What Is Your Walk-In Song? Using Music to Spark Creativity
What is your walk-in song? I recently facilitated a workshop called Make It Swing, Make It Ring, a session focused on bringing music and movement into creative learning spaces. As I prepared, I revisited Infusing Creative Thinking into Higher Education and rediscovered a wonderful idea from my colleague Erica Swiatek. At the beginning of the […]
Giving Up Control in the Classroom with Andrea Mango
How can teachers empower children to be more creative and engaged in class, even when they don’t want to? In this Fueling Creativity in Education episode, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood welcome Andrea Mango, an elementary STEAM teacher based in Williamsville, New York. This episode focuses on bridging the gap between theories and […]
Using a Disciplinary Lens to Expand Creativity
Viewing creativity as a trait that all humans share is a cornerstone of both current research and of the Creativity and Education vision. It is not simply an inherent characteristic manifested by a few talented artists and performers. Rather, it is a marvelous and endlessly rich packet of possibilities that is embedded within every human […]
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: […]
Making Space for Creativity in the Trauma-Informed Classroom
Last year I started working in a high school, which was a great professional experience for me and a steep learning curve. Having previously worked with post-high school level students in college and universities, it was rewarding (and challenging!) to begin working with a younger cohort. Through this role, I met many new colleagues and […]
20 Lessons to Weave Creative Thinking
into Your Curriculum
Ever since Sir Ken Robinson presented his highly regarded TED talk, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” I have had countless teachers approach me inspired by the “why” we need creativity in the classroom but not knowing how to make it happen. Fortunately, the “how” is the central focus of my professional work and is anchored on […]
Let’s play! Ideas to Engage your Children in Creative Play
Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities. – Stuart Brown, MD The following are excerpts from the book, My Sandwich is a Spaceship: Creative Thinking Activities for Parents with Young Children. You can learn more about the book […]
Intentional Creative Thinking at Home: Lessons from a Visual Arts Teacher
As indicated in the 2018 Future of Jobs Report, creativity continues to be a desirable skill that is emerging as necessary in the workforce worldwide. Creative thinking, defined as intentionally using our minds to solve complex problems with new solutions, is at the heart of creativity. There are identifiable and teachable creative thinking skills that […]
Supporting Creative Confidence in the Art Room
It was such a treat to share some of my thoughts about Integrating Creativity into the Art Classroom with the dynamic team at Fueling Creativity. As I expressed in the podcast, teaching for creativity in any classroom is a transformative classroom practice. It has the potential to ignite engagement and foster a collaborative learning community. […]
Bravely Engaging Black History Month
If You Want Creative, Independent Thinkers,
Focus on Emotional Literacy
I strongly believe that students need to feel safe at school and require a climate that enables them to be emotionally ready to learn in the classroom. This environment can only be established if we develop strong relationships built upon mutual respect and trust. Our students need to feel that teachers and key adults care […]
Five Strategies to Build a Thinking Classroom
Research has shown that children are able to learn more between the ages of 0 and 3 than at any other time in their lives. They are natural-born learners – curious, creative, critical, independent thinkers. However, the first time that many begin to doubt themselves as learners is when they start formal education in schools. […]
E-teaching During the Pandemic: What’s Working for Me
Here are some of the strategies that worked for me; hopefully they can give you some ideas to implement in your class for a smoother transition.
Engage your Students in Virtual Visual Arts: 13 Tips for Teachers
Some takeaways with action items that we can use to improve our instructional practices for our students. 13 tips that have worked for me in virtual teaching.
A Classroom of One
In the month just before Uganda locked down due to COVID-19, an 11-year-old boy called Mukisa wandered into my life. He is the son of our part-time cleaner, and my mom asked our cleaner to let him stay with us a while because he was really such a pleasant young man. Before we knew it, […]
