Some the of the phrases we can use as Teachers to encourage creative thinking are:
Imagine if …..?
Why not ………?
What would you do if ………?
What can we do?
There are some great tools out there to spark creativity in students. One of these is:
School Retool http://schoolretool.org/
Share your ideas and resources here including any valuable links to resources.
I think teachers use these sentence starters and more, more often than they realise. I think all student lead activities promote creativity. A school that was recently featured on BTN, had a group of students design a virtual tour of the school using Minecraft. A huge 10 week project with amazing outcomes for all involved.
I like the rethink about creativity being more than the “arts” sector. I think the more we use those 4 questions the more people around us will be creative and this is inspiring…what a snowball effect it could have ☺. This is a great example of doing something with “small steps” that could lead to big results.
While on a professional learning placement I had a supervisor who would always ask her kindergarten students “what makes you say that?” I found that this was a really excellent (albeit simple) question to ask to get students thinking deeply about their motivation for making certain choices. I love using a range of these sentence starters as a springboard for students to take risks or think creatively in the classroom.
I love this questions to ask students. I’m trying it next week 🙂
I like these questions. Imagine if …..?
Why not ………?
What would you do if ………?
What can we do?
I liked the story about using the buses to help the students. We need to think more about what we have and how we can use it. Get the students to take risks and have a go, we can do things
differently.
I don’t think I’m very creative but maybe I am. I need to get beyond creativity being music, art and drama.
I am a creative person, have a penchant for innovation and love these questions … Imagine if …..?’, ‘Why not ………?’, ‘What would you do if ………?’ and ‘What can we do?’ I think, these are very important questions that educators need to ask themselves before every new year, based on the activities of the year before. Exploring new approaches to teaching, employing new methods of instructions and encouraging students to think for themselves is vital for a growing generation which we expect to succeed in life. Unfortunately, the contemporary educational system, academic management, the teaching community and students themselves… Read more »
I am always inspired by students who are creative and seek to find new and exciting ways. this thinking is very much tolerated in my classroom
All the questions to build creativity can be applied in the classroom –
Imagine if?
Why not?
What would you do if?
What can we do?
Most of these I have applied and have found the focused motivated student respond and contribute. Students lacking self-confidence need assurance that risk and failure will lead to creativity.
I am one of those adults that say I don’t have a creative bone in my body. After listening to Michael I feel differently now and realise that actually I am quite creative in my ideas and practices. In the past I had often thought of creativity more in terms of art and performance. I associated innovation with science and technology without really thinking of the creativity associated with the innovation. I believe that all four creativity starters would be used regularly in primary classes for oral and written literacy and STEM activities. As adults we need to ask ourselves… Read more »
Imagine if …..?
Why not ………?
What would you do if ………?
What can we do?
Are all great ways to encourage creative thinking. Everyone can contribute as many times as they choose. I really like ‘imagine if’ a wonderful way to introduce a new topic
I think that student choice is key when it comes to being creative! There isn’t a correct answer or a right way when it comes to being creative. I remember my friends daughter completed her project for PBL (project based learning) that allowed students to demonstrate their learning in their own way. As the focus was on creativity and art, she choreographed her own dance and mixed her own music while others completed works of art, wrote a song, made something out of clay.. The level of engagement and the learning that came from this was phenomenal
I often think about this! Giving students the opportunity to be bored and have time to get creative – this is when their imagination would come into play and dances, songs, lego creations, artworks etc are born!
Totally agree – they need to be bored and get creative by their own thinking and way of doing things. Imagination time – let it happen.
Imagine if …..?
Why not ………?
What would you do if ………?
What can we do?
Are all creative concepts in teaching, i do use “what can we do” regularly and will take on board the new concepts
Sometimes I find it difficult to teach creativity when students are ‘rigid’ in their thinking.
Imagine if …..?
Why not ………?
What would you do if ………?
What can we do?
These are great sentence starters however some students often struggle to come up with ideas to answer these questions, we need to foster creativity and success is not always getting everything right first time.
We need to look at a range of ways to engage our varied students and to do this you must know your students.
Do you think many students are rigid thinkers or are they afraid to take a risk and make a mistake? I think the biggest enemy of creativity is the fear of not being perfect or the best. I liked Michael’s comment about how we need to provide risk takers with a psychological safety net so that they feel supported. This is an important role that the teacher must take on if students are to become more creative. In fact so must the executive teachers, including the Principal, in the school as they support teachers to take risks to improve the… Read more »
Hi Liz. I think that students are more afraid of taking a risk because they are afraid of making mistakes. The biggest enemy of creativity is the fear of failure and so students stay within the perimeter of ordinary or mediocre rather than trying to work towards different and vibrant or new and refreshing.
