Creativity

Creativity. Where would we be without it? It's through creativity and individual originality that virtually everything in human existence has occurred. The you tube video was an amazing speech and it really was interesting to hear what he had to say about education and creativity. Perhaps the most interesting part of the whole speech to me was when he talked about Jillian who most likely had adhd and instead of being put on medication, was told to go to a dance school, where she flourished. I found this extremely interesting because I've never really agreed with medicating those with so-called "disabilities", but our society is so structured into classrooms where children are told to sit still all day and regurgitate information that the idea of sending a child to a dance studio in place of school is out of the question. However, each and every one of us is unique, so why wouldn't we want to do our best to cater to each and every one of our talents/abilities?

I also thought i was really interesting that he said our schools don't work the body, they work the mind, and mostly one side of the mind. I've been thinking about this for a while because I think that nutrition and exercise are essential parts of every person and that if we don't take care of ourselves physically, we will be worse off mentally. This can be contributed to the idea Ted explains as education taking away creativity. His first statements about how mistakes are viewed as bad things in school take away creativity in children. I think this is absolutely true. Individuals are scared to fail and miss a spelling word. Schools try to make every individual the same because they expect all children to learn information at the same time, perform at the same level, and show the same amount of discipline. It's quite ridiculous if you ask me.

I found that in my elementary school, some individuals were told that they were really creative. Creativity and Imagination is only encouraged in schools when children show talent in it. For instance, in art and music, if you can't draw a good picture or perform good music, teachers don't think you're creative. I have found that the individuals that are not as affected by the classroom are then ones that are most creative. By this I mean that if a student doesn't perform extremely well in the classroom and doesn't take it to heart isn't afraid to try new things because they are already know they're not the top of their class so what do they have to lose? It's a personality trait. Those who have a nag for creativity will be creative, while those who aren't talented will become classroom junkies.

I think that creativity and imagination above all else should be encouraged in the classrooms for the 21st century. Our world is changing and revolutionizing and in order to come up with new ways of doing things and help our world out for the better, we need creative individuals. If our world gets stuck in science and math, what good are those professions without imagination. We need to be creative and if schools are discouraging this, our world could be affected as a whole. Our school systems need to be restructured.

Reflection

I did not like Monday's class at all. It was totally frustrating and infuriating. I was a part of one of the groups that did not support the No Child Left Behind Plan. It was frustrating because everyone in the other groups actually acted like more assessment was the way to go. I don' t think I could have done that good of a job of role playing if I had been in their shoes. It was also irritating because if something like what we modeled were to actually happen in real life and succeed, I think that would be the only thing that would make me stop being a teacher. If I had to teach kids only for assessment, that would ruin the whole teaching experience for me.

I also felt like I had some really valid points, but I can never get a word in edgewise with anyone in our class. As for the professors, it was frustrating because it was hard at first to take them seriously, but they did such a good job of role modeling that it just really started to piss me off.

I think role modeling is effective if you want kids to get passionate about something. My face felt red hot as I walked out of that class Monday night because I felt helpless and angry. It's an awful feeling and I hope I never have to feel it in that type of a situation again. As in, I hope when I become a teacher, there is never a meeting that is striving for the outcome this role modeling activity was striving for.

Reflectiveness

Reflectiveness. Why is it so difficult for people to reflect on their own actions. I think it's quite obvious. I would say it's because they're afraid to look at their actions because they don't want to know what they have done wrong. Nobody wants to admit that they were wrong because that means you messed up. People don't want to mess up and if you're admitting to yourself you messed up on something, it's degrading to your ego if you don't approach it correctly.

I know lots of people that will stick with what they have said in the past even if they feel it's not correct because the shame they might feel if they admitted their error would be more detrimental. I think that reflection is important in all situations. The only way we grow as people is by making mistakes and admitting them. We're all human and it's good to acknowledge that yes, even ourselves are human beings and we are prone to make mistakes and bad decisions. However, being humans, we have the ability to think about our actions and try to look into them so that we can change them for future situations.

It is most important for teachers to reflect because it's the heart of teaching. Teaching is a career that requires constant individual growth. If teachers refuse to reflect on themselves, they won't be changing. Sometimes change turns out negative, which means you must make another change and hope it comes out positively. If teachers do not reflect, they will become boring, dull, and not in tune to children's needs. If a teacher does not reflect on what is going on in the classroom because what they're doing is "supposed" to be working, that class will be headed nowhere fast. Teachers must recognize this and be willing to change their practices. A lot of times, teachers will think that they are the authority and that they know better than the kids what should be happening. However, this is not always the case. Teachers must be open minded and accepting of even pre-k children's ideas.

I think the most effective way to reflect is situational. In some cases, trying something new and sticking with it for a week before reflecting could be very useful because then you get a good grasp of what went on during that week and you can understand if it worked or not and if you need to change anything to make it better. other times, reflection happens at a larger scale. Sometimes teachers are unaware of why their class isn't responding the best until they try a new approach. This may take up to a year because sometimes teachers will have a certain attitude for a year and then the next year decide they want to try a different attitude and see if it works better. Finally, if something is going horribly wrong, such as kids are not listening at all to what you have to say and are rambunctious, reflection must occur immediately to settle the situation at hand.