Ken Robinson, in his TED talk, “How To Escape Education’s Death Valley”, proposes ways to improve the culture of American schools. What is one thing you can do to tap into your own students’ curiosity and creativity?
One thing I need to do is to try and make my lessons more relevant. What I mean by this is to try and make my students see how some of the things we are learning can be and are be used in the real world. For some material that I teach, this is tough but I need to do a better job with the topics I can relate to the world.
I like to tap into curiosity by trying different ways to practice the skills taught in my classes. one of my most successful ideas has been doing skits in my CPR and First Aid class. I have the students perform a skit in front of the class that includes the different skills we learn in my class. It lets them be creative in how we practice the skills. We don't just sit and do the skills over and over we perform them in a real life setting. The skits are fun to do and really fun to watch. The unique circumstances the students come up with are always interesting.
One thing I can do to tap into students creativity and curiosity and is to incorporate the arts more into my classroom. I would like to give students more opportunities to showcase their talents. We do not have a art class at our middle school, so providing those opportunities for students to show what they know through the arts and not be so worried about a multiple choice test would be beneficial.
After watching Ken Robinson’s “How to Escape Education’s Death Valley,” one thing I can do to tap into my students’ curiosity and creativity is to build more choice into their learning. In middle school math, students don’t always get opportunities to explore, so even something small like choosing which problem set to try, which strategy to use, or which real-world application to investigate can make a big difference. When students feel ownership over how they learn, they naturally engage more, ask better questions, and show more creativity in their thinking. My goal is to provide more open-ended tasks where students can experiment, collaborate, and discover rather than just follow steps.
Ken Robinson, in his TED talk, “How To Escape Education’s Death Valley”, proposes ways to improve the culture of American schools. What is one thing you can do to tap into your own students’ curiosity and creativity?
A few things I like to incorporate into my middle school math classroom is giving kids a problem and letting them see if they can make a conjecture on the learning target of the day. They do this by solving a problem of the day with a few guided steps to follow and questions to answer. I also try and connect the learning to life which doesn't always happen but I do try!
One thing I have been brainstorming, but haven't implemented yet is making content entirely relevant to the students' lives. I feel like they will be more naturally invested if they feel like it matters to them. The other thing I can do to foster curiosity is give some control of learning over to the students. I have already started this by writing several problem spots for each section in the band to work on and I give them some time each class to tackle it themselves. They generally don't get to everything, which is fine, but it is their choice for which song they feel like they need to work on.
In Ken Robinson’s TED Talk, How to Escape Education's Death Valley, he emphasizes that education should nurture curiosity rather than stifle it. One practical thing I can do to build help increase my students’ curiosity and creativity is to give them some meaningful choices in how they learn and show their understanding of the material. Instead of having every student complete the same assignment in the same format, I could offer options such as writing a traditional essay, creating a video, designing a presentation, or building a model. When students have control over some of their learning, they are more likely to take ownership of it. Choice allows them to connect what they have learned to their interests, talents, and experiences. Allowing students to use their creativity and curiosity starts with trusting students by giving them space to think, experiment, and create instead of simply complying.
My classroom has paper, crayons, art supplies, etc... when students are done with their assignments, I let them use my art supplies or a lot of times they bring their own. It lets them have some free time and reset before their next class. It is also an incentive to complete the assignments. I have a student who gets to take a lap to help him reset, and I try to identify what needs my students have and try to meet those needs to help them feel more centered and creative.
One way I can tap into my students’ curiosity and creativity is by using play-based learning that incorporates their interests. For example, I can create thematic, hands-on activities—like building a “mini forest” to explore animals and plants—where students can ask questions, make discoveries, and use their imagination while developing social, cognitive, and motor skills.
I try and create opportunities for my students to do things out in the community. I teach in a self-contained type classroom and most of my students are looking at a life not in college. We focus on life skills. We try and go out into the community 1-2 times per month to go shopping or do a fun activity around town. It is difficult to do this anymore times during the month because of all of the other things we have to do.
One thing that a teacher can do to tap into a students curiosity is to have times in your classroom that are completely different to what they expect to do. Many students get bored doing the same things over and over the same way, and variety is the spice of life. This can range from a change in location, such as field trips or having class outside. Or it could be as simple of using a game to teach the same material in a way that engages them differently. This does not mean that you have to do something different every single day in your classroom because students do like having some structure, so if you do something like having a class once a week where students will need to do something creative and fun could get them more engaged. It may be nice as well if you randomly did it one day a week, so students will come to your class everyday wondering if that day will be something new and fun. Or do it twice one week once on a Monday and once on a Thursday just so they don't believe it will happen once per week every week. It will be a great way for students to love coming to your class.
Ken Robinson, in his TED talk, “How To Escape Education’s Death Valley”, proposes ways to improve the culture of American schools. What is one thing you can do to tap into your own students’ curiosity and creativity?
One thing I try to do and need to keep improving on is making my lessons more relevant to my students. As a middle school history teacher I feel students have a preconceived notion that history is in the past and its just a bunch of dates, place, and old dead people that have nothing to do with me as a 13/14 year old. As mentioned in earlier posts, I try to get them to make connections between the past, present, and future. For them to understand they who we are is a result of our past and what we do now can influence our future. Hopefully, this is a hook that captures their curiosity and unlocks their creativity.
One thing I could do is to do more hands on activity about the lesson. Say if the class is learning about pie graphs, line graph, and bar graphs.You could have each student come up with something that they can graph. So they can ask teachers or other students. Then create their own graph. Like Which is your favorite candy bar... snickers,Twix, reeses cup, Almond joy, or milkyWay.
It will also get students more comfortable to talking to other teachers or students.