I definitely agree, Bernard. The fear of looking “silly” in front of their peers, or doing something that is “bad” is a huge decider in students’ decision making. I feel as though this is something that slowly develops over time – often the younger students are happier to have a go (hence perhaps why they are more likely to show off a new song they made, or dance routine) while older students (and I daresay adults) are more reserved.
I agree we need to engage the students to build their creativity and this will come with their self-direction to achieve.
All the phrases ‘Imagine if …..?’, ‘Why not ………?’, ‘What would you do if ………?’ and ‘What can we do?’ are very important for teachers. I always use ‘what would you do if ….?’ when I discuss with students about current affairs and after reading a story. Students always actively involve in discussion and produce interesting arguments. Imagine if students can participate in designing the teaching syllabus and outcomes.
Getting students involved in conversations , does help them to understand all aspects of the topic
I use these type of questions with my students and encourage them to use these questions when working with children….. open ended questions that encourage discussion and creative thinking.
I love that he opened the door to creativity being more than just the arts sector ☺
COVID 19 definitely helped us to think outside of the box – and I suspect will continue to do so for some time. Most of the students have seemed to cope with this too.
Covid has definitely proved to make us as teachers use some creative methods of teaching
COVID did force many of us to think outside of the box- I’ve appreciated how so many places offered free services for students to use, my favourite has been the virtual tours and talks offered from places all over the world
Yes, I agree. It’s amazing to see creativity still emerge and evolve. On an episode of BTN recently, a group of students made a virtual tour of their school on Minecraft – amazing and very students lead. So much learning in all KLAs to achieve this.
Yes, the pandemic has been a game changer for both students and teachers
COVID 19 has forced to some extent the creativity of students to deal with the change. How they organise their home study environment – time, location, equipment etc The changed work environment has forced them to ask these questions of themselves.
I agree Lana. This pandemic has definitely encouraged many of us to explore new ideas, trial innovative approaches to teaching, employ novel methods of instructions and encourage ourselves to think outside the square.
We have been complacent in our educational endeavours and have been shaken out of our academic lull and, gladly, have started to think more critically and creatively. I hope this evolves into a more dynamic change to the existing system and revolutionises the prevailing practices, to give rise to a better and more constructive educational structure.
yes- I had to think differently and change how I thought and did things. need to continue this change. It was interesting to see how the younger students (with parent help) took up the challenge of online learning.
I hadn’t put the link between these two until today and you are right…..everything we’ve had to do over the last few months has required creativity.
I did a teaching with technology course last year which sparked me to switch my presentation style from PowerPoint to Sway. This meant that I could update presentations in real time, provide a link to students to follow up after class rather than send an entire presentation or part of a presentation, embed up to 30 videos, include links to other sites and so on. It seemed like such a small change at the time but it’s actually been huge in terms of my ability to provide current information without having to save multiple versions of a presentation.
We all displayed lot of creativity when challenged by COVID situation to teach online. There were number of questions we asked ourselves in finding the ways to engage the class and make the learning interesting.
I could not agree with this statement more. COVID certainly made me be a more creative teacher and I liked the challenge
Love the idea of scope to be creative in what we do ! I love including TED talks and podcasts in my teaching ( instead of just handouts!)
I am keen to try a creative approach over the next term — this may just be the opportunity !
Yes, TED talks are great!
Great way to engage students in relevant media that interests them.
It is sometimes difficult to incorporate this type of creative thinking in classes with time constraints and pressure to teach to tests and assessments. Yet many of our students are in the VET sector because they like the practical but do not feel they are the creative ones, so don’t even want to try. Sad to see such rigid thinking already at this age, and hard to change.
Agree, that fixed mindset is difficult to change
Yes i agree, it’s the mindset of the student, after this training hopefully we will have the skills to adapt our method of delivery to engage them
Yes, it can take time to change a fixed mindset. Not easy
Organisational culture comes from the top. Most employees start new roles really keen to contribute. Money is not the most important reason for them to go to work. But then, they hit the brick wall of indifference. Sometimes it is that ideas always encounter push back. Sometimes it is that ideas mooted are never even responded to. And sometimes, it is simply that the organisation is not interested in using the skills of its employees to innovate or develop better processes. I have encountered this continually in my working life. I wish all organisations would read ” Creativity Inc” by… Read more »
It is very sad to see employee enthusiasm dwindle. We have staff meetings, supposedly a forum where we can brainstorm and “no idea is a bad one”, but it is evident by the end that no ideas are taken, except the manager’s (who runs these meetings). She politely listens and then explains why none of it will work. Most staff just give up and don’t offer suggestions, knowing what the end result is going to be.
