Content Creation

I had a conversation with 3 students about creativity in the classroom. The students are members of my homeroom. I intentionally spoke with students who do not have me as an instructor so they would be candid.

The students noted that they wish there was more creativity in assessments. They said most of their teachers make learning interesting and engaging with different technologies and activities, but then issue traditional tests. One student was very insightful during this topic as she noted that, although she too disliked paper and pencil assessments, she was glad she was used to this format when it came time to things like SATs and other standard tests. I found this very interesting because I feel I would have more alternate/creative/non-traditional assessments if it wouldn't impact students’ performance on things like the PA Keystone Test and district-mandated final exams. Without this type practice, scores are certainly lower. Therefore, the traditions of standardized testing on the state and district level are hindering creativity to a certain extent.

I asked the students to expand on the kinds of creative and media-infused activities different teachers have used, and I learned some interesting stuff. Overall, it seems English class is a great platform for the use of media in conjunction with tradition. While students are still reading Shakespeare, they are seeing modern movies of the plays and creating mock blogs with the characters. In one class, students had to post updates on a class Twitter account addressing certain acts in the play using the vernacular of the time. How creative! It sounds like media is really encouraging creativity in these classrooms!

Although math does not lend itself to those exact examples, I notice that the more media and familiar templates/activities I use in things like chapter reviews, the more students are engaged. For instance, I have a review game that models Who Want to be a Millionaire with the slide displaying the game stage and the theme music at the intro of each new question. We play in teams and each student completes the problems on their paper. It is simply a worksheet in the end, but the delivery is familiar and engaging. This is one example of a very small creative platform that engages learners. What is lacking are the activities and assessments that allow students to be creative while still learning the content and showing evidence of learning in a way that can be fairly graded. I am hoping that networking with folks in other districts allows for more possibilities that can be implemented immediately.