Tulsa School Of Arts/Sciences, Tulsa OK
Participate in The Creativity Workshop in Prague to develop tangible ways of stimulating creativity and creative thinking that will prepare students to become global citizens.
My final project at the Creativity Project. We were tasked with creating a visual timeline that represented our learning on our trip.
The National Library of the Czech Republic inside the Klementinum. I want to create the feel of wonder in my own classroom library.
In an attempt to study how food, culture, and place influence identity, I met with a local, Jan, for a food tour of Prague.
This meal, dumplings, pork, saurkraut, and gravy is a meal I grew up eating on special ocassions with my family. I got to share it with Jan and discuss how the meal is special to his family and the people of Prague as well.
This was my favorite activity at The Creativity Conference. We were told to find 10 items that fit in the palm of our hand to bring one day. We then traded items with our peers and made creative skits. I can't wait to replicate this with my students!
I was very motivated and inspired by the works and life of Franz Kafka. I will be using his texts in English class this year, and now know so much more about his life and perspective to incorporate in lessons.
At The Creativity Workshop, we spent a lot of time facing "the fear of a blank page." As an English teacher, I know for a fact that my students and I can feel so overwhelmed when tasked with a writing task and staring down at that blank sheet of paper. We personally practiced techniques around intuitive writing to conquer the blank page and get our creative ideas flowing. These activities are directly transferable to classroom practices, and I can't wait to use them with my students.
I learned so much about myself on this trip! Knowing that the entire experience was for my students made me so much more motivated and outgoing. It also made me reflect on why I can prioritize learning for others more than myself, and have been trying to find grace and assurance that my own learning and curiosities are worth continuously investing in! Professionally, I have been able to hone in on my personal values of creativity and problem solving thanks to the workshop.
Heading into my fellowship, I was hopeful I would connect with others, but I wasn't sure it would happen. I haven't always been an assertive or outgoing person around strangers, but I tried to challenge myself on this trip! One of my favorite experiences was meeting an 8th grade English teacher from an international school in Cairo, Egypt. We grabbed a coffee together one morning and sat and talked for hours. We compared student stories, lessons, and life stories. It was so enriching!
A personal goal sparked by my fellowship is creating a classroom that fosters a culture of life-long recreational readers among students. Unfortunately, I have noticed that reading culture in high school is often enforced from a place of compliance and urgency due to recent data around literacy. Students are complacent and jaded when it comes to reading by the time they get to ninth grade, and turning this culture around will require the creative lesson planning I learned in my fellowship.
At The Creativity Workshop, we started each day with a meditation and manifesting activity to relax our brain and encourage creativity. I have already begun implementing this in our "start to class" activities each week. I lead students through a guided meditation, and then begin telling them a story (that purposefully leaves out some key details) so they can float away into their imaginations. Like at the workshop, students then "wake up" and draw the images they saw to fill in my blanks.
I am so motivated to be a spokesperson for this amazing program around my school. I am lucky to teach at a school that encourages all teachers to delve into their own interests, talents, and creativity. I know my colleagues could create the most amazing and enriching trips to bring back to our students, if they know about the program!