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Sparking Creativity

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.


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Paris Petelevitch
2 years ago

I love the school Retool, fantastic hub. Thank you.
I ask past student to attend forums twice a year whereby they come and share their portfolios. The current students always get a lot out of the experience.

Helen
2 years ago

Hi,
I used kahoot a lot when teaching online as it was a good way to build collegiality, as well as bonding in the virtual format for all students and me as the teacher. There was lots of laughter and discussion generated from these quizzes. Plus I also used these as revision and through in some content around topics the students enjoyed (sport and anime).
Worked really well for me!

Jo Hartley
2 years ago

I always ask what wins they have each week…i find people like to think about the positivity and i always get some creative responses which i then use in examples for discussion. Helps to build a relationship as well.

Helen
2 years ago
Reply to  Jo Hartley

Hi Jo, thats a great idea! Love it

Irina Castellano
2 years ago

Love the idea of a ‘jail free card’ which really shows staff that you want them to think outside the box. In encourages staff to be part of innovation and change.

sharryn
2 years ago

I love the idea of project based learning. I think many assessments are locked into a memory retention style of assessment. If students would be allowed to choose from a variety of assessment tools it would provide opportunities for a broader understanding of concepts and ideas

Irina Castellano
2 years ago
Reply to  sharryn

It would cater to different types of learners if they had an option of how they wanted to be assessed. Brilliant idea!

Jo Hartley
2 years ago
Reply to  sharryn

Yes – great idea!

rojin bevarly
2 years ago

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Lyn Hynds
2 years ago

Imagine if funds spent on admin and designing new forms for teachers to fill out was spent on Laboratory Equipment.
What would you do if we had the funds?

We could do?
We could design simulated workplaces. The students could practice and play with equipment in a way they could never do in the real workplace. they could develop confidence and skills.

Lyn Hynds
2 years ago

With the onset of COVID-19. we had to start teaching online using MS team. We had a lot to learn very quickly.
The units I teach Aseptic Tech, Introductory Microbiology & Immunology are all very hands on practical skills. The students need to develop the skills to be ready for the workplace.
We had to modify our lectures, use online film clips and design worksheets to analysis and interpret data they would usually collected in a practical session.
There was no other choice than to return to the laboratories and run COVID safe practical workshops. There was a lot of pressure on the students to develop practical skills in shorter time. We we had to reduce some exercises and increase the opportunity for student that were struggling to master the essential skills as required in the unit training packages.
The students were magnificent with their attributes hard work and persistence to succeed, They were very supportive of their teachers and showed a lot of gratitude for our hard work.

Irina Castellano
2 years ago
Reply to  Lyn Hynds

Good on you for embracing change and it has led to more online courses for those who are unable to attend, who are sick etc., to access courses at least partially in order to get as much knowledge when the normal way of teaching is not practical.
Great innovative thinking.

Helen
2 years ago
Reply to  Lyn Hynds

Hi Lyn, Its a struggle teaching those skills online and we as well had to have students come in for practical lessons as well!

Wade Azmy
2 years ago

Embracing open innovation and collaboration for creativity as a way of learning

Jo Hartley
2 years ago
Reply to  Wade Azmy

Absolutely!

Bhavna
2 years ago

Using MS teams,Kahoot and Whiteboard features have assisted remote learning and helped students engage creatively even when far.

sharryn
2 years ago
Reply to  Bhavna

True but I found being in a regional town, internet access and reliability was a big issue

Penelope
2 years ago

MICROSOFT SWAY/ Forms. Other fun learning tools include Padlet, Mentimeter, kahoot Big School

Amy
2 years ago

Start off by making the students feel safe and help them understand it won’t always work right away, assuming there is time and scope in what you are learning to undertake these activities.
Canva is a good tool for students to digitally create art, posters, mindmaps, etc. that is reasonably easy to learn and has a lot of free features.

Wade Azmy
2 years ago
Reply to  Amy

I agree psychological safety is the entry to creative thinking

Lyn Hynds
2 years ago
Reply to  Amy

Making the students feel safe to try and to make mistake. We can often learn a lot from making a mistake. In my Pathology field of study an error is not a problem. In the workplace being to scared to admit an error can be deadly.

Peter Seabrook
2 years ago

In TAFE always good to find out student skill sets and then give them the opportunity to participate and contextualise to class materials. Quite often leads to better group cohesion and engagement

Amy
2 years ago
Reply to  Peter Seabrook

Thanks for the tip!

