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like a scientist like an artist like a writer like a business person share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on x opens in new window x share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin like loading written by jackie gerstein ed d october 28 2018 at 6 09 pm posted in education tagged with choice and voice creativity engagement innovation specific ideas for intentional creativity with 2 comments recently i wrote a blog post about intentional creativity here is the graphic created for that post below the graphic are specific ideas i am using with my gifted elementary students this school year what follows are the activities i am using this school year to be intentional with sparking creativity in my gifted education classrooms the titles are links for these activities destination imagination instant challenges goal to spark creative divergent thinking for stem steam and science based learning description instant challenges are fun steam based group activities that must be solved within a short period of time using your imagination teamwork and few everyday materials you and your friends will work together to see just how innovative you can be with hundreds of potential combinations and ways to solve each instant challenge the creative possibilities are endless write about goal to get learners primed to do some creative writing description don t look at write about as another thing to add it s a platform for writing and a community for publishing writing regardless of the genre purpose length or audience we believe a balance between digital and physical is a healthy thing and support your pencil paper writer s notebooks whole heartedly but when you want students to transition their writing skills into a digital space when you want to empower them with choice and visual inspiration for creative sparks when you want them to have an authentic audience for their writing when you want them to leverage multi modal tools like audio and images that s where we come in minute mysteries goal to help learners to think outside of the box to develop alternative perspectives of perceived reality description minute mysteries are riddles where students ask yes or no questions to try and solve the riddle they are called minute mysteries because they are usually a bit more complex than your average riddle rebus puzzles goal to help learners playful interact with the symbolic nature of language description rebus puzzles are essentially little pictures or riddles often made with letters and words which cryptically represent a word phrase or saying classroom icebreakers goal to build community help create a classroom climate with a sense of fun and whimsy description useful for the beginning of a class period or toward the beginning of a semester when students don t know each other well introduction and breaking the ice games can dramatically transform the dynamics of your classroom more ideas can be found at https www pinterest com explore classroom icebreakers share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on x opens in new window x share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin like loading written by jackie gerstein ed d september 2 2017 at 4 11 pm posted in education tagged with creativity critical thinking innovation inspiration learning relationships writing helping learners move beyond i can t do this with one comment i work part time with elementary learners with gifted learners during the school year and teaching maker education camps during the summer the one thing almost all of them have in common is yelling out i can t do this when the tasks aren t completed upon first attempts or get a little too difficult for them i partially blame this on the way most school curriculum is structured too much school curriculum is based on paper for quick and one shot learning experiences or the comparable online worksheets students are asked to do worksheets on paper answer end of chapter questions on paper write essays on paper do math problems on paper fill in the blanks on paper and pick the correct answer out of a multiple choice set of answers on paper these tasks are then graded as to the percentage correct and then the teacher moves onto the next task so it is no wonder that when learners are given hands on tasks such as those common to maker education stem and steam they sometimes struggle with their completion struggles are good struggles with authentic tasks mimics real life so much more than completing those types of tasks and assessments done at most schools problems like yelling out i can t do this arise when the tasks get a little too difficult but ultimately are manageable i used to work with at risk kids within outward bound type programs most at risk kids have some self defeating behaviors including those that result in personal failure the model for these types of programs is that helping participants push past their self perceived limitations results in the beginnings of a success rather than a failure orientation this leads into a success building upon success behavioral cycle a similar approach can be used with learners when they take on a i can t do this attitude some of the strategies to offset i can t do this include help learners focus on i can t do this yet teach learners strategies for dealing with frustration encourage learners to ask for help from their peers give learners tasks a little above their ability levels emphasize the processes of learning rather than its product reframe mistakes and difficulties as opportunities for learning scaffold learning provide multiple opportunities to learn and build upon previous learning focus on mastery of learning mastery of skills avoid the urge to rescue them may need to push learners beyond self perceived limits build reflection into the learning process help learners accept an it s okay when a task really is too hard only as a last resort focus on i can t do this yet the use of yet was drawn from carol dweck s work with growth mindsets just the words yet or not yet we re finding give kids greater confidence give them a path into the future that creates greater persistence and we can actually change students mindsets in one study we taught them that every time they push out of their comfort zone to learn something new and difficult the neurons in their brain can form new stronger connections and over time they can get smarter carol dweck ted talk the power of believing that you can improve by asking learners to add yet to the end of their i can t do this comments possibilities are opened up for success in future attempts and iterations it changes their fixed or failure mindsets to growth and possibility ones teach learners strategies for dealing with frustration what often precedes learners yelling out i can t do this is that learners frustration levels have gotten a bit too high for them helping learners deal with their frustrations is a core skill related to their social emotional development and helps with being successful with the given tasks the basic approach to helping a student deal with frustrating feelings is a to help them build the capability to observe themselves while they re in the midst of experiencing the feeling b to help them form a story or narrative about their experience of the feeling and the situation and then c to help