devastation, and despair. This unit attempts to seek out the many voices of our earth and its inhabitants, offering words of wisdom, understanding, and hope through the art works that students create.

This unit focuses on visual communication and critical thinking. Throughout the unit, students are challenged to consider the meaning behind images. Students will be required to question their own values and think critically about the images and texts shared with them throughout the creative process. Through the use of the elements and principles of design (in particular color, texture, form, balance and emphasis) students will capture their own interpretations of local or global environmental or social justice issues, striving to say something significant and to represent what matters to our world.” (Karen Steffensen, Visual Arts Consultant, YRDSB, 2011)

As I think back on the work we did during this past year, coming together to co-create the unit One Earth, Many Voices, I realize that the Creative Process was our compass, our navigational guide that helped us chart where and how teaching and learning would progress. It helped us be responsive and present in the moment with our students, and helped us engage in more authentic “ways of knowing” as we ventured on this learning journey together.

To access this unit, as well as student and teacher reflections about their learning during the process captured in a VoiceThread, you are invited to check out the following links:

• Live Binder: One Earth Many Voices

• One Earth Many Voices VoiceThread: Teacher and Student Reflections on the learning process

Another perspective on the Creative Process that I would like to share with you can be found in my Spaces for Innovation blog post, #BMEDay: Releasing the Possibilities. This post reflects on my participation in an event called BMEday (Beginning/Middle/End), a Social Media experiment that was posted on Twitter, August 13th, 2011.

BMEday was a challenge to tell a life event/story using three images captured using the App Instagram. It was a fascinating experience to be part of and provided me with another lens with which to contemplate the Creative Process and see its power and great potential to shape learning. Upon reflection, I saw the three photographs that I created for BME day as a metaphor for teaching and learning, learning through the Creative Process:

The first photograph represents the “minds on” stage of the Creative Process, Challenge and Inspiration, as captured by the question in the photograph: “What should I make for dessert?” The recipe books in the background suggest the Imagining and Generating stage, the thinking about and considering all of the possibilities for what to make. The Planning and Focusing stage emerged while I was reading the various recipes and carefully considering the ingredients available in my pantry and fridge, the timelines required, the equipment needed, and my knowledge of my audience’s (my family’s) preferences. As a metaphor for teaching and learning, this beginning photograph represents the importance of having the end in mind, more specifically, knowing what you want to be able to do, what skills and knowledge will be necessary to accomplish the task at hand.

The second photograph captures the “doing” stage, where all the action and messiness takes place: Exploring and Experimenting, Producing Preliminary Work and Revising and Refining. Throughout these stages, I actively explored cooking techniques all the while carefully following the steps as outlined in the recipe in order to produce a dessert I had never made before. Tasting and adjusting along the way, I refined and revised some important choices related to the ingredients, utilizing my aesthetic to guide my decisions. In terms of teaching and learning, this “doing and messiness” stage of the Creative Process is where real learning occurs. It is filled with the anticipation of the final product that is gradually emerging before one’s eyes. This is a stage filled with challenge and risk taking because it often involves trying out new techniques in order to complete a task.

The final photograph suggests the last two stages of the Creative Process- Presenting, Performing, Sharing and Reflecting and Evaluating. In showing the empty plates accompanied by the caption: “How was the dessert? Oh if only the plates could talk…”, I was suggesting that the dessert was a success based on the feedback (regarding the overall quality of the dessert) that I received from my audience. In terms of teaching and learning, this final stage of the Creative Process cannot be done in isolation from the learner. Its power lies in the conversations and interactions with others, elevating ones learning to new levels because it involves sharing beyond oneself.

An additional way one might consider infusing the Creative Process into teaching and learning can be explored in the website I created for Visual Arts teachers. The website SPACES in the Arts provides examples of a wide range of global issues, topics and concerns, as well as artists and their art works, all featured for consideration and exploration. The posts in Spaces in the Arts are framed as Challenges or Inspirations for teachers and students to engage with in order to lead them into the creation of their own works of art and/or representations of their thinking and learning. Within each blog post I frame questions that are intended to help teachers think about how they might use a particular artist’s artwork, art form, and key messages to precipitate learning. I frame questions to help students think about their own views and invite them to consider how these might be further explored, understood, and represented through their own creative voice.

I hope that I have provided some insights into how the Creative Process has shaped my teaching and learning and that you have made some connections about how the Creative Process might enhance your circumnavigation of the world of teaching and learning!

I look forward to hearing your thoughts, questions, and comments.

Related posts:

1. Learning through the Creative Process
2. The Creative Process Series
3. What's So Scary about Creative?

During an #rscon10 session last week led by @AngelaMaiers, Angela challenged us to “stand up in front of kids not as a master teacher, but as a master learner.”   What a powerful statement.  I immediately tweeted that out as did others.