Penelope
2 years ago
Reply to  Peter Seabrook

great advice Thank you

Lyn Hynds
2 years ago
Reply to  Peter Seabrook

Some students can struggle to develop the skills required. It is a great joy of teaching when one of the students that has struggled clicks and masters the problem skill.
Many of our skills can be contextualised to the Pathology Labs the students hope to work in.

Leanne Lockrey
2 years ago

We were only discussing ‘risk’ (in a ECEC playground), at our staff meeting yesterday…..one of my concerns was…..’does someone have my back, if something goes wrong?’…..trust in your team is a huge contributor to ‘taking risks’. Unfortunately, our past experiences do influence how we look at risk, learning new skills, or even reaching out for help when we need it!!

Anoush Fanaeian
2 years ago

Several ways of practising on making students independent in their way of learning without always relying on classroom/teacher culture make them creative. In the process of creativity, they can answer their own questions of Why not? What can I do? and so on.

Julie Barkman
2 years ago

Padlet, Mentimeter and kahoot fun ways to engage students for online learning and in the classroom

Bhavna
2 years ago
Reply to  Julie Barkman

Agree,they are great collaborative tools for the classroom.

Julie Barkman
2 years ago

Mentimeter, Padlet and Kahoot are great ways to engage students.

Michelle Wein
2 years ago

Kahoot and Whiteboard features have assisted digital remote learning

Nicole
3 years ago

Covid 19 certainly has introduced new platforms to teach and learn from i.e MS teams, Moodle, zoom, skype etc. Most students have embraced this quite well. Only 3 years ago I was still having to hand out paper copies of many assessments and UAGS etc as students weren’t tech savvy or had internet access.

Michelle Wein
2 years ago
Reply to  Nicole

I agree Nicole, everything is online now and students are often preferring it – the younger generation anyway, some struggles for the other generation but improvable with assistance.

ian
3 years ago

With students from different industries its easy to discuss a particular problem as various industries have experienced similar problems and have had different ways ,means, and tooling to deal with them.

Fiona
3 years ago

What can we do has become a popular question to encourage creativity in the last 18 months with COVID and lockdowns. The situation we have found ourselves in reminds us that we have a growth mindset, that we are adaptable and we can achieve anything. We now need to apply these adaptive skills to our ‘normal’ everyday routines and question ourselves to do things differently.

sharryn
2 years ago
Reply to  Fiona

You make a good point Fiona. We did adapt very quickly to ensure all our students were able to participate

Tayce Grosser
3 years ago

Necessity is the mother of invention, we have been forced to be creative in our approaches in response to COVID, with great results. I think if we can apply this same creativity and adaptability to our ‘normal’ teaching we will surprise ourselves with what we are capable of. However I do think that our students have been the driving force behind this success, they have handled everything that we have thrown at them so well, I think this has in some ways forced us to be and do better. My students have taught me so much, particularly in terms of how we can creatively use technology and how we can problem solve to address the new challenges we are facing. I think there is a lot to be gained if we continue to follow their lead, recognising their creativity and the power of their imagination.

Julie Barkman
2 years ago
Reply to  Tayce Grosser

Covid made us think differently about what we did

Bhavna
2 years ago
Reply to  Tayce Grosser

Yes the pandemic has got all the world thinking creatively and achieve success in learning outcomes regardless.

Paris Petelevitch
2 years ago
Reply to  Bhavna

Yes, it has been and continues to be a great opportunity for us all to remember we are life long learners. Normalising that when you first start something new, it is always a bit wobbly, has been a great reminder of what it is like to be in the leaner seat. How fabulous for us as educators to often go back to leaner seat and remember what it is like.

Casey
3 years ago

Having time to be creative and have creative discussions is vital. When we are rushing from one task to the next, there’s no time for innovation – until it’s forced on us like during Covid. A small silver lining to a pandemic 🙂

Anoush Fanaeian
2 years ago
Reply to  Casey

Exactly right Casey. The culture of passing from one task to next continuously kills the creativity,

Leanne Lockrey
2 years ago
Reply to  Casey

I agree Casey. Would we have chosen to change our ways if given a choice? But, because we ‘just had to’, we did it, & learned so much in the process!!

Paris Petelevitch
2 years ago
Reply to  Leanne Lockrey

Yes, what a great opportunity it ended up being. I love that i now know things I would never have dreamt of doing before.

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