I agree ….. staff meetings that you come out from and either no decisions/ actions have occurred or you feel you have not been heard.
Totally agree! Seen it and felt it.
This is definitely disheartening and it makes people give up and not think outside the box, or learn from kneelings.
I always enjoy the kids teaching kids sessions at my children’s school. A wonderful way to engage children in the learning and communication of ideas. Working in the VET sector I teach some software packages and soft skills subjects and have tried to incorporate this same concept. By combining units and assessment tasks I can get students to develop presentations that showcase their knowledge of a subject they are passionate about and at the same time address technical skills that are unknowingly absorbed during the process. The other students stay engaged and retain more information simply through the invested interest… Read more »
Having kids teaching other kids is an eye opener as to the techniques they use to get the message across! Like the teacher shadowing the student, teachers could learn from watching how kids teach.
This is such fun and so rich, Elizabeth. A great way to build on students ability. I like incorporating drama into my teaching — role plays, scenarios and such .. some students ,love it .. some not so much.. but it always creates an impact which I feel is good. All things in small and cohort specific measures !
I was thinking that this teaching staff development training course would be a good tool for my students – to assist in changing their attitude and motivation toward learning
Sometimes I find it difficult to teach creativity when students are ‘ridget’ in their thinking.
Imagine if …..?
Why not ………?
What would you do if ………?
What can we do?
These are great sentence starters however some students struggle to come up with ideas to answer these questions.
I love STEM activities link to the curriculum. I find they help students to critically think and can start to spark creativity in student.
I love the idea of using these questions in a class. I use them myself on a personal level to keep me on my toes. In the classroom, it would be a great prompt to for students, and would get them to engage with the content. No mistakes – just ideas – the brainstorm – always surprised by what comes up!
Perhaps rather than making it so confronting, there are other ways of having them answer these questions themselves. Try small group work, think – pear – share, setting it as a homework task where they can submit electronically through Google classroom or Microsoft forms or a Moodle where there might be a degree of anonymity to the rest of the class. Often students are embarrassed to share their ideas with the class, particularly teenagers (early school leavers) for fear of being laughed at by others or being seen as “too smart.”
STEM is fantastic! I like how it allows students to problem solve and take risks in something they are creating. I used to run a STEM group that was multi aged- it was fantastic to see how well the mixed aged group worked well and that older students were learning from the younger ones!
It’s important to acknowledge that we are all creative in different ways, so how can we value the creativity of all children in our classrooms? Maybe we could ask the students? the questions above would be great prompters for children…Imagine if….why not …what would you do if? ,,,what can we do?..
Totally agreed.
I love the ideas and resources to promote critical and creative thinking from Project Zero http://www.pz.harvard.edu. Many of the tools and strategies can be modified for any age group or learning content.
Thanks Sarah I love these too.
Project Zero is great resource
I’ve never considered myself as particularly creative because I’m not naturally gifted nor I have I been taught in the arts or music. Although I do believe we’re all creative, I see my son now feels the same, unimaginative, easily bored etc. I do think a lot of it has to do with our various temparements though. Definitely moving away from the traditional classroom setting as much as possible would definitely help.
Hey Carinya, I thought I wasn’t creative as well. However, one lecturer at uni said something that has always stuck in my head. “Intelligence is field specific” as is creativeness.
Creativity is restricted by syllabus. There have been so many mornings when my class and I gone off on a tangent about something which is interesting and important, but I’ve had to rein it back in because we are ‘wasting time’ on getting through the curriculum content.
Sometimes I find it hard to program in a creative way especially if the content doesn’t lend itself to be creative.
Hey Elizabeth, I will guarantee some student or students will have taken something valuable and remember that ‘Wasting time’ session to this day.
Agree, every learning opportunity provides something valuable.
That’s true, time is scarce.
I think it’s important to think about What can we do…….? – What resources do we have – how can we better use them. I liked the idea of a leader/manager/teacher be a student in the organisation. I believe many of our managers would be shocked at the frustration our students have with accessing information and being able to complete any forms ‘themselves’ online – interesting????
Absolutely, so much could be changed if we just took a moment to stop and think, what can we do/change with what we have. Often it doesn’t need to be anything drastic to have significant impact.
I often tell my students to be problem solvers not part of the problem. This question is a great way to start this line of thinking.
This is a fab idea! It gives the student ownership and accountability. And the satisfaction of achievement.
What if all content in VET training could be contextualised to meet the specific needs of your cohort of students, instead of a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Students would feel that they had more ownership of their course and it would better meet the needs of local industry.
