Tag: creativity

2023 Summer Series of Saves: making the best

I am honored to be virtual friends with Angela Stockman — there are a few I’ve met along the way I truly consider kindred spirits, and she is right up there. Her vision is clear and enchanting to me: I see it, and how it can be incorporated into instructional moments. It’s my goal this summer to figure out how to bring these practices, and many of my past magical practices, back to my classroom. I mean, for goodness sake: look at this one!

Words are elusive this morning; not sure why. Perhaps it is the constant sawing, hammering, and shouts across rooftops from the construction of million-dollar homes across the street from us, interrupting any flow or traction. (And I am grateful for the skilled workers who are here, and not working in the exhausting, hostile heat of states like Texas or Florida.)

What I’m trying to say is complicated: I am an artist from the beginning (one of my favorite memories of my dad is him buying me art supplies when I was about four). As an artist, I see and do teaching a little differently, and I thought I was an oddball. But there are other creative educators out there who understand that content areas are not bound by imaginary, limiting constraints. I’ve been working on my own teaching/writing/art book for about four years; “working on” is kind of a lie– thinking about, trying, struggling, procrastinating, and sabotaging myself is more accurate. So, this blog serves as my scrapbook.

One of the insights/narratives I share with students is how to start writing: when I was getting my BFA, one of the best and most effective ways to get over blank-canvas fear was to mix up a batch of black paint with solvents and wash the freshly gessoed canvas. Just make a mark. No fear. Get started. And the benefit of the dark wash on the canvas is all colors, layers, and light become richer, more interesting, and

An artist my husband discovered is Jessica Brill: we love her simple and powerful lines, subject matter, and color. Her work evokes David Hockney and Edward Hopper, and yet it’s all her own. An artist for GenXers like us. Poolside discouragement, Holiday Inn mediocrity, and an overwhelming sense of loneliness and isolation. And maybe she captures what I feel as a teacher sometimes: that those connections I long for are forever out of reach. I will never be the martyred ELA teacher spending hours with my red pen grading essays. I learned early on about single-point rubrics, playlists, and the work of the National Writing Project.

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I do, however, spend an inordinate of time creating, writing (this blog), and thinking. Not sure where it’s getting me. (Just a mood I have right now– it’ll pass.)

Oh, wait: I’m here.

Kelly Love, Mermaid MD

How do we encourage and foster creativity in ourselves and others?

“I want to do a series of non-routine tasks, that require social intelligence, complex critical thinking, and creative problem-solving.”

well, well, well…how about we continue the conversation about ‘career and college ready?’ My mental pebble in my Sunday slippers is this concept of training students for ‘jobs that don’t exist yet.’ The jobs exist now. Right now. The problem is companies don’t want to pay for employees to ‘do a series of non-routine tasks.’ They don’t want to pay anyone at all. Wages have been stagnant for decades, and though the job market has grown and unemployment is low, skilled trade workers are hard to find.

My older son is sitting on a double major in Russian and German, with a minor in Math, and is thinking about becoming a teacher. My younger son is attending a community college and working weekends as a custodian for a local school district. I have no idea what the future holds for them because I have no idea what my and my husband’s future holds. It’s been…stressful. The social safety nets are ripped, and the Herculean task of moving toward healthcare uncoupling from jobs seems impossible, no matter what progressive politicians promise. Lobbies and corporate interests are monied monsters. In other words, I don’t know what my sons are going ‘to do’ with their degrees.

So how do I “sell” education’s value to a group of 13 and 14 year olds who are well aware climate change is real and dangerous conspiracy theories become factual lies? When we have a curriculum that teaches the test questions, and not a lot of ‘creative problem solving?’ I am thinking the answer is right in front of my nose: ask them. Just–ask them. Here is what we ‘have” to learn, now let’s seek out why, and how it helps us–and add what we ‘want’ to learn. John Oliver’s quote is going to be my mission statement for teaching and creativity.

I’ll share my 99 Problems document, and keep asking ‘What if?’ as if our lives and futures depend on it. (Because it does.)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ccdytPCXW3LoZ2GhJmExp-QWhmYfVcBa2zsFM4LOjzY/edit?usp=sharing

Art lives.

 

http://www.sanctuaryartcenter.org/Image5.html

While we mentally live in a virtual world, there is grit and texture in other dimensions, too. Pay attention.

The other evening, I went to a benefit concert performed by the Seattle School of Rock and other locations at the Vera Project in Seattle.  It was a strange evening. As my son and I were parking, two gentelmen warned me of a hustler in the parking lot. Sure enough, a young man with odd piercings tried to get cash from me in return for “paid parking.” I had to pull out my best “alpha” animal, stare him down, and repeatedly say “No, thank you. No, THANK you. NO THANK YOU!” before he slunk off. Then, walking toward the Vera Project, we saw a homeless person, um, well, being quite public…

Next stop on the rabbit hole voyage was an introduction to the Sanctuary Art Center. According to the brochure, the

“Sanctuary Art Center is a professional quality art studio serving homeless youth ages 13-25 in Seattle’s University District. Our mission is to create a safe, warm, calm environment for youth to experience creativity and success through use of artistic media, such as pottery, stained glass, painting, beading, drawing, drama, musical instruction, and more. We provide street involved youth wiht a place of discovery and support, removed from the noise, danger, and chaos of the street.”

