Using Requirements on Teachers to Inspire Creativity

One of the most liberating and powerful attributes in education is freedom. Sometimes as teachers we don't feel that we have a lot of freedom. We are required to teach Common Core, State or other Standards. At the same time we are required to meet other school or district improvement plans. This is on top of lesson planning, grading, and differentiating for a wide variety of learners. But the truth is, in all of this, there is still room for freedom. In fact, the demands on you as a teacher can inspire creativity.

One TED talk that I think about frequently is Phil Hansen's TED talk entitled Embrace the shake.

He is an artist who developed a tremor in his hand which kept him from drawing pointillist drawings. So instead of giving up, he decided to embrace the shake. I love the moment when he goes to the art store and can buy anything, he doesn't know what to do. He then sets limitations that inspire the creativity.

My goal as a teacher is to use standards, improvement programs, and other demands on me and my time to inspire creativity. I am always willing to try new things in my classroom. Some of them fail, but most of them work and can then be improved upon.

This same idea is passed to my students. I love to assign open ended projects. For example

• Create a game that reviews the ideas from this chapter, the game must include content questions from the chapter that you wrote. This can be:
• A board game
• A card game
• A video game
• Present a summary of all the important ideas from this chapter. Be creative, for example:
• Make a video: a movie trailer, news broadcast, or video of toys discussing the ideas.
• Write a story: a children's story that incorporates the ideas from this chapter.
• Create a PowerPoint, Prezi, etc.
• For more ideas go to:
• http://khsgeometry.weebly.com/quarter-1-projects.html
• http://khsgeometry.weebly.com/quarter