Contextualisation is key….why do i want to know how to build a kitchen in a house North Sydney when i live in a caravan in Bourke???
What if…. once a month, I gather my immediate colleagues and we have a brainstorming session about what is working for them right now and what are they doing that is new?
Great idea – the staff would be surprised at one they can come up with ‘that’s out of the box’ for their usual work day to day tasks – it could be exciting times ahead.
Love this idea.. and the possible exponential growth and support possible through it !
What if on Thursday, I facilitated my whole WHS unit outdoors!
Yes that would be great – it would be realistic and real life related – activities would be more actively participated in as students could see what can go wrong and how to avoid the hazard.
Yes! That’s what I said, get out of the traditional classroom setting as much as possible/practical!
Changing the physical classroom can have a big impact on motivation and engagement
Would be fabulous, but could you do it everyday?,
Imagine if….we changed the outcomes to be ones to directly rewarded creativity.
This is so true. Critical and creative thinking are part of the general capabilities in the Australian Curriculum, but it’s hard to see them in the curriculum outcomes
At my level of teaching at vocational level there does not seem to any room for creativity. In fact we are instructed from time to time that this is the standardised assessments with time frames and the marking scheme. There are lots teachers out there who would like to introduce new ideas, new ways of learning but the psychological encourage from the top seems to be missing.
Yes, I agree! In vocational teaching, students must meet the outcomes to be deemed competent, and to meet those outcomes they must adhere to the training package, so no room for creativity.
I use philosophical thinking in speaking and listening lessons, usually based on a children’s picture book: eg Miss Lily’s Fabulous Pink Feather Boa. Generates questions from students very effectively. Is it okay to lie?
I haven’t tried this but https://www.weareteachers.com/ted-talks-students/ is an article entitled 35 Must-Watch Ted Talks Students Will Love to Watch. The titles do sound engrossing eg: Three ways to speak English, and Why Videos Go Viral.
Thanks Glen. I will check this out.
My students absolutely love kids ted talk. It’s a engaging resource!
Creativity will come from a free (and present) mind. The more often choice is given the less constrained a mind will be. That could even include choosing if you want to be creative. As a Maths teacher who loves creative arts in my personal life I would highlight what a lot of people don’t think about, that the written technical form of a mathematical equation or process is a wonderfully beautiful and creative thing exactly as it is.
Hi everyone,
I am maths teacher and I’d just like to share some of the resources:
mathsonline.com.au (this website caters for K-12 Australian syllabus)
khanacademy.org (all free and in my opinion, it’s the best out there. Only thing is that it does not fully support Australian syllabus)
I believe teachers are often too scared of losing control (or possibly not staying on track in delivering a syllabus or preparing for a test or HSC) to allow the truly creative approaches to flourish. The stepping into unknown waters can feel too risky.
Hi Brad, I agree with you and the reason for this is that the physiological encouragement from the management seems to be missing and hence stepping into unknown waters feels too risky.
Agree Brad. Flexibility is required in both the learning & assessment.
The Berry street program is a trauma based program, but one part of it looks at character strengths and what character strengths may be required for different lessons and discussing these with students, for example “This lesson we will need persistence and this is important because..” Each lesson you should focus on a strength, such as humour, teamwork or bravery. Berry street has the 5 domains that they focus on, all anchored by relationships. The four domains are body, character, stamina and engagement. While i recognise that this is a program that addresses issues with students affected by trauma it… Read more »
Bringing flipped classroom and Genius Hour into the classroom as an interesting way of changing the way students learn. They can pose questions, carry out their own investigations and engage in a variety of topics. Students could then share their results with the school and community, even have workshops that showcase their results.
Bringing more creativity into the school…..ie bringing management experts into the school to have discussions with students about practical operations of management jobs in an organisation..
Having come from corporate background (I worked across Operations & Organisational Development in a number of industries), I have spent so much time teaching adults these things and am constantly surprised we don’t ‘bring the world in’ to schools more often. Love this idea!
Yes, this would bring more relevance to what the students are learning.
So true, I had a break in my teaching career where I worked in the corporate world. We had so many opportunities to be innovative, because we had to make products that sold, and that sold at a profitable margin. We need some of thinking of corporate innovation to come into education.
A few years ago I took part in a regional initiative for ‘aspiring leaders’. At that stage, I was only testing the waters to see if that was something I would pursue longer term. Here we were exposed to the insights and mentoring of some identified high-functioning school leaders from our area. One of the many take away concepts from this program was the idea that leadership was not just about ‘celebrating our successes and achievements’ or saying “This is what I’ve done / I do – you should do the same” but rather to model the ‘growth mindset’ by… Read more »
What a great insight Andrew. And what if we taught in a ‘growth mindset’ way in schools rather than reinforcing ‘fixed mindset’ thinking by just stuff like rewarding successful outcomes?
