Embrace Creativity!

                             

The only time you are creating new things in your life is when you are being imaginztive and innovative.  If you want htings to change, and you want things you have never had, you must do things you've never done.  This could be reading a book and acquring new knowledge, debating a topic with a friend, or undertaking a new activity you've always wanted to try.  You can only expand through creative action.

Creativity has become a prerequisite for innovation and will be an increasingly in-demand skill for jobs in the future.  Creativity doesn't need to be a subject of its own, but instead, it should be weaved into every aspect of learning and teaching.  Creativity is beneficial for our learners - it's motivating and engaging, it lights up the brain and higher order thinking (problem solving, critical thinking, making connections between subjects), and it provides productive struggle (a gentler term for failure, and it builds resilience and to push through difficulty to reach success).  

There are so mamy reasons to weave it into your day - here are some ideas on how you can do that!

1.  Encourage multiple ways to solve a problem.

It's about fostering the ability to come up with different solutions and unique ideas - by encouraging students to continue to work hard when their first idea doesn't work, then to investigate alternatives, and to try, try, and try again until they succeed.

2.  Build a safe and open space where failure is embaced and celebrated.

It's important to create a safe and welcoming environment where students can try and test their own creative solutions, without the pressure of "having to get it right".

3. Embrace creativity yourself!

Encourage creativity by exploring and sharing it yourself!

Embrace Creativity! As part of your 7 Mindsets lesson this week, encourage students to think of their individual strengths, and how to use these strengths to find a creative way to do something.  Students can display their creative flare, and do something kind for others, by making some type of fall-themed decoration for residents in senior/nursing homes in the Hudson community.  Encourage your students to Embrace Their Creativity!

Have a great week -

Sue