Do School Kill Creativity?

  Do School Kill Creativity? http://www.edutopia.org/blog/fueling-creativity-through-divergent-thinking-classroom-stacey-goodmanLinks to an external site. Using the above resources as your beginning point, make a case for whether or not schools are killing creativity. Research, defend or refute, reflect, connect and plan methods and strategies to insure that students whose lives you impact as an educator will have opportunity to discover and retain their sense of creativity. Consider: Is it important to learn to balance the academic requirements and the individual learning needs and styles in your classroom? What methods can an educator use to build in ways for students to express their learnings in ways that honor their learning preferences? (Consider Howard Gardener’s Multiple Intelligences) How can you honor student interest in lesson planning? What talents, hobbies, skills and interests can you bring to your classroom to increase the depth of learning about various topics that must be taught by State Standards. How would you incorporate the 5 Strategies listed in the Edutopia article? How will this kind of emphasis/methodology affect the outcomes for diverse learners including those with special needs, English Language Learners, and students with no diagnosis who respond to other methods? How complex would it be to weave these strategies through your instruction and also meet the standards set by your district, the state and the federal requirements? Does reflecting on this material/concept make lesson planning seem more vibrant or daunting? Write a 3-4 page summary of what you have learned and how you plan to apply it in your classroom.