Hey, grown-ups out there: Isn’t that what we’re all supposed to be doing?

Copy that, good buddy: Plagiarism and the 21st Century Learner

Trucker with CB radio

The educators I follow on Twitter are like a never-ending source of inspiration, ideas, and innovations. However, the conversations are somewhat truncated because of the confinements of 140 characters. I like the boundary, but sometimes I have a bit more to say, or to reflect. This is one of those times.

The topic is plagiarism. Plagiarism is defined by willfully and intentionally “stealing” another’s creative/original ideas, works, products, or concepts. Sometimes it’s unintentional, though, but ignorance of the law is, unfortunately, no excuse.

But teaching these concepts isn’t really working in our communicative, idea-rich world. Ideas, conversations, and concepts fly around like oxygen molecules. I have noticed my students copy/paste without thought, compunction, or ill-intent. Seriously — they do not ‘get it.’ It’s like leaving a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies on the kitchen counter and forgetting to put a sign that says “don’t eat.” I don’t think my population of students is copying/pasting with malice–but they do need some instruction and direction.

compunction |kəmˈpə ng (k) sh ən|noun [usu. with negative ]a feeling of guilt or moral scruple that follows the doing of something bad : spend the money without compunction. See note at qualm .• a pricking of the conscience : he had no compunction about behavingblasphemously.DERIVATIVEScompunctionless adjectivecompunctious |- sh əs| |kəmˈpəŋ(k)ʃəs| |-ʃəs| adjectivecompunctiously |- sh əslē| |kəmˈpəŋ(k)ʃəsli| |-ʃəsli| adverbORIGIN Middle English : from Old French componction, fromecclesiastical Latin compunctio(n-), from Latin compungere ‘prick sharply,’ from com- (expressing intensive force) + pungere ‘to prick.’

Here’s what I think is happening:

  • There is so much to teach. The majority of 13/14 year-olds I teach are behind considerably in background knowledge in simply how “academia” works: I remember clearly slaving away over index cards with encyclopedias, informational texts, getting every citation perfect, making sure how to quote passages properly, and giving credit where credit was due. This was in fourth grade. Many of my eighth grade students can’t define “citation, resource, or reference.” (We speed through too much too fast out of necessity, playing educational “catch up” and trying to float all boats by flooding the river…)
  • Working with index cards, pencils, and paper slowed down the thinking process for me; there was time to read, re-read for importance, determine importance, and process–and most importantly: SYNTHESIZE the information. No wonder why students copy/paste innocently: they really think they have done the ‘work.’ I would estimate 40% of my time with students during one-to-one discussion/conferencing is spent re-reading their copy/pasted work back to them and asking them if they understand it. The answer is inevitably ‘no.’
  • In instruction, there are two primary, fundamental, over-arching reading instructional goals for my students:
  1. Help them develop the critical thinking ‘filters’ that help them read with deep meaning and connection.
  2. Help them find their own path to original thinking/creativity. Once they discover that the originality is their inherent human right–there is only one of them in the entire world, then perhaps they will not only find confidence and joy, but value the originality in others, too. Do unto others, folks.

Having spent my adult life in pursuits of creativity, alongside my husband, we value our works, and I honor those of others, too. I think it’s really important to teach every generation about ideas, and create a culture of sharing ideas that incorporate a nod or tip of the hat to others. Twitter does this, Facebook, too; the protocol for acknowledging someone else’s tweet or post is the ubiquitous “@” symbol. And though this symbol is king of the universe now (sorry ampersand; you’re Miss Congeniality in the Punctuation Pageant), we cannot but help bow to its reign. Which brings me to my next idea: although I do think we all need to be very intentional, honest, and direct in our teaching of why plagiarism is not okay, and in fact, seeking the way through material is supremely beneficial, I do think we need to redo the citation/bibliography style guides to be more streamlined. Maybe not as easy as “RT” or “@,” but something to clear that obstacle off the information highway.

Creativity as a commodity…

Biscuits

Here’s my burning question of the day, and of my life: Can anyone be creative? It has always been my belief that yes, anyone can be creative. What do you think?

First, I think we need to think about what is your definition of creativity. It’s kind of like your definition for what you find beautiful, painful (emotionally anyway: I think we can all agree that anything that involves blood or bruising is physically painful), or interesting. Creativity comes from inspiration, from thinking, from connections, and I must say–admiration of others’ creativity. Is that mental or artistic stealing? Only if you claim the idea as your own. Would you want others to take your flashes of genius and steal them from you? (I didn’t think so.)

Moving forward – you’ve now defined what creativity means to you. Do you think you have some? How do you know? If not, why not? Creativity is another form of curiosity, of inquisitiveness, and we all know curiosity killed the cat. If you’re not a cat, you have nothing to worry about. The point is to ask questions…and then seek answers that may satisfy.

Where some of my frustration sets in is when I get jealous of other people’s creativity and their successes that go along with it – the great book that someone else wrote, the breathtaking painting that someone else produced, the movie script that is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. I think, actually, a lot of us get frustrated that we’re not rich and famous due to our creativity, so we give up, and settle for mediocrity and boring routines. If you feel yourself mentally flatlining, shake things up! Find out why others created what they did, and find your own spark. Creativity builds on connections.

I believe we all have a level of creativity to share, simply because we are all individuals that take up our own space, time, and energy. And I guarantee you, you do. Prove it to yourself.