Good viewpoint – thank you. Process is often more important than outcome.
Since coming across the concept of ‘Teach Meets’ I’ve absolutely loved the idea. People being willing to put themselves out there and say “This is what I’ve tried” and others walking away and saying “Wow – I might try that Thankyou!’ Once they’ve got the confidence to try it as was shown to them – then they might try to modify and adapt it further. I really believe in looking both outside a school for ideas, but also within a school. I think we have an amazing (often untapped) potential and skillset with a school that we are often reluctant… Read more »
Certainly being able to create opportunities for staff to be able to not just share resources but be able to have the time to engage in using them would make a considerable difference in promoting creativity. In NSW if teachers could simply have one less class to teach in high school we would have an amazing opportunity to be more creative
What other things would stifle the creativity though? How could this be overcome?
wouldn’t that be wonderful. Even better if NSW changed the outcomes to be ones to directly rewarded creativity
In the class I like the encourage autonomy as much as possible. We are trying to create citizens that will function well in society and life is about choice and independence in one’s thoughts or actions. Giving children these choice will help build confidence and the skills they will need in order to flourish as risk takers and good choice makers.
Autonomy is a worthy goal. Much needs to be done to ensure that the autonomous thinker is not simply self-serving.
What if… such a great way to approach the day/year/system. Students will adapt and have a go at all of the new programs we bring to them. Working with staff is just as, if not more, important as this is often where the sticking point exists…
Teachers protecting what they are in control of creates such inertia and resistance to change even when they recognise the need for that change
Students really enjoy seeing or feeling what they have learned or created when it is displayed in the classroom. Students love the thought that ‘ I created that’ without a strong reference to artistic ability. It is important not to confuse artistic skills with creativity.
Very true that students like seeing work they have made on display in a classroom setting. It reminds them that they are capable and shows how differently each student tackles the same question or topic of research.
And i think the same can be said for staff. Given the opportunity to showcase work bodes well in validating creativity
I agree
It is also important here not to fall into the ‘self acceptance’ trap. So many think it is good to tell students that their artistic efforts are amazing when they actually need motivation to go further and improve the end result. They need to be able to display their works at the level they are at without being told that it is amazing when in fact it is not. Too much self acceptance/self esteem creation is not good for motivation or for further striving in ourselves or our students.
You’re right Les. They do love seeing their creations displayed. It is another way of saying that their ideas are valuable.
In writing tasks, particularly persuasive and debating, I encourage the students to create their own topic. For example, looking at current issues (from newspapers, BTN), students propose a solution or change of law that “should” happen. Students then discuss or debate the two sides to that, encouraging opinions and that there isn’t always a correct answer.
The NSW Arts unit “strictly speaking” is a great resource.
To further this idea, students could put together a ‘student newspaper’ bulletin where they can discuss some issues or interesting topics from either school or the extended community.
Sarah and Alex, both your ideas are great. We need to provide students with both written and oral opportunities and experiences to support their creativity and the processes to help them to develop and ultimately celebrate their own creativity.
Great idea Sarah.
This is a link to a video on Socratic questioning in the classroom. I became interested in this when a friend pointed out that in one of my google classroom videos I had used humor and irony to engage the students in a Socratic manner. Provoking questions with mock ignorance, playful misunderstandings, irony and occasional exaggerations can empower students to refine enquiries and develop a habit of questioning, Looking into Socratic questioning has inspired me and I hope this link inspires others
I’m a massive fan of Socratic questioning in that it breaks down the concept of ‘teacher as the expert or holder of knowledge” or that there is a “right or expected answer” It empowers the learner to reflect on a further question and come up with their own ideas rather than simply ‘being told what to do’. My understanding of Socrates – way back when – was that a lot of people became frustrated because they ‘just wanted to know the answer’. I’ve found students are often the same and need a little bit of time to get used to… Read more »
I think many people link creativity only with artistic ability so therefore don’t believe that we can all be creative if given the right support, encouragement and resources. We build every other ability in that manner but seem to think that creativity is only innate. I have seen my 3 year old grandson, without any instruction or help, build amazing things with his lego and pipe cleaners (even if it doesn’t make much sense to me!) and overcome problems of ‘ how to reach the biscuit tin on top of the refrigerator’ even though there is no ladder. It seems… Read more »
Hi Gail, we are all creative but the physiological encouragement from the management seems to be missing.