Depth and Complexity From Day One-Multiple Perspectives

Rigor can begin from Day One even with the little ones. 

I like to use this book to introduce Multiple Perspectives:

IIt's all about school from the school's point of view. The students can then write/draw what they think our school felt on the first day.

I also like the classic:

How do parents feel on the first day? If you were a parent what would you do?

A story about a gung-ho principal who wants to have school every day. We discuss what the principal does and then students write about how it feels to be a principal. What would they do if they were a principal?

I think this video is really fascinating. I show clips to Compare perspectives-it's easy for you to go to school-what if it wasn't? Would you value school more?

Most Dangerous Ways to Get to School

Books About Being Creative

Well my goal to post more on this blog hit a bit of a roadblock with Hurricane Beryl. I was without power for a very very LONG 8 days. But we are back in business! What a relief. I actually missed being able to do laundry. :)

Being unique is a goal of mine as a teacher. I don't want to read the stories the kids have already heard and take the field trips they have already taken. I want to give them a unique experience. So even if my teammates think I'm crazy, I will decorate our room like a bat cave or have students paint like Michaelangelo by laying under their tables. Modeling this for my students is as valuable as teaching it explicitly.

It is important to me that my students have an understanding of what it means to be creative.

Back when I was allowed to do read-alouds, :) these are the stories I would start with. I want students to learn to be creative and come up with original ideas. I want them to know that they are unique and it's ok to march to a different drummer. These characters are great models for this:

Stephanie wants a hairstyle different from her classmates and goes to great lengths to accomplish this.

Woolbur doesn't want to be like the other sheep. His family worries about him being different but in the end he stays true to himself.

I was surprised by how many teachers were not familiar with Tacky when I did my last PD presentation. Tacky is an odd bird but sometimes having an odd bird around is a good thing.

There is a video of this read aloud from Reading Rainbow. Monique likes digging in her mother's clothes to find accessories that can make her school uniform "unique".

Introducing Creativity

So I'm going to try and get back to posting more regularly on this blog. One of the first concepts I teach my students is what my expectations are when it comes to creativity. There is a controversy in the education world-some believe you are born creative, others believe it is something you can be taught. I believe it's a little of both. Some people have an innate creativity, however I have seen that with activities implemented regularly, a student's creativity can be enhanced.

The first day of school I explicitly teach that word and give them lots of visual examples. I let them know that when we write or create in class I expect them to try and come up with something different than their classmates. In the beginning, this is hard for them-they will write my example or someone will yell out an answer and everyone writes that one.

We do an activity called divergent art. I give the students a shape or object and they have to turn it into something.

This is an example of our first try at this activity. They didn't even use the shape in their design.

Another example.

As the year goes on and we do these activities more regularly the more creative their designs get.

And then we can use other things and be creative through the seasons and holidays.

The key to introducing these activities is not to give up. I have talked to teachers who try it and say my kids just don't get it. When you do the activity and someone does something that really impresses you-share that with the class. This is what I am looking for. You will see growth in their creativity and what I love about these activities is I can show that growth in their portfolios. Something that does not show up on a standardized test but when it comes to meeting with parents and the students to review their growth you can show them how much they improved.