First I was able to hear a keynote speaker, Dr. Kenneth Wesson, speak about creativity. He said many things that stuck in my mind...like the fact that multitasking and stress is going to kill us!!! More importantly he spoke about the connections between art and science.
Did you know that every major scientist has a connection to some type of art - whether it be playing a musical instrument, painting, drawing, even dance or acting???
It's a brain connection!
You may have heard this recently...we are leaving the information age and entering the innovative age. Creativity is back in style! He said that one of the biggest problems in our society and classrooms is that kids don't play anymore. And...either do adults by the way! If you have been teaching as long as I have you may remember the term purposeful play...guess what? That's back in style!!!
Dr. Wesson told us that the best way to make connections in the brain and retain information is through drawing and creating....which was validating to those of us who encourage the art of drawing in our classrooms.
How can we do this? Diagrams, representations in our journals, posters, dioramas, etc...
"If I can't picture it, I can't understand....."
Here is how I took notes in my grad school classes....there is a lot to be said for that idea of drawing to help you remember and understand.
I have many other thoughts running through my mind, but this was the most important one that I felt I needed to share.
Much more to come this week!
Comment:
Leslie I met you at the VAST conference ! Lots of good ideas to use in my ELL science classroom. I cannot find your examples of Exit Tickets. Any ideas where they are hidden? I tried the list on the website/blog, but it would not open.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your help !
Parham Cain
parham.cain@lcps.org
Thanks for letting me know! I made a new label on the side that says Exit cards. Just click that on and you can go to the link! Let me know if you are looking for anything else...I'm going to create a post this week or weekend about Quick checks with some updated stuff once my report cards are finished!!! grrr.....
ReplyDeleteLeslie
Leslie~
ReplyDeleteI am an elementary art teacher at Stafford Elementary. Your blog was forwarded to me by a friend and colleague, Charma Carr. I am passionate about the topic of utilizing the arts in the classroom to facilitate cognition, understanding, personal voice, risk taking(which in today's world is sorely lacking), higher leverl thinking and most importantly developing creativity and innovation for 21st century skill sets. I have spoken about putting the "A" into STEM for STEAM. I would highly recommend an article inTime magazine from July 10th 2010 on creativity that discusses the first registered decline in creativity for grades K thru 8 since records have been kept. I would also recommend the book A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink. He discusses the Creativity Age and the importance of play.
Our school will be presenting on the topic Creativity:Sparking Higher Level Thinking at the Learning Forward Conference next month in Boston. I have been overwhelmed by the # of people who have signed up for our presentation(which is on the last day of the conference, the last time slot of presentations at 7:45 in the morning. This tells me that we are tapingin to something that educators are (justifiably) searching for.
Leslie I would love to discuss this topic further with you and I would love to know of any resources you could share with me. My name is Marcie Miller. I hope to hear from you. Have a creatively scientific day!
Sorry Leslie I forgot to add my school email: millerml@staffordschools.net
ReplyDeleteHey Marcie! I'd love to chat with you! Send me an email at laustenla@staffordschools.net
ReplyDelete