This is a great article, something every teacher should read before designing and assigning any kind of project. It's also good reinforcement of knowledge that we often already have, but don't always put into practice.
This excellent article has given me some fresh ideas about how I am organizing and approaching the new World Cultures class I am teaching this year. I plan to reread it throughout the year, because I think it highlights some pitfalls that we sometimes fall into when assigning projects, and also reminds us of the value of higher level thinking in any academic pursuit.
I just reread the Creavtivity article in more depth and followed a link to a story about Harvard's Project Zero program. The concluding comment in the article was "Students in creative classrooms reap many benefits, including self-confidence in taking risks and expressing ideas. Students also feel they're part of a learning community where their contributions are respected and valued. Perhaps most important, students in creative classrooms develop a disposition toward learning that's likely to last a lifetime." It struck me that this thought is closely tied into an article someone put in my mailbox yesterday from the Washing Post, Nov 23, 2004, entitled"A Chart Exposes High School Malpractice". The topic is related to AP Exams and the success of teacher Jaime Escalante at a school in LA. His class of "disadvantaged" students from low-income Mexican American families earned top scores on AP Calculus exams. According to the author, no miracles were worked, but "Then, as now, they successfully prepared low-income students for college level tests by encouraging them to believe they were capable and by making sure they had enough time to prepare". The relationship I see is that I think the type of classrooms both articles address are based on using creative methods to encourage all students and a sincere belief by the teacher that all students do have gifts so the teacher can pass that belief onto the students.
This is a great article, something every teacher should read before designing and assigning any kind of project. It's also good reinforcement of knowledge that we often already have, but don't always put into practice.
Posted by: Jeff Jackson | August 05, 2004 at 01:55 PM
This excellent article has given me some fresh ideas about how I am organizing and approaching the new World Cultures class I am teaching this year. I plan to reread it throughout the year, because I think it highlights some pitfalls that we sometimes fall into when assigning projects, and also reminds us of the value of higher level thinking in any academic pursuit.
Posted by: Linda Warner | August 19, 2004 at 09:27 AM
I just reread the Creavtivity article in more depth and followed a link to a story about Harvard's Project Zero program. The concluding comment in the article was "Students in creative classrooms reap many benefits, including self-confidence in taking risks and expressing ideas. Students also feel they're part of a learning community where their contributions are respected and valued. Perhaps most important, students in creative classrooms develop a disposition toward learning that's likely to last a lifetime." It struck me that this thought is closely tied into an article someone put in my mailbox yesterday from the Washing Post, Nov 23, 2004, entitled"A Chart Exposes High School Malpractice". The topic is related to AP Exams and the success of teacher Jaime Escalante at a school in LA. His class of "disadvantaged" students from low-income Mexican American families earned top scores on AP Calculus exams. According to the author, no miracles were worked, but "Then, as now, they successfully prepared low-income students for college level tests by encouraging them to believe they were capable and by making sure they had enough time to prepare". The relationship I see is that I think the type of classrooms both articles address are based on using creative methods to encourage all students and a sincere belief by the teacher that all students do have gifts so the teacher can pass that belief onto the students.
Posted by: Linda Warner | December 02, 2004 at 08:57 AM