Creativity in the Classroom?

Do you think students' creativity is being squelched in the classroom?

I used to be a middle school English teacher before I became a stay-at-home mommy and writer and blogger.  The focus drilled into us teachers constantly by principals, vice principals, team meeting leaders, etc was the curriculum.  Teaching students what they needed for the next test and for those standardized tests that would prove to people that their children were not being left behind.

Now, I think it's awesome that we're making sure we're teaching our students what they need to know.  But I fear that in the process, we've taught students how to prepare for tests while putting their ability to think for themselves and to be creative on the back burner.  Not that critical thinking and creativity in the classroom don't exist, but they're not being encouraged as much as they should.

My last year of teaching, I decided to end our fiction unit by letting the students write a story of their own.  I was excited by the creativity that would follow.  I thought they would be excited too.  What I got instead were lots of questions.  "How is this being graded?"  "Why are we doing this, writing isn't on the test, right?"  "How long does it have to be?"  "What does it have to have in it?"

I got frustrated.  I wanted them to just write and be creative.  Without concern about their grade or page length.  Just to write.  And this very situation is what inspired the concept of my manuscript I began working on alongside those students.

Eventually they began to let go of their anxieties.  Those pencils started flowing.  Excitement filled the air.  Even though I told them they'd have plenty of time in class to work on their stories, many went home and worked on it.  I loved seeing them excited about their ideas and their writing.

So, I ask you, what do you think?  Do you think students' creativity is put on the back burner to focus on the curriculum and testing?  Does it depend on the teacher and whether they incorporate creative outlets in their lessons?  Or is creativity flourishing and thriving in schools?

Creativity is Bold: da Vinci Style

Leonardo da Vinci had notebooks FILLED with doodles and sketches and theories.  He also made several incredible paintings.  Some of which he never finished.  No one knows why, but I wonder if it's because he began to doubt the direction it was going. Or maybe he wanted to begin his next project.

Either of those theories seems encouraging to me.  It makes him seem more human, and not like a creativity god.  I mean, I seem to flit from one project idea to another.  And I often doubt my projects and abandon them.  Eventually I return to them, but sometimes weeks or months later.

When I think about my own creativity, I've realized I lack boldness.  I let my doubts and fears and a ridiculous amount of time on social  media sites, stop me from writing for days, weeks, or even months at a time.  No wonder it's taken me three years to finish writing and revising my manuscript.

I wish I could be more like da Vinci.  Bold.  Inquisitive.  Creative.  Productive.

But I must admit, when those moments of creativity strikes, when the words just flow and flow, it's an incredible feeling.  I wonder if da Vinci lost that incredible feeling because he experienced moments of creativity all the time. 

What about you?  Are you feeling bold?  Creative? 

Left Brain/ Write Brain

This post was originally posted March 14, 2011, 
but I totally feel it all over again and so am reposting it for those who missed it

I've been researching a lot about the brain and how it works and about creativity for the story I'm writing. Norman Doidge (author of The Brain that Changes Itself) says that the brain is "the only organ that can be sharpened when all others deteriorate with age."  True dat Norman.

But what I've been pondering regarding the brain is the whole right brain/left brain thing.  Right brain being responsible for creativity.  Left brain for organization and processing.  Because, right now I feel that my writing is unfortunately stalled in my left brain.  My left hemisphere is telling me my story is stupid, to stop wasting my time, that it'll never get published.

This happens every time I write.  I start each story with right brain brimming with ideas, my fingers flying over the keyboard, my heart feeling alive with the knowledge that I'm doing what I'm made to do.  But then left hemisphere kicks in, crushing my creative flow.  Muse is no where to be seen.  And for weeks, sometimes even months I abandon my story until I can convince right hemisphere to keep going.

Left hemisphere is awesome for when the writing is down on paper and it's time to revise and edit.  But not during the writing.  Then it's more like the Sirens of Greek mythology, singing out lies that sound true and beautiful and drowning Muse and any creativity I may have.  

Whether you are a writer or not, I'm sure you can relate to the concept.

What do you do when your left hemisphere is singing louder than your right?

When the Muse Strikes

How often have we heard the phrase "when the muse strikes" or "when creativity strikes"?  It sounds like a grand thing, ideas just start flowing and we tap into that inspiration and creativity.


Alas, I have the other kind of muse strike.  One where she says "I'm refusing to come in to work today".  I thought I treated her pretty well, but apparently not enough for her to want to keep working with me. So, I'll admit it...


