There is no such animal as a boring subject. Boring teachers, maybe. Boring lessons, definitely. In today¹s multimedia and reduced attention-span generation, teachers and material developers need to liven up their lessons with innovative new ideas. By unlocking the key to creative thinking these professionals can turn on their light to creating new tricks to turn on their students lights, too.
Creativity is many things to many people. To cut through a library of material, what we are trying to do is find new and improved ways of teaching our subject. This is not on changing the subject matter or teaching creativity, but rather new (at least new to you) ways to present old material.
People get in a rut. People make too many assumptions. I will assume (hopefully rightly so) that by being here you are not apathetic. That I can¹t help. But as to getting out of ruts and combating assumptions, we need to try new things, look at our subject in new ways. Most importantly, not be afraid to make mistakes.
A few words on mistakes: Columbus, Edison, Fleming, Kettering. Each of these gentlemen made many or big mistakes. Yet, they stumbled across America, made a working light bulb, discovered penicillin, and invented no-knock gasoline. Mistakes played a big role in their discovery. If you do not know the meaning of the word serendipity, please look it up in your dictionary. Go ahead, I¹ll wait.
Ah! You¹re back. Good. Now do you understand? Don¹t be afraid to make mistakes, rather fear getting into a rut. Look at your car. Driving along smoothly, until you get in a little rut. You work harder and harder to get out, but just dig yourself in deeper and deeper.
How can you get out of a rut, you ask? By shifting gears, creatively. Play! Take a break. Do something ambiguous. Do something crazy. Watch children when they play. Watch the movies Real Genius , Just One of the Guys and Apollo 13 . All had scenes demonstrating creativity. But also notice the differences in approach. In the first two movies, the creative inspiration was shown to last a short time, while the third movie alluded to a longer creative phase. But, what ever you do, don¹t forget Edison¹s famous quote; ³Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.² After you get that great idea, you still must make the necessary classroom materials.
Here is a Baker¹s Dozen of things to try before your next planning session (note: skip the activities you usually do and try a new one).
Of course, you will not be doing the above activities in class, just in your planning (leisure?) time. The secret to selecting activities for unlocking your creative key is they be very different from what you usually do, and what you usually teach.
After some practice, and a few years teaching, you may find that you get creative ideas right in class. Have you ever had a class sit and stare at you with those big, blank eyes, not understanding one word. Try as you may, nothing seems to get across. Then, BAM! It hits you. An IDEA! You try it, and it works! Keep your mind open to new ideas - anytime. In your sleep, on a date, in class or during a job interview, that greatest idea of your life may pop in your head. Write it down. Use it!
Nick Miller
E-mail: panaa1@cleanfun.cz
Homepage: http://cleanfun.cz
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