Post by stephanietapia on Aug 9, 2011 0:35:13 GMT -5
What if the language we speak isn't spoken in words, but spoken in color? This thought came to me when a friend asked my sister what planet we live on. Without hesitation, she said yellow. You're probably thinking this kid is wack, but the clever creativity that kids have these days can fill your mind with crazy thoughts. On August 10th, 2011, my five year old sister will enter a world filled with opportunities to strive in creativty, Kindergarten. The meaning of the word Kindergarten is (Childrens Garden), which to me seems to fit perfectly. These children get the chance to plant their seed of creativity once they step into that classroom. Whether it turns out to be the smallest tree or the tallest in the forest, or the prettiest flower in the open field, or the infested bush in the front yard, or the sweetest fruit on a hot summer day, or the hated vegetable in front of a picky eater, it once had the key to success. Then they were put to the test to find the door of Creativity.
"The Creativity Crisis" by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman made me realize how much I've been holding back, creativity wise. I remember in Elementary school, I had gym, music, and art class. The rest of my day consisted of math, reading, social studies and science and they didn't really provide much creative thought, except for reading. That one was and still is my favorite. So I had three classes that required problem solving, memorizing the water cycle, and reading facts about the first president of the United States of America. Bronson and Merryman say,"American teachers warn there’s no room in the day for a creativity class. Kids are fortunate if they get an art class once or twice a week." When I read that I thought to myself, Why!? Art is like the number one form of expressing creativity. I was fortunate enough to have gym, music and an art class everday (depending on which grade I was in)
Bronson and Merryman observed a project 5th graders had to complete. They had to find a way to reduce noise in the library in four weeks. It doesn't seem that difficult, when you could just put up posters that say "Don't make noise!" but these kids were in the National Inventors Hall of Fame School. I'm in a normal high school and if I had been given that task, I honestly would've gone with the poster idea. They looked into what absorbed sound, what would block it out, what could work but wouldn't be safe and in the end they combined projects and gained support from parents and staff. This project didn't only help the kids gain more praise for creativity, but it helped their school and it made adults realize how much potential kids have.
This past school year, we were introduced to Project-based learning which I really enjoyed. There were times where I would find so much stress because I had other classes I needed to focus on more, and that's the thing, time. Bronson and Merryman made a good point that I hadn't thought about. "From fourth grade on, creativity no longer occurs in a vacuum; researching and studying become an integral part of coming up with useful solutions. But this transition isn’t easy. As school stuffs more complex information into their heads, kids get overloaded, and creativity suffers." This statement is true in so many ways. I hope that project based learning becomes a program in all schools, make that happen and we will all be amazed with what our future will become. No matter how old you are, I feel like there should always be time to open the door to creativity, walk in and let it take you wherever it takes you.
"The Creativity Crisis" by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman made me realize how much I've been holding back, creativity wise. I remember in Elementary school, I had gym, music, and art class. The rest of my day consisted of math, reading, social studies and science and they didn't really provide much creative thought, except for reading. That one was and still is my favorite. So I had three classes that required problem solving, memorizing the water cycle, and reading facts about the first president of the United States of America. Bronson and Merryman say,"American teachers warn there’s no room in the day for a creativity class. Kids are fortunate if they get an art class once or twice a week." When I read that I thought to myself, Why!? Art is like the number one form of expressing creativity. I was fortunate enough to have gym, music and an art class everday (depending on which grade I was in)
Bronson and Merryman observed a project 5th graders had to complete. They had to find a way to reduce noise in the library in four weeks. It doesn't seem that difficult, when you could just put up posters that say "Don't make noise!" but these kids were in the National Inventors Hall of Fame School. I'm in a normal high school and if I had been given that task, I honestly would've gone with the poster idea. They looked into what absorbed sound, what would block it out, what could work but wouldn't be safe and in the end they combined projects and gained support from parents and staff. This project didn't only help the kids gain more praise for creativity, but it helped their school and it made adults realize how much potential kids have.
This past school year, we were introduced to Project-based learning which I really enjoyed. There were times where I would find so much stress because I had other classes I needed to focus on more, and that's the thing, time. Bronson and Merryman made a good point that I hadn't thought about. "From fourth grade on, creativity no longer occurs in a vacuum; researching and studying become an integral part of coming up with useful solutions. But this transition isn’t easy. As school stuffs more complex information into their heads, kids get overloaded, and creativity suffers." This statement is true in so many ways. I hope that project based learning becomes a program in all schools, make that happen and we will all be amazed with what our future will become. No matter how old you are, I feel like there should always be time to open the door to creativity, walk in and let it take you wherever it takes you.