I haven't been writing.  I'm waiting for her to get out of her surly rebellion and inspire me.  So I decided this morning to do a little bit of research on her.  How do other writers and artists feel about her and the creative process?  Basically I learned that artists categorize the muse in two ways:


1)  The Muse Strikes and You Must Use That Inspiration Before You Lose it:

• I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.  ~Michelangelo
• But I can only write what the muse allows me to write. I cannot choose, I can only do what I am given.
  ~Ian Hamilton Finlay

This is what I want!  Come back to me Muse! 

2) The Muse is Lazy and You Must Put in the Effort to Get Him/Her Going:

•  You can't wait for inspiration.  You have to go after it with a club.  ~Jack London
• Where art thou, Muse, that thou forget'st so long
  To speak of that which gives thee all thy might? ~William Shakespeare
• Sometimes imagination pounces; mostly it sleeps soundly in the corner, purring.  ~Terri Guillemets
• There is a muse but he is not going to come fluttering into writing room and scatter creative fairy-dust all over your typewriter or computer station. He lives in the ground. He is a basement guy. You have to descend to his level, and once you get down there you have to furnish an apartment for him to live in. You have to do all the grunt labor, in other words, while the muse sits and smokes cigars and admires his bowling trophies and pretend to ignore you… He may not be much to look at that muse-guy, and he may not be much of a conversationalist (what I get out of mine is mostly surly grunts, unless he is on duty), but he’s got the inspiration. ~Stephen King
• One reason I don't suffer Writer's Block is that I don't wait on the muse, I summon it at need.~Piers Anthony
  
  

Fine.  I get it.  I have to write even if she is on holiday. Maybe she'll get jealous of all the fun I'm having without her and join in the writing fun.  Off I go to dust off the manuscript and write again.

How do you feel about the muse?  What do you call him/her?  

What helps you when your muse is being lazy? 

Siren vs. Muse

(Muse speaks in a blue font. Siren in red. And Jenn? In boring ol' black. Don't know what we're talking about? Check out this post: Does Your Creativity Have a Name?)

How was your Labor Day? Mine was interesting to say the least. Siren and Muse totally battled it out today.

I figured I had an extra day with my hubby home to take care of our little one so I could write and write and write. But instead, Writer's Block took hold. What do you have to write about? This story is going in totally the wrong direction. No one's gonna want to read this. Stop it Siren! I will finish this story!

Hours pass. For some reason the lack of productivity totally drags down my spirits. I want to nap. And cry. That's right, you're a failure. You're wasting your time.

So I do what I like to do when I'm experiencing Writer's Block or feel my spirits sinking. I go for a walk. Commune with nature. Pray. I must have walked for an hour. It was a gorgeous day. I watched the sun set, a beautiful display of pinks and oranges, fading into darkness.

And then I stepped in! Thanks for letting me come out and play! And so when you got home you wrote and you wrote and you wrote (as I knew you could!) and you finished your story! We must have worked for 3 hours!

That's right, folks! I finished it! Woohoo! I just need to go back and revise the last few pages. Then give the entire thing another once over. Maybe let some trusted friends read it and offer their feedback. But I'm done! Thanks Muse! Take that Siren!

What do you do when you have Writer's Block or are feeling low? What helps raise your spirits and help your creativity flourish?

Muse and Siren's Favorite Words A-Z:

(Muse speaks in a blue font. Siren in red. And Jenn? In boring ol' black. Don't know what we're talking about? Check out this post: Does Your Creativity Have a Name?)

A ha!, art, amaze Awkward

Brainstorm, brilliant Bash

Create, craft, carpe diem, compose Critique

Dream, discover, dazzle, design Do over

Explore, epiphany, experiment Edit

Flow, fun Failure

Genius Ghastly

Hodgepodge Hate

Imagination, illuminate, inspire, innovate I can't

Journey Just stop

Kaleidoscope Kooky

Learn, love Later

Muse!, mosaic Must not

Nurture Not good enough

Originality, orchestrate Organize

Ponder, perspective, paint, passion Procrastinate

Question Quit

Reinvent, rendezvous, right brain Revise

Spontaneous, serendipity, scribble Scratch that

Think outside the box, tinker Terrible

Uninhibited, unique Unbelievable

Visualize, vivid, voila! Void

Wonder, whimsy Watch TV instead

Xanadu X out everything

Yin yang You can't

Zeal Zounds!

