Marite+Romero

__Pre-assignment__
**Why is studying creativity important?**
 * __Summary__**

YES
 * 1) **The conventional system of schooling still emphasis academic ability**, despite all the information we know and the investigations that have been done through out the years on the matter of creativity and intelligence, the conventional system of schooling still emphasis and is more interested in grades and academic ability, rather than allowing children to be creative and think for themselves.
 * 2) **Intelligence is diverse, dynamic and distinct.** With this in mind schools must create an education system that nurtures rather than undermines creativity. We should rethink our school systems to cultivate creativity and acknowledge types of intelligence, which will allow children to have a more significant learning, as well as develop and enhance their talents and capabilities. EXCELLENT POINT ABOUT NOT UNDERMINING CREATIVITHY
 * 3) **Creativity should be as important as any other subject at school.** Children are born with talents, skills and abilities; however they don’t have the opportunity or are not allowed to develop these talents because of the schooling system, which focuses on obtaining appropriate academic results in subjects such as Math and Language. Teachers should help students discover their talents and provide them with as many opportunities as possible to demonstrate and use these talents.
 * 4) **Creativity can be taught**, what is needed is the implementation of appropriate methods such as, Treffinger’s Creative Problem Solving Method, that has proven the highest success in increasing children´s creativity which should be applied at every school and considered by every teacher as fundamental for their class planning.
 * 1) **Project work helps students learn creativity skills;** it requires divergent thinking, which is generating many unique ideas; and then convergent thinking, which is the combination of those ideas into the best result. Therefore students will not focus on activities that require only memorization of others ideas, but come up with their own new ideas. A S LONG AS THE WORK IS OPEN-ENDED AND TEACHER ACTS AS FACILITATOR RATHER THAN DICATATOR. RIGHT?

**__How I Nurture creativity in my students currently__** - Preparing my students to be wrong, frequently modeling how even adults can be wrong and demonstrating there is nothing to fear about making mistakes.

- Beginning each new topic using KWL charts, that allow children to brainstorm and recall what they know, what they want to know and finally what they learned about that topic; through projects that children agree to do. IT WOULD BE GREAT TO SEE HOW HAS A UNIQUE IDEA OR QUESTION ABOUT WHAT THEY MIGHT WANT TO KNOW.

- Focusing on activities that are differentiated, to allow children to work at their level of performance and choose the activity they would like to do first, as well as considering their diverse types of intelligence. BUT THE ACTIVITY MUST BE OPEN-ENDED ENOUGH TO ALLOW FOR CREATIVE THINKING.

- Through constant sharing and reading books, children reinforce and learn several reading comprehension strategies, such as making connections, questioning, visualizing, inferring and determining importance of those stories. They use the appropriate names for each strategy and have the opportunity to share their ideas and create their own endings. THIS IS VERY CONVERGENT NOT DIVERGENT. I HOPE THE COURSE ENABLED YOU TO EXPAND YOUR IDEA OF NURTURING CREATIVITY.

- Creative problem solving techniques for young children. - Activities to stimulate student creativity. - How to make creativity a consistent habit. I WOULD EXPECT YOUR GOALS WERE MET IN THE COURSE THROUGH CLASS DISCUSSION, ACTIVITIES, AND READINGS. I HOPE YOU EMBRACED THE IDEA OF OPEN-ENDED ACTIVITIES AND PLAY.
 * __Understandings or skills I would like to learn in this course on Creativity__**

