Tips to Bring Creativity into the Classroom
It’s World Creativity and Innovation Week! Today we asked our contributors for a tip to bring creativity into their classrooms! Here is what they said: Dr. Cyndi Burnett My Bio Dr. Cyndi Burnett is the Director of Possibilities for Creativity and Education. Like her creativity-focused curriculum for students and teachers, Cyndi embraces the creative lifestyle […]
Who are your creativity influencers?
Who are the creativity influencers inspiring new ways of understanding, defining, and engaging in creativity at this point in the 21st century? The term ‘creativity influencers’ came into my awareness as a newly minted creativity educator teaching adult undergraduate students in a BA degree completion program at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL. The course […]
Books To Help You Live A More Creative Life
Are you ready to live a more creative life? In celebration of World Creativity and Innovation Week, we asked our contributors to share the book that has helped them to live a more creative life. Here is what they said: We would love to hear from you! What books have helped you to live […]
How do you reignite your creative spark?
It’s not always easy to keep the creative juices flowing. Sometimes, we all need a little help getting started. As part of World Creativity and Innovation Week, we asked our Creative Contributors how they reignite their creative spark. Here’s what they said: Now we would love to hear from you! How do you reignite your […]
What are your creative rituals?
When it comes to creativity, there are all sorts of rituals and routines that people swear by. Whether it’s taking a walk in nature, listening to music, or simply taking some time for yourself each day, creative rituals can help you tap into your creative side. While there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, creative rituals can be […]
Tips to Live a More Creative Life
World Creativity and Innovation Week is here! This week we’re going to sharing a series of blog posts that will help you infuse creative thinking into your home, classroom, and life. Today’s theme is “Tips for Living a More Creative Life.” We asked our creative contributors what tip they’d share, and here are the responses: […]
World Creativity and Innovation Day – Let’s celebrate it!
Did you know that creativity has a day? In 2017, United Nations included the World Creativity and Innovation Day (WCID), celebrated on April 21, in its calendar. The data was established “to raise awareness of the role of creativity and innovation in problem-solving and, by extension, economic, social and sustainable development.” This is not a […]
Fueling Creativity Podcast Anniversary Episode
We’re celebrating one year of the Fueling Creativity podcast! We thought it would be fun to share this episode with you as an audio recording and a blog post, as it sheds light into the four themes that have emerged over the last year . The transcript has been modified for flow and reading ease […]
Escape with 21st Century Skills
The Push for STEM Anyone associated with education in the United States knows about the push for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) activities to develop students’ abilities to be innovative and competitive in an ever-changing world. This focus is one more thing to add to educators’ repertoires, but at least this one has great […]
Infusing Creativity into the Classroom with Dr. Susan Keller-Mathers
For the last year, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood have been interviewing the leading creativity scholars, practitioners, administrators, and educators on creativity and education on the Fueling Creativity Podcast. The goal of this podcast is to bridge the gap between research and practice, informing a richer discussion on creativity in education. These interviews […]
STEM: The Perfect Conduit for Creativity
Imagine the following scenario. You give a student a few popsicle sticks, a sheet of sandpaper, a handful of paperclips, a rainbow of chenille sticks, a couple of rubber bands, a fistful of cotton balls, half a dozen toothpicks, and a glue gun, and you tell her, “make me a cell phone stand.” There are […]
The Next Hour: Make Space, Fill with Intention, Create Change
If you’re busy, you need to practice yoga or meditate for an hour every day. If you’re really busy and overwhelmed, you need a two-hour daily practice. If that sounds like a lot, let me share a big aha I’ve learned during the pandemic. First, making space physically and mentally makes everything possible. Second, moving […]
Art as Therapy
In my senior year of college, we hosted a prisoner art exhibit in the campus art gallery. As art therapy students we were eager to guess the crime of the artist as we viewed each piece. We had been trained to look at content, technique, and symbolism in an effort to analyze the artwork. Anger […]
The Need for Creative Thinking in Our Schools
As a head teacher of two primary schools in East London, I was recently asked to present a ‘practitioner’s’ response to a recent report published by the Durham Commission on Creativity and Education, and I was very pleased to do so. The place of creativity in our education system is a conversation where I believe […]
Teach Like A Pirate: A Book Review
Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess is an energizing guide for educators looking to ignite passion, creativity, and student engagement in the classroom. Blending current brain research with real-world teaching strategies, Burgess empowers teachers to break away from traditional methods and make learning unforgettable. With insights like the Reticular Activating System (RAS) and the […]
How to Create a Learning Corner at Home for Kids
“Originally published on Redfin and features our director, Dr. Cyndi Burnett“ Children are quick to learn, and a great way to continue their learning experience is by creating a space for them to practice everything they’ve learned. A learning corner at home is a great way to help children exercise their minds outside the traditional […]
Pandemic Stories
In the very early days of the pandemic, writer and professor George Saunders sent out a beautiful, prescient email to his creative writing students. It begins: “Dear, [Syracuse University] writers — jeez, what a hard and depressing and scary time, so much suffering and anxiety everywhere. I saw this bee happily buzzing around a flower […]
I’ll pair a creativity skill with that gift!
Season’s Greetings! With the holidays upon us and so many cultural celebrations involving the exchange of gifts, I’m excited to share some ways to give the gift of creativity this year. Giving the gift of creativity involves thinking creatively about your gift ideas and which creativity skills each one might reinforce. The book, Weaving Creativity […]
The Possibilities of a Cardboard Box
When children receive presents for a birthday or holiday, parents often lament after spending tons of money on some newfangled toy, only to watch their child find more fascination with the box it came in. Why is this? What is so intriguing about something without any bells nor whistles? What is it about four sides […]
Honoring Student Diversity through Choice
Many kids equate school with prison. I know, it’s harsh. Their dread conjures images of rectangular torture chambers filled with rows of desks, complete with a ball and chain to hold each of them in their assigned seats. Movies like “Matilda” bring this idea to life, with the imposing, larger-than-life dictator, Mrs. Trunchbull threatening to […]
I am Creative. (Say it with me now).
“How many of you consider yourself creative?” I asked this question to a group of 70 teachers and administrators we were presenting to on Saturday. Only about half of the group raised their hands. “Let me frame this a different way. In the last week, how many of you have had to solve a problem […]
Creativity, Courage, and Curiosity in the Classroom
Growing up, I didn’t think I was creative. I wasn’t good at traditional arts, and there weren’t a lot of people who looked like me—Asian American. Moreover, in school, I’d only seen arts, crafts, and music being celebrated as creative outlets, so how could I have understood that creativity is so much more? I didn’t […]
Tips for Tutoring: Fostering a Creative Learning Environment to Help Students Gain Agency and Confidence
To independent tutors out there, a huge shout out for all the work you’ve done adapting to remote learning, helping students through these difficult times, and just being amazing! The start of the new school year is here, and many students may need additional support, given the adversities and struggles that remote learning has created. […]
Creativity Day at Durham College
Welcome to Durham College I have been lucky enough to teach full-time at Durham College for more than 15 years. Durham College, in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, is a community college located approximately 45 miles (or 72 kilometres) east of downtown Toronto. Durham College is one of Ontario’s 24 provincially-funded colleges. The college has been a […]