Rockin'

(Muse speaks in a blue font. Siren in red. And Jenn? In boring ol' black. Don't know what we're talking about? Check out this post: Does Your Creativity Have a Name?)

My little monkey sleeps in his swing today. He rocks back and forth, off in his baby dreamworld, trying to block out the sound of his mother tapping away on the keyboard and then deleting everything. This is my opportunity to write. But nothing productive comes.

Back and forth. As the swing rocks forward, I think I know what I want to write about. The swing goes backward and I've lost all sense of direction. Ethan is staying in generally the same place. So am I. Not accomplishing anything.

I feel as if I'm in a small boat. One that's being tossed about by the waves. Just rocking back and forth, not making progress. Muse and Siren battling it out. Muse rocks me forward. Siren rocks me back.

What is it that's holding me back? I think about it as I watch my son. I listen to his gentle snoring.

It's not writer's block. I have ideas. Maybe too many of them. Maybe that's what's paralyzing me right now.

I know what it is. It's a four letter word. Fear. But fear of what?

It's not the fear of failure. I'm used to that, I've lost count of the number of rejections I've received on my first Young Adult work.

And then a cold, drenching wave crashes over me. It's fear of success. The thought startles me, as I'm chilled to the bones. Why in the world would I be afraid of success? Maybe I'm afraid of actually writing something people will enjoy. Maybe I'm afraid my writing will reveal too much of the hidden things in my heart. Maybe I'm afraid success will change everything.

One thing I do know. Perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18).

I must be bold enough to step out of the boat. It feels safe, but it will lead me nowhere. I mus

t take a step of faith. Walk towards Jesus on the water. Yeah, I might get wet. Soaked even. Waves might crash over my head. But I think I'd rather take that chance than just rock back and forth for the rest of my life.

So I'll go read my Bible now, as I read about God's perfect love. And I'll smile as I listen to my son's snores that are crescendoing right now while the waves are slowing.

Live Life Already!

(Muse speaks in a blue font. Siren in red. And Jenn? In boring ol' black. Don't know what we're talking about? Check out this post: Does Your Creativity Have a Name?)


Dear Jenn,

It's ok to not watch so much TV or stalk what people are doing on Facebook so often. In fact, use that time to do something more worthwhile. Like write. Or do something kind for someone. Read the Word. Volunteer. Go for a walk. Blog. Get in touch with someone you haven't talked to in a while. The list is endless.

And stop listening to Siren. Siren seriously doesn't know anything. She makes you think that your story is stupid (it's not), that you shouldn't waste your time writing

(you're not), that watching TV is more worthwhile and relaxing than writing (definitely not). And she makes you think that it's not worthwhile to do something kind for someone else. Are you kidding?!? That's like, the most worthwhile thing there is.

Ok, so now is the time to start living for worthwhile things. If

you knew you had 3 months to live, you wouldn't spend them in front of the TV and Facebook, right? Nope, you'd be chasing after your dreams, and meeting with people you care about, and trying to leave a positive mark on the world by doing nice things for people.

So, now, what are you waiting for? I give you permission to live life to the fullest. Don't let Siren choke that out of you!

Your Friend,
Musie

Does Your Creativity Have a Name?

Admit it, we all hear voices in our heads. One is encouraging, inspiring ideas. That voice is also called Creativity. The other voice offers criticism and negativity. That voice is the Inner Critic.

Call me crazy, but I decided to give names to my creative voice and to the annoying, sometimes detrimental, yet sometimes helpful inner critic.

It didn't take me long to think of a name for Creativity. Inspired by Greek mythology I decided to call her Muse. (Super creative name, huh?) She calls herself Musie. The nine Muses were responsible for inspiring artists. Pretty darn cool if you think about it.

Once I had a name for Creativity, I struggled more with its

antagonist. I thought of demons, or simply calling her Critic. But then I went back to Greek mythology and thought about what would be Muse' antipode. And eventually I thought of it....

The Siren! Sirens would lead sailor's astray to their eventual death if they gave in to their voices. How appropriate for what the Inner Critic can do to our Creativity?!

So there you have it--I need to listen to my Muse and drown out my Siren before she drowns me.

I think I might work this concept into the story I'm writing...

What do you think of the names? And what do you call your own Creativity and Inner Critic?