__Mini Assignment: Definition of Creativity__
G REAT IMAGE FOR YOUR DEFINITION OF KEY ELEMENTS.

__** Mini Assignment: Joshua in a Box Discussion **__
The video shows a person that is trapped inside a box. I believe that everyone at certain point of their life feels they are trapped, or you are caught in a situation where you cannot find a way out. Many times the solution is right in front of you, however it is difficult to see it because we are so used to focusing on the problem or complaining about it, rather than trying to look for as many possible solutions as we can, as well as learning from each problem in our life. YOU ARE SO RIGHT I think for me it is due mostly to the people and internal blocks; that sometimes I find it difficult to come up with creative solutions to simple problems. We live in a society and according to the rules that have already been given and passed from generation to generation. We have been programmed since a very early age to know what is right and wrong, and we stick to those rules no matter what. I consider sometimes that it is better to be safe than sorry and hardly take any risks, especially if I’m on my own; if I have company it is a little bit easier., you feel supported when you have someone to share your ideas, fears, etc. We are used to going along with the socially accepted road than trying to come up with new and more creative ideas. We would rather follow what others have come up with than try to a risk and think freely. People can be sometimes very judgmental and critical. That tends to spot us on ours tracks. As in the movie, you sometimes finally find a way out of a problem or situation. However we usually get so used to a certain situation that we feel safer when we are surrounded by a well known environment, where everything is familiar, we are not comfortable when we are experimenting something new, it always frightens us and we avoid the chances. FINE POINTS MADE. SO NOW YOU NEED TO COME UP WITH YOUR OWN CREATIVITY PLAN THAT WILL ENCOURAGE YOU TO TAKE A RISK AND TRY SOMETHING NEW. START WITH YOUR STUDENTS AND CREATING ASSIGNMENTS WHERE THERE IS NO ONE RIGHT ANSWER.

__** Mini Assignment: Ted Talk on Creativity **__
- ** María Inés Carrión ** - ** Gabriela Larrea ** - ** María Teresa Romero **
 * Group: **


 * Isabel Allende tells tales of Passion **



Personal Reflextion:
I enjoyed the video of Isabel Allende, she is one of my favorite writers, I have read her books and enjoyed each one. It was the first time I had seen a live interview in which she spoke about her life and important real life experiences, which is a bit different than reading her ideas. What I enjoyed the most was the topic: Passion. I think it is very important for everyone to have passion in their lives, specially if you know and have found something to be passionate about. For me it is my job, my work, my profession. I enjoy working with children, it's what gets me up every morning, not knowing what new things and ideas my students are going to come up with when I work with them or teach them something new. YOU ARE BLESSED WITH THE FACT THAT YOUR JOB IS YOUR PASSION, What I consider most important of Isabel Allende's speech is the story of two women and their life experiences, which have shown courage and passion in life. Two important aspects of creative expression, that everyone should have, because it will help and lead you to achieve what you set out to accomplish, what ever your goal is. Even if it is in a small way, these women's experiences help us realize that in difficult situations creative ways of thinking can help you accomplish and solve a problem that may seem almost impossible to achieve. FINE DISCUSSION .YOUR GROUP DID A FINE JOB OF ADVERTISING THIS TED TALK.

__ Mini Assignment: Math Problem __
**Masato is a tourist guide on his spare time. He receives a call from some tourists. They need a guide for three groups of twenty three tourists that come from different countries. They wish to visit Masai.** **How many tourists does he need to guide in a week to earn 126$ .** **He charges 13 $ per hour. Since it is a large group he usually offers a 10% discount.** **Finally he needs to know how much he will earn in shillings. The currency change at the moment is 85,23 shillings are equal to 1$.** COMPLEX, ORIGINAL AND ELABORATE PROBLEM. BRAVO!!! **Group:** **Maria Ines Carrion** **Gabriela Larrea 2** **Paulina Lucero** **Valeria Izquierdo** **Maria Tereesa Romero** **Soledad Robalino** **Gabriela Bustamente** **Maria Elena Cobo** **Maria del Carmen Elsitdie**

__**Assignment 1:** **Scavenger Hunt**__




At the beginning it was difficult to see things in a different way. You are so used to seeing things in a certain way, that you need to take a minute to shake off all your blocks and then finally open your eyes and mind to what can be original and creative. Working in a group helps you because you are inspired by your team’s enthusiasm. That is what happened to me, I was taking pictures and looking at things but finally when I started to share ideas with my friends and specially share their enthusiasm was when I could see things differently. I understood how to find creativity in every day experiences and appreciate things that surrounded me. Usually you take things for granted and it takes seldom moments of introspection, for me it would be when I am stuck in traffic, to finally see greatness and creativity in simple things. We had a friend that came along with us, who has only been a few years in our country, however he shared what he knew about the place we were visiting, and I realized he knew more than I did even though I had lived here a bit more than he did. That made me realize that we often go through life without really appreciating the things that surround us. My contribution to the process was my tolerance and respect to others ideas as well as my values and preference styles.

i like your ability to express your insights during the process. More attention to criteria of Baron and Eisner would enhance this piece.

