Gina: You know the feeling...the sweaty palms, the swampy armpits, the pit in your stomach that arises when someone says, “Just be creative.” I know that when someone tells me to be creative I think, “Great, I have to dust off the old markers and make a poster” or “Time to build that diorama”. But is that really all there is to creativity?
Amber: Mental Note: figure out a different way to encourage Gina to be creative.
Gina: Leave me alone - my creativity is expressed in the written word.
Amber: I see this a lot. It’s very easy to say, “I’m not creative.” And then it’s an easy out to not engage with the creative process. It is easy to fear creativity, but I encourage to lean away from that fear. When you are creative, it is hard to hide yourself. But, just think of all the ways we are creative. Your prior knowledge, the ways to solve a problem are out there for the world to see within what you create.
Gina: And, it is super scary. When being creative there is always an end product, something that is on display. Whether it is the new gallery wall that you created in your dining room or the new workflow process that you created to encourage students to collaborate in your classroom, the end product is out there for everyone to see...and judge.
Amber: The judgment can be intimidating. We live in a world of ‘likes’ and comments. Sometimes comments can feel threatening. Yet, when we create, even simple things it helps to make you feel alive. The reward of creating needs to be viewed as greater than the risk of sharing. Would you rather live in fear or feel alive?
Gina: Ok, there hyperbole pants. Let’s bring this back down to reality, like thinking about all the ways that we really are creative and we don’t even think about it as creativity.
Amber: Like creating interesting titles for people? Hyperbole Pants? Yes, I agree you don’t have to be an artist or musician to be considered creative. Think about all of the 4Cs that have been shared during Digital Learning Month. You can be creative with the way that you communicate with parents.
Gina: You can be creative in your approaches to connecting with students. You can be creative in finding options to learn and grow as an educator when budgets are tight. You can be creative in your solutioning when conflict arises in between students in your classroom.
Amber: Exactly! I think that another important way to think about creativity is to consider different options that you are offering your students to test their individual creativity. Creativity is not something that can be used up. We need to think of it more as like a muscle that can be strengthened within our students. We can include simple techniques in our daily routines to encourage students to think of more than one solution to a problem through brainstorming or have them rework a story problem in a textbook.
Gina: So what’s our takeaway message here, Amber?
Amber: Fear of creativity is real, yet as educators we need to model and maintain environments of creativity in our classrooms. Don’t feed the fear of creativity and pass that down to your students.
Gina: Acknowledge the wide range of creativity that you see in your classroom in your students. Praise their creative and unique thinking, along with the creative ways that they express themselves.
Amber: You got it! The more we value creativity in our students the stronger they will become in their creative mindset. I value your creativity in writing this blog post with me, Gina.
Gina: Thanks...I value all of your creativity, Amber!
Written By: Amber Bridge and Gina Roger
Digital Learning Consultants
@abridgesmith and @grogers1010
Amber: Mental Note: figure out a different way to encourage Gina to be creative.
Gina: Leave me alone - my creativity is expressed in the written word.
Amber: I see this a lot. It’s very easy to say, “I’m not creative.” And then it’s an easy out to not engage with the creative process. It is easy to fear creativity, but I encourage to lean away from that fear. When you are creative, it is hard to hide yourself. But, just think of all the ways we are creative. Your prior knowledge, the ways to solve a problem are out there for the world to see within what you create.
Gina: And, it is super scary. When being creative there is always an end product, something that is on display. Whether it is the new gallery wall that you created in your dining room or the new workflow process that you created to encourage students to collaborate in your classroom, the end product is out there for everyone to see...and judge.
Amber: The judgment can be intimidating. We live in a world of ‘likes’ and comments. Sometimes comments can feel threatening. Yet, when we create, even simple things it helps to make you feel alive. The reward of creating needs to be viewed as greater than the risk of sharing. Would you rather live in fear or feel alive?
Gina: Ok, there hyperbole pants. Let’s bring this back down to reality, like thinking about all the ways that we really are creative and we don’t even think about it as creativity.
Amber: Like creating interesting titles for people? Hyperbole Pants? Yes, I agree you don’t have to be an artist or musician to be considered creative. Think about all of the 4Cs that have been shared during Digital Learning Month. You can be creative with the way that you communicate with parents.
Gina: You can be creative in your approaches to connecting with students. You can be creative in finding options to learn and grow as an educator when budgets are tight. You can be creative in your solutioning when conflict arises in between students in your classroom.
Amber: Exactly! I think that another important way to think about creativity is to consider different options that you are offering your students to test their individual creativity. Creativity is not something that can be used up. We need to think of it more as like a muscle that can be strengthened within our students. We can include simple techniques in our daily routines to encourage students to think of more than one solution to a problem through brainstorming or have them rework a story problem in a textbook.
Gina: So what’s our takeaway message here, Amber?
Amber: Fear of creativity is real, yet as educators we need to model and maintain environments of creativity in our classrooms. Don’t feed the fear of creativity and pass that down to your students.
Gina: Acknowledge the wide range of creativity that you see in your classroom in your students. Praise their creative and unique thinking, along with the creative ways that they express themselves.
Amber: You got it! The more we value creativity in our students the stronger they will become in their creative mindset. I value your creativity in writing this blog post with me, Gina.
Gina: Thanks...I value all of your creativity, Amber!
Written By: Amber Bridge and Gina Roger
Digital Learning Consultants
@abridgesmith and @grogers1010
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