One thing I need to do is to try and make my lessons more relevant. What I mean by this is to try and make my students see how some of the things we are learning can be and are be used in the real world. For some material that I teach, this is tough but I need to do a better job with the topics I can relate to the world.
ReplyDeleteI like to tap into curiosity by trying different ways to practice the skills taught in my classes. one of my most successful ideas has been doing skits in my CPR and First Aid class. I have the students perform a skit in front of the class that includes the different skills we learn in my class. It lets them be creative in how we practice the skills. We don't just sit and do the skills over and over we perform them in a real life setting. The skits are fun to do and really fun to watch. The unique circumstances the students come up with are always interesting.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I can do to tap into students creativity and curiosity and is to incorporate the arts more into my classroom. I would like to give students more opportunities to showcase their talents. We do not have a art class at our middle school, so providing those opportunities for students to show what they know through the arts and not be so worried about a multiple choice test would be beneficial.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching Ken Robinson’s “How to Escape Education’s Death Valley,” one thing I can do to tap into my students’ curiosity and creativity is to build more choice into their learning. In middle school math, students don’t always get opportunities to explore, so even something small like choosing which problem set to try, which strategy to use, or which real-world application to investigate can make a big difference. When students feel ownership over how they learn, they naturally engage more, ask better questions, and show more creativity in their thinking. My goal is to provide more open-ended tasks where students can experiment, collaborate, and discover rather than just follow steps.
ReplyDeleteKen Robinson, in his TED talk, “How To Escape Education’s Death Valley”, proposes ways to improve the culture of American schools. What is one thing you can do to tap into your own students’ curiosity and creativity?
ReplyDeleteA few things I like to incorporate into my middle school math classroom is giving kids a problem and letting them see if they can make a conjecture on the learning target of the day. They do this by solving a problem of the day with a few guided steps to follow and questions to answer. I also try and connect the learning to life which doesn't always happen but I do try!
One thing I have been brainstorming, but haven't implemented yet is making content entirely relevant to the students' lives. I feel like they will be more naturally invested if they feel like it matters to them. The other thing I can do to foster curiosity is give some control of learning over to the students. I have already started this by writing several problem spots for each section in the band to work on and I give them some time each class to tackle it themselves. They generally don't get to everything, which is fine, but it is their choice for which song they feel like they need to work on.
ReplyDeleteIn Ken Robinson’s TED Talk, How to Escape Education's Death Valley, he emphasizes that education should nurture curiosity rather than stifle it. One practical thing I can do to build help increase my students’ curiosity and creativity is to give them some meaningful choices in how they learn and show their understanding of the material. Instead of having every student complete the same assignment in the same format, I could offer options such as writing a traditional essay, creating a video, designing a presentation, or building a model. When students have control over some of their learning, they are more likely to take ownership of it. Choice allows them to connect what they have learned to their interests, talents, and experiences.
ReplyDeleteAllowing students to use their creativity and curiosity starts with trusting students by giving them space to think, experiment, and create instead of simply complying.
My classroom has paper, crayons, art supplies, etc... when students are done with their assignments, I let them use my art supplies or a lot of times they bring their own. It lets them have some free time and reset before their next class. It is also an incentive to complete the assignments. I have a student who gets to take a lap to help him reset, and I try to identify what needs my students have and try to meet those needs to help them feel more centered and creative.
ReplyDeleteOne way I can tap into my students’ curiosity and creativity is by using play-based learning that incorporates their interests. For example, I can create thematic, hands-on activities—like building a “mini forest” to explore animals and plants—where students can ask questions, make discoveries, and use their imagination while developing social, cognitive, and motor skills.
ReplyDeleteI try and create opportunities for my students to do things out in the community. I teach in a self-contained type classroom and most of my students are looking at a life not in college. We focus on life skills. We try and go out into the community 1-2 times per month to go shopping or do a fun activity around town. It is difficult to do this anymore times during the month because of all of the other things we have to do.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that a teacher can do to tap into a students curiosity is to have times in your classroom that are completely different to what they expect to do. Many students get bored doing the same things over and over the same way, and variety is the spice of life. This can range from a change in location, such as field trips or having class outside. Or it could be as simple of using a game to teach the same material in a way that engages them differently. This does not mean that you have to do something different every single day in your classroom because students do like having some structure, so if you do something like having a class once a week where students will need to do something creative and fun could get them more engaged. It may be nice as well if you randomly did it one day a week, so students will come to your class everyday wondering if that day will be something new and fun. Or do it twice one week once on a Monday and once on a Thursday just so they don't believe it will happen once per week every week. It will be a great way for students to love coming to your class.
ReplyDeleteKen Robinson, in his TED talk, “How To Escape Education’s Death Valley”, proposes ways to improve the culture of American schools. What is one thing you can do to tap into your own students’ curiosity and creativity?
ReplyDeleteOne thing I try to do and need to keep improving on is making my lessons more relevant to my students. As a middle school history teacher I feel students have a preconceived notion that history is in the past and its just a bunch of dates, place, and old dead people that have nothing to do with me as a 13/14 year old. As mentioned in earlier posts, I try to get them to make connections between the past, present, and future. For them to understand they who we are is a result of our past and what we do now can influence our future. Hopefully, this is a hook that captures their curiosity and unlocks their creativity.
Tiffany Weinert
DeleteOne thing I could do is to do more hands on activity about the lesson. Say if the class is learning about pie graphs, line graph, and bar graphs.You could have each student come up with something that they can graph. So they can ask teachers or other students. Then create their own graph. Like Which is your favorite candy bar... snickers,Twix, reeses cup, Almond joy, or milkyWay.
ReplyDeleteIt will also get students more comfortable to talking to other teachers or students.