ASSIGNMENT 2 : Application of Creative Strategies
Valeria Izquierdo

María Teresa Romero

María Inés Carrion


 * Lesson #1**


 * Discipline:** Language Arts

Reading


 * Strategy:** Morphological Matrix


 * Objectives:**


 * Identify main characters in a story.
 * Combining characters from different stories, for children to create new stories.
 * Identify problems and solutions in different stories.


 * Description of the Strategy:**

- After listening to several stories, children will fill in the following morphological matrix chart, using the information they can recall from the stories they heard.


 * Hero || Villain || Problem || Solution ||

- They will combine the characters of the different stories and the problems to create a new story.

- They will change the solutions, creating their own new solutions.

- Working in small groups children will create their own books.


 * Implementing the Activity:**

When working on identifying the different parts of a story, children will listen to the following stories:

- Goldilocks and the Three Bears

- The three little pigs

- Little Red Riding Hood

- Snow White and the seven dwarfs

After listening to the stories children will then identify and brainstorm who are the heroes, villains, problem and solution of each story.

Then children will work in small groups to combine the characters and the problems of these stories to come up with new ones.

Children will decide what their solution to the problem will be. They have to come up with new solutions.

Each group will decide how to present their book: dramatizing, picture book, puppets, etc.


 * Assessment/Follow-up:**

In the assessment, we will observe children explaining to their classmates why they came up with that solution and if they are able to recall the story they heard as well as the story they came up with.

We would assess the use of this strategy by the students through discussions about the ideas they brainstormed for each category and about the combinations they created using the matrix.

I L OVE THIS ACTIVITY AND IT WILL BE FUN TO EXPLORE IT WITH THE KIDS. MAKE SURE YOU MODEL AN EXAMPLE SO THEY KNOW THEY HAVE PERMISSION TO CHANGE THE STORY. I HAD FIRST GRADERS TO A PLAY ABOUT SNOW WHITE AND THE 7 DWARFS MEET GOLDILOCKS AND THE 3 BEARS. LOTS OF FUN WRITING THAT ONE WITH THE CHILDREN.
 * Lesson # 2**


 * Discipline:** Science

Properties of Solids and liquids


 * Strategy:** Brainstorming and Imagery


 * Objectives:**


 * Identify the properties of solids and liquids.
 * Create a space craft that can land on both a solid and liquid planet.
 * Experiment with material that has different properties and attributes.
 * Understand s basic concepts about structure and properties of matter.
 * Knows that different objects are made up of many different observable properties.


 * Description of the Strategy:**

Children will learn how to prepare Oblix, which is a special substance that has different properties and attributes.

They will brainstorm the different properties that this substance has. What are the differences between solids and liquids.


 * Implementing the Activity:**

Children will learn how to make Oblix, which is a special substance that can be a solid as well as a liquid.

Children will experiment with this substance. They will touch it, feel it and manipulate it.

After children will brainstorm in group, what are the properties of solids and liquids, what are the similitaries and the differences.

Then children will be asked to imagine that the Planet Earth was made of this type of substance and create a spacecraft that will be able to land on both a solid or liquid surface.

Children will work in small groups, using different recyclable material to create their own spacecraft. GREAT FUN IN A DISCOVERY/INVENTION CENTER


 * Assessment/Follow-up:**

In the assessment, we will observe children explaining to their classmates why they came up with that type of spacecraft and why they think it will be able to land on this type of a planet.

We would assess the use of this strategy by the students, through discussions about the ideas they came up with. Then we would simulate a landing on the Planet with that surface and see if it works. AGAIN, STELLAR ACTIVITY THAT COMBINES LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND STANDARDS WITH CREATIVITY.

__Assignment 4: Creativity Socratic Seminar__
1. What is the difference between convergent and divergent thinking? Give specific examples. 2. Can a creative person show contradictory extremes such as being extroverted and introverted? 3. Can a person think in an unconventional way? 4. If women become more empowered in society, will this make a difference in creative ways of solving conflicts?