This statement alone is very powerful and it’s an important one for us teachers to reflect upon.  It helps me to remember that my job as a teacher is more than just teaching, it is leading and coaching and modeling.  In this day and age, it’s not just about how smart you are.  It’s not just about memorizing facts and figures.  (We have immediate access to that.)  It’s much more about what you do with knowledge and how you shape your opportunities to further yourself.  You need to be a constant learner!

When I look at my own teaching, I always seem to think that I never do enough modeling.   Modeling how to think through problems, how to attack unknown words, how to plan a piece of writing.  But it’s more than that, it’s leading by example.  What does your work area look like?  Do you read while your students have sustained silent reading time?  Do you persevere when things get tough or get frustrated?  Do you show curiosity and creativity throughout the day?

Our students pick up on everything we do and it seems we can teach them a much more rich curriculum if we do so by exemplifying what it means to be a masterful learner.

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I want to first thank Elizabeth for inviting me to share a little bit of my thoughts here. I am so fortunate to have people like her in my network to learn from.

I am on my day #4 of summer vacation. It’s very early – my body is still in school mode. I am enjoying the quietness and thinking about my year.
I just finished the 10th year of teaching and it has been the most rewarding year.
I have learned the most.

It all started with working with a new teaching partner. Some adjectives that come to mind that describe him are energetic, passionate, funny, and creative. We worked together every single day, seeing each other teach, being sharpened by one another. It was amazing to watch the joy of music making grow in our school because I had a partner who passionately loved seeing children make music. I had been missing this kind of collaboration for past 5 years. I really appreciate Mr. B.

Thanks to our school’s push on tech integration, I was able to join a committee of teachers from other independent schools to learn about technology in the classroom. One of the best learning experiences happened through Twitter, yes, the micro-blogging social media platform. Through Twitter, I was able to be a part of Professional Learning Network (PLN). Following people, or having people follow me was just strange at first. I was not sure what Twitter was supposed to do for me. So my start was slow. But reading some of the tweets, I knew I had to find my way to be a part of this network: the tweets I’m talking about were of great resources, blog posts, and articles that I would not have come across easily. So my first tweets were questions. I asked questions to Twitter handles I did not know. These handles turned out to be a group of great educators and people who genuinely love sharing their knowledge and resources with tens of thousands of people. Through their generosities of time and knowledge, I learned to network. I learned to use very useful web 2.0 tools with my students. More importantly, I learned that I do live in a big world, but thanks to technology, I get to be in touch with it daily. I enjoy learning from them! I am looking forward to this summer and learning much from my PLN. To this date, I have enjoyed collaborating with teachers from many countries, working on projects online. They have shown me how great learning takes place in this community.

Excited to introduce cool apps and tools I learned from my PLN, I eagerly thought of ways to integrate them into my lessons. During this journey, though, I learned something special: that these tools really served my students and highlighted their strengths. There were many times I was struck by my students’ poignant thoughts as I read their blog posts, responses or listened to VoiceThreads. I am so proud! My students brought their imagination and heart into their projects. Many of the students have also expressed how they liked having the freedom to choose how they were going to use the tool in a project. Many of them experimented in different ways to use the tool and assessed for themselves what worked best.  Projects like song-writing or storytelling (slideshow, movies, or book-making) reflected my students’ personalities, their hard work and creativity. Here are some examples:
Movie UP: Discussing life-issues presented in the movie, a study of theme and variations (sound track) and naming a classical piece used in a scene:

Students’ reflection and my comment after watching Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir (a YouTube video) on their blogs:

What I learned by using these tools is that blogging or using VoiceThread for discussions provides additional thinking time for students. In a traditional classroom setting, I can throw out a question and expect the usual participating students to answer. In these particular platforms, however, students showed that they took time to reflect and responded thoughtfully. I am very thankful for many great discussions, listening and reflecting time my students and I had this year.

Our year wasn’t all-tech all year around! We sang a lot (I am a choir teacher), played guitars, played games through songs students are learning (fun belongs in the classroom), and discussed our role as responsible stewards of our planet. I am particularly proud of my 3rd graders who co-wrote an original song, Go Green! for our school’s Earth week. I was blown away by the way they brainstormed ideas for us to live by.  While they sang, the 5th graders used their homemade vegetable/recycled item instruments. Students were proud of their work. So was I!

Now, I find my heart full of gratefulness. I am learning that when I create a breathable, fun, purposeful learning space, students’ learning experiences exceed my expectation. Learning and teaching isn’t easy. But I am grateful for people and resources that are available to me. The more I learn, I feel like I don’t know much!

I guess I better go and learn some more. I can’t wait for next school year!

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