Here are the things that have piqued my interest:
Wise words on failure. In Jonah Lehre's book, Imagine, he talks about the legendary lengths James Dyson went to perfect his Dyson vacuum cleaner.
I've talked at length before about the importance of failure. In fact, we need to give our kids and students chances to fail. That means the helicopter parents need to get out of the way and let their kids struggle. Why? The main point of failure is learning to pick yourself up and adapt and grow and learn.
Unfortunately, I think that's a process that has been lost.
The "Good Grade Drug." And when failure isn't an option, what happens? Students at elite private schools are driven to excel and in order to do so, they abuse a drug meant for students with ADD.
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The Seven Killers of Creativity
I try hard to be as creative as possible in what I teach. I always ask myself, if I were a student, would I want to sit through this 85 block class that is about to start. And if, for a second, I don't think YES! I have to change what I'm doing.
But schools - partly because of the high stakes testing pressures placed upon it and partly because of the staff there - are a breeding ground for the death of creativity. Just check out Sir Ken Robinson's classic TED Talk on that very same subject.
Here are the Seven Killers of Creativit.
1. The Control Crew.
In schools, I'm afraid, this often comes in the form of veteran teachers (those who harp on younger teachers with the cry,"You're making us look bad!") or it comes from administration who don't want to rock the boat. I'm glad to say, I don't see this at LHS.
Every time I run an idea by Mr. Zutz, his attitude is either 'go for it' or 'let's make it happen.'
2. The Fear of Family.
The danger of fear. Again, what I like about Mr. Zutz, is that he tells us to go out and try something new and if it fails (and when it inevitably does fail), let the students see you model how you deal with failure. That lesson is so vital for students to deal with.
I like this phrase from the article -
A childlike ability to take risks and risk failure without fear is critical to creative thinking, but when anxiety intervenes the fear can be crippling. It’s not surprising that one of Apple’s guiding innovation principles is to "fail wisely."
3. The Pressure Pack
I see this happening all the time in education. There is just so much out there about education reform or using technology that it can cause a teacher to freeze up and just fall back upon doing what they have always done.
In fact, just last week I taught two classes to other teachers on technology. I told them to not try and overhaul their whole curriculum. Pressure like that would cause them to freeze up. Instead, take one lesson plan or one assignment even and then use the technology to implement that lesson. That way you won't feel overwhelmed.
I just started using cell phones as a way to remind students about deadlines. Now, though, over the years I've grown to use it for polls, feedback, surveys, quizzes, and so on. But had I tried to go in blindly and overhaul it all so I could cover everything on cell phones, I would have been lost.
4. The Insulation Clique
I think of other schools that don't embrace technology. The insulation clique kills creativity by cutting off its members from any outside ideas. If you don't see any different way of doing what you do, then how will you ever grown and adapt? And even if what you do is a best practice, then contact with others can help out the others who might learn from your best practice or you can find a strategy that might strengthen whatever you already do so well.
How to combat this killer of creativity?
Deliberately expose yourself to different people, different sources of information and different ideas. Be open and receptive to opinions and ideas that don’t match your own-- ensure there is receptivity to apparently opposing perspectives.
Learn how to master conscious awareness, so that you can access difference parts of your own mental capacity and not just that parts that you usually access (try brain training exercises that utilize different capabilities, eg to access both ‘left’ and ‘right’ brain functions.)
5. The Apathy Clan
The worst of all. And I think this is what used to plague the leadership of our school. I can sum this problem up with one word: "Well, what can ya do about it?" That phrase alone can sap any amount of motivation from a person.
It is the job of any leader to fight apathy and motivate people. Unfortunately, in school systems, sometimes teachers and administrators are locked into systems where they feel they have little control. Who wants to teach in such a place?
How to combat this killer?
Assess your own levels of engagement in what you do, and detect where there might be a lack of engagement. Recognize sarcasm or cynicism, and identify what the root cause of these might be.
Challenge your old, conservative habits and behaviors with new approaches--even if they are initially uncomfortable. Draw up a chart to list in columns: "The way I usually approach what I do," and "A new approach"
Find ways to connect with your passions and use these as a base for action.
6. The Narrow-Minded Mob
This is also what I try to battle when I think, "If I'm a student, would I want to sit through the next 85 minutes?" I also think that being random-abstract helps me with this. I never tend to do anything the same way twice. I just don't record lesson plans well enough. So every time I plan out a new unit, I'm always scrambling to find relevant pieces. This is not always a good thing, for too often excellent pieces that I use in conjunction with a unit are lost, but it certainly keeps me from narrowly viewing my lessons.
7. The Pessimism Posse
The problem with pessimism is that it is contagious. And when things go wrong - as they always will - pessimists tend to blame themselves. This also limits their growth and just causes them to sink further into pessimism.
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And every English teacher should read this.
I love this kid's gumption.
And as I've always believed - because it happened to me when I was writing my thesis - author's don't always consciously use symbolism. But it doesn't mean that it isn't there. The subconscious mind has a way of working itself out in the writing process. And that's one thing I enjoyed so much about my thesis defense. I had other teachers telling me about things in the work that I had neither seen nor intended. Yet, they were still there!
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