them make conscious choices about their behavior and the ways they express their feelings tips for parents managing frustration and difficult feelings in gifted children you can help your student recognize that learning involves trial and error mastering a new skill takes patience perseverance practice and the confidence that success will come instead of recognizing that failure is temporary a student often concludes i ll never succeed that is why encouragement is by far the most important gift you can give your frustrated student take her dejection seriously but help her look at her challenge differently never you might reply is an awfully long time eventually she ll learn from your encouraging words to talk herself out of giving up fight frustration encourage learners to ask for help from their peers i must tell both my gifted students and my summer campers several times a day to ask one of their classmates for help when they are stuck i have a three before me policy in my classrooms but sometimes when i tell them to ask for help they look at me like i am speaking another language it makes sense though as they often have been socialized via school procedures to ask the teacher when they get stuck the following poster is going up in my classroom this coming year to remind them of the different possibilities for getting help if and when they get stuck on a learning task the bottom line becomes facilitating learner self reliance knowing that these are skills learners can transfer to outside of school activities where there often is not a teacher to provide assistance emphasize the processes of learning rather than its product school curriculum often focuses on the whats of learning the products rather than the hows of learning the processes when the focus changes to the process of learning learners are less apt to feel the pressure to create quality products research has demonstrated that engaging students in the learning process increases their attention and focus motivates them to practice higher level critical thinking skills and promotes meaningful learning experiences engaging students in learning the biggest step an educator can take to implement a process oriented learning environment is to let go of expectations about what a product should be expectations can and should be around learning processes such as following through to the task completion finding help when needed trying new things taking risks creating and innovating tolerating frustration and attempting alternative routes when one route isn t working reframe mistakes and difficulties as opportunities for learning i ve blogged about normalizing failure and mistake making in the over promotion of failure i reframe the idea of failure that oftentimes occur within open ended ill defined projects as things didn t go as originally planned it is just a part of the learning process i explain to my learners that they will experience setbacks mistakes struggles it is just a natural part of real world learning struggles setbacks and mistakes are not discussed as failure but as parts of a process that need improving contrary to what many of us might guess making a mistake with high confidence and then being corrected is one of the most powerful ways to absorb something and retain it learning about what is wrong may hasten understanding of why the correct procedures are appropriate but errors may also be interpreted as failure and americans strive to avoid situations where this might happen to err is human and a powerful prelude to learning scaffold learning provide multiple opportunities to learn and build upon previous learning many maker education stem and steam activities require a skill set in order to complete them for example many of the learning activities i do with my students require the use of scissors tape putting together things even though some of the learners are as old as 6th grade many lack these skills as such i do multiple activities that require their use learners are more likely to enjoy engage in and achieve success in these activities if related skills are scaffolded repeated and built upon in the process of scaffolding the teacher helps the student master a task or concept that the student is initially unable to grasp independently the teacher offers assistance with only those skills that are beyond the student s capability of great importance is allowing the student to complete as much of the task as possible unassisted the teacher only attempts to help the student with tasks that are just beyond his current capability student errors are expected but with teacher feedback and prompting the student is able to achieve the task or goal scaffolding by allowing students to learn from their mistakes or circling back through the curriculum will allow more students to access your instruction and for you to have a better understanding of where they are at with their learning let s face it learning can be messy and if you try to put it into a simple box or say a single class period and then move on it isn t always effective strategies and practices that can help all students overcome barriers focus on mastery of learning mastery of skills sal khan of khan academy fame has a philosophy that focuses on mastery of learning and skills that is applicable for all types of learning a problem khan says is the next block of material builds on what the student was supposed to learn in the last lesson and it s usually more difficult to pick up so a student learns only 75 of the material we can t expect that student to master the next section when students master concepts and learn at their own pace all sorts of neat things happen the students can actually master the concepts but they re also building their growth mindset they re building perseverance they re taking agency over their learning and all sorts of beautiful things can start to happen in the actual classroom sal khan ted talk urges mastery not test scores in classroom this approach puts forward the notion that students should not be rushed through to more complex concepts without having the foundational knowledge needed to successfully transition to the next level khan believes we should be teaching students to master the material before moving on ensuring that students are given as much time and support as they need to tackle each new concept before trying to build upon it as khan says you wouldn t build the second floor of a house on a shaky foundation otherwise it will collapse mastery learning reframes a student s sense of responsibility where performance is viewed as the product of instruction and practice rather than a lack of ability encourages a student to persevere and grasp knowledge they previously didn t understand gives students the time and opportunity as they need to master each step instead of teaching to fixed time constraints provides feedback and assessment throughout the learning process not just after a major assessment teaching for mastery give learners tasks a little above their ability levels giving learners tasks a little above their ability levels is actually a definition for differentiated instruction it also helps to insure that new learning will occur that learners will be challenged to go beyond their self perceived limitations people can t grow if they are constantly doing what they have always ...
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