I never thought I’d start a blog. Sure, I’ve read other blogs and used them to help me in one way or another, but why would I write one? I don’t have anything interesting or creative to say. This, of course, begs the question, “What is creativity?” When thinking about this, I’ve had two thoughts that I felt to be conflicting. One of the first things to come to mind is crafting. Crafting is one of my favorite things to do – crocheting, cross stitching, anything involving creating something. I’ve even been one to try and take an artsy photo (see above). People have called me creative when they’ve seen what I’ve made, so I’ve always associated creativity with something tangible.
Even though I’ve made some neat things, they weren’t my own ideas. I took an idea that already existed and elaborated on it – is that creative? Because on the other end, creativity to me means coming up with something that is completely new and never conceived.
When reading Sarah Thomas’ chapter in the #EduMatch Snapshot in Education 2016, she mentions how the best ideas hit her in the shower. For me, my ideas hit when I’m lying in bed at night trying to shut my brain off and fall asleep. Unfortunately, #GemsThatComeWhenI’mLyingInBedTryingToGoToSleep doesn’t have the same ring to it as #ShowerGems. During the day, my mind is full of so many things to think about, so once I get in bed and my mind is finally able to rest and process, things become clearer. I learned about creating digital stories during a graduate course, but it wasn’t until I was trying to fall asleep one night that I realized I could apply it with kindergarteners by having them document different types of movement based on our study on motion. They could story board with pictures and invented spelling and then work together to film their story. It would be an easy way to take something that seemed complex and bring it down to a level that that would be accessible to five and six year olds.
I recently listened to an episode of “Ditch That Textbook” that shared ideas from Christine Pinto and Alice Keeler on how to use Google Apps with “littles,” their term for children in grades pre-K through 2. While thinking about the suggestions they made, my mind again began to swirl with ideas of how I could translate those ideas in my classroom (though I’m sure I’ll come up with better ideas when I’m trying to get a good night’s sleep tonight). It was then that I realized my true ideas on creativity – yes, it means to create something, but it doesn’t have to be tangible. It could be a craft, an idea, a new type of technology – anything that didn’t exist until someone changes that. While it seems like creativity can be subjective – is a dog muzzle that looks like a duck’s bill really creative? – it is undeniable that when something new is created, the person that conceived it is creative.
So I finally created a blog.
Stephanie's Blog 