Chapter 8: Crutches and Creativity

by April

There are a lot of great practical things in this chapter so I just chose a couple to respond to. First I wanted to comment on the Point/Counterpoint section regarding the use of calculators and spell checkers. This is something I can see both sides too. I do think students should be taught basic math and spelling skills prior to being given access to these tools. In life, students may not always have access to these types of tools and so they shouldn't be relied upon as the sole means of spelling or math computations. However, technology is a real and useful part of our lives now and students should be taught how to use technology and should be given access to it. In more complicated math computations, students will still need to learn formulas to use a calculator. A calculator is only helpful if you understand the formulas. When writing using a word processing software, spell checker is a great way to point out students mistakes and allow to fix them. Even spell check doesn't always know exactly what the right word is so it will give students choices to fix their word correctly. They will have to be able to read and make judgements about spelling even to use a spell checker. Professor Dunn has given us some great examples of helpful software for children with disabilities in particular in regards to spelling.

Lastly, I wanted to comment on the "creative" section because I grew up being told I was a creative person because I'm a musician and I like to draw and create things. I had to laugh in the beginning when it talked about myths about creativity and said that creativity isn't necessarily synonamous with the negative traits that are often paired with it. For some reason people always tend to assume those moody, unpredictable traits follow musicians wherever they go. Rock stars give the rest of us a bad name! I really liked the line on page 306, "Creativity is the ability to produce work that is original, but still appropriate and useful." I have some artist friends who would seriously disagree with the "useful" part but it terms of creativity in education, that statement really takes the mystery out of it and puts creativity in reach of all students, in my opinion. I was really glad that the author pointed out that the best creativity doesn't necessarily happen in a group setting but that it is more effective for students to brain storm on their own and then come together for group work. Personally, this really hits home. When we are given a group assignment to do on the spot in class, I usually cannot seem to get my creative juices flowing. Give me time to think through it at home and I am more likely to contribute something creative. I think the text is right on when it talks about setting a problem aside and letting it "incubate" being one of the best ways to find a creative solution. Given the proper amount of time, a person can take the knowledge they already have about something and organize and reorganize their thoughts about it over and over, often leading to a breakthrough. I think I've said in the past, my best ideas always come right as I'm falling asleep, just as I'm waking up or while I'm in the shower. Creativity takes time, flexibility, persistence and motivation. As a teacher, I realize the importance of giving students time to process and create and to be aware of giving overly rigid guidelines that don't allow for flexibility in responses.

The guidelines for encouraging creativity in the classroom are really great ideas. I really want to be a teacher that encourages creativity rather than stifling it. I want to accept unusual ideas and imaginative responses and give my students a safe place to take risks and see things in fresh ways.