Motivation Monday

Last week, my daughter attended a STEM camp at Loyola University in Chicago.  The Lake Shore Campus is breathtaking ~ combing gorgeous landscaping, beautiful architecture, and exceptional design elements to promote environmental sustainability.  

Our first evening stroll through campus revealed this beautiful thought, "May peace prevail on earth".  This photograph only captures the English version, but each of the four sides had the message displayed in two languages ~ a powerful statement of hope.

Motivation Monday and Game Review

I have never been able to draw.  I have a standard stick person (which covers both genders and all ages), a stick animal (which encompasses animals of the land, see, and air), and a basic house, tree, and flower.  Any time I play a game with my own children that requires drawing, I just groan.  And silently question why Santa brought those games to begin with - what WAS he thinking?

This winter, Santa brought an independent drawing game that both the kids and I LOVE.  Not because I can draw now, but because it requires creative thought!  (And, one person can play by themselves, relieving me from a drawing requirement.)


It is called The Extraordinaires Design Studio.

The Extraordinaire Design Studio (affiliate link)

The Extraordinaire Design Studio is described as "a creative thinking game for problem solvers. If you've ever wondered what it's like to invent a music player for a robot, a remote control for a pirate, or a cooking utensil for a vampire teen, this game is for you."  This is an amazing opportunity for children to be creative!

In the above image, my daughter drew the Extraordinaire  card "future child" and the project  card "ceremony place".  Her design title is China's New Year, and she has created a transportation tube, reusable fireworks (maybe because our family describes fireworks as watching your money burn up in front of you), a hover board, a floating dragon, and the future child with flaps and rocket boots.

As for me, I still can't draw.  But, I am trying.  I have been working on developing a Growth Mindset along with my students, grades kindergarten through eighth.  In most areas, I do have a growth mindset, but when it comes to drawing, I have a fixed mindset.  Fixed as in "set in concrete and never going to change type of mindset".  So, as an example to my students, I am working on drawing.  I know that I will never be great at drawing, but I can get better.

Here is a "before" example:

We were playing Who What Where Jr. The Funny Drawing Game for Kids.  In this game, you draw three cards: a who, a what, and a where, and combine them into a picture.  Using my interpretive skills, I think this example was a snake/worm, flying a kite, in a barn.  My family always lets me draw multiple cards of each category, knowing that I need to find something that I can make halfway recognizable for them.

I recently discovered the book You Can Draw in 30 Days: The Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less.  I am actually only on day seven in the book, it has been about four months, but I am learning to draw!

You Can Draw in 30 Days (affiliate link)

Here are my "learning to draw" examples:

Day 3 Advanced Level Spheres

Day 6 Stacking Tables

While my drawings are more recognizable (my goal), and a huge step forward from the snake/worm flying a kite in a barn, I still need the heavily structured advice of the book.  I can work step-by-step through a lesson and draw a picture that my family can recognize.  I am not yet able to transfer my skills to a random drawing situation (which I still avoid at all costs).  But, I have only completed seven lessons (in four months).  And, as I tell my students, a growth mindset means "I can work hard and improve", so I will keep working.

What are you working on?

Motivation Monday

Ideas.Ted.Com's article How to turn small talk into smart conversation is a gem for those looking to move small talk to a deeper level.  It includes tips from a comedian and a journalist on how to ask for stories, not answers, break the typical "mirror" response to small talk conversation, and leapfrog over the expected responses to move conversation along.  

I find that students need guidance to enhance their surface-level conversational skills.  I model the prompts in the article to help guide students to deeper, more meaningful conversations.  It's fun to try these prompts when you converse with adults too. 

Go ahead. Move the conversation forward.

Motivation Monday

Jay Silver, Inventor, Founder/CEO of JoyLabz, is an inspiration to the Maker Movement.   He founded Makey Makey: An Invention Kit for Everyone in 2012.  Over the past two years, my students, grades 2-8, have enjoyed "making" things with our Makey Makey.  We launch with the ever-popular banana piano, and branch out from there.

Makey Makey (affiliate link)

I recently read the article on Edutopia: Trees of Knowledge. Silver metaphorically addresses how learners can "sprout new branches and grow their trees to the tune of their own heart's song."  He also references the "roots" to his learning tree.  What "roots" have helped you grow your tree?

To encourage students to create their own viewpoint, and essentially their own world, we can encourage conversation with answers like, "I wonder"  and "Tell me more".  Answer questions with questions to help students grow as learners.  Encourage students to be "active curators of their own viewpoint on the world, not a recipient of my viewpoint."


Click through for some Monday Motivation:

1.  Jay Silver's Ted Talk: Hack a banana, make a keyboard!

2.  Article on Edutopia: Trees of Knowledge

3.  Opinion Piece: The Future of Education Demands More Questions, Not Answers

4.  Jay Silver's Website

5.  Follow Silver @wakeupsilver and @makeymakey on Twitter

Creativity for Everybody

Last week I read Creativity for everybody by Kathryn P. Haydon and Jane Harvey.  A quick read, and a great reminder that, YES, everyone can be creative.  The first section of the book, designed to help you make a personal connection, gives you small "concept-bites" which are free of academic jargon.  The second section, "Dig Deeper" provides the supporting research on the science of creativity.

Creativity for everybody (affiliate link)

Fun book feature ~ if you read the book sideways,
you will find a flip book of quick tips and reminders.

I love to collect and think about favorite quotes and lines from books.   I always have a notebook handy when I am reading so I can add to my collection.  Thanks to the WordSwag app, I can create fun visuals for the quotations.  Here are some of my favorites from Creativity for everybody:

On a related note (inspired by another source), I made some "Hello My Name Is" posters to display in my classroom this fall using the website Canva.   I think it would also be fun to have students choose a word that describes them, and write their words on regular size name tags.  In thinking about the growth mindset and the role creativity should play in education, I want my students to know that the great thing about life is that we are all continually learning.

You can find a PDF version of these here.

Looking for a simple way to inject creativity in your school day?  Try the Creativity Calendar.  Pick and choose from opinion, fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration, and "the answer is..." questions for each day of the school year.

Creativity Calendar

How do you encourage creativity in your students?