Thursday, February 19, 2009

What would I change?

If I could change one thing in my classroom, I think I would see more creativity. For example, for one of my centers my students got to color and cut-out a picture of Washington (after everything was done, of course). Well, I admit I am NOT perfect becuase I got the wrong color of paper to use for the project. Instead of just sitting there or asking what they could do about the problem, these students asked for blank paper so they could color it and cut it out. Some of you might not be impressed by this, but this is AMAZING for my second graders. I love how they took the initiative to solve their own problem! If this was a common trend among students I think that we would see more higher level thinking and more problem solving in real life and school situations. I would love that.

3 comments:

Teresa Jordan said...

Isn't it too bad that so much of school is coloring INSIDE the lines? I love that your cute little kids wanted that creativity and that you noticed it when you saw it. I remember being a 4th grade teacher in my first year and I always wanted my kids to be creative. I would tell them..."do it HOWEVER you want." But often, things would be as nice or as pretty as if they had all followed a pattern. I would look at my student's work and think..."WOW! That's so creative." And then some other teacher would come along and say, "Yuck! What a mess!" For me, that is when i realized that creativity isn't always valued in the classroom. But I never let that stop me from allowing more of it and I hope you won't either.

Chelsie Campbell said...

I totally agree with Teresa- I think that's awesome that you NOTICED their creativity! That's something I probably brush over a lot. Especially in their writing. I think sometimes I just "expect" it to be a certain way, so when I see something "creative" I just think, "Oh good! They went above and beyond." But really... it's CREATIVITY and I should point that out to them more often!... I've never thought of that! :) Thanks for the post! :)

Ashlee said...

I agree with you. I would love it if I was more creative. I've noticed on the lessons where I spend a lot of time preparing and thinking of creative things that it goes a lot better. It would be so nice if I had more time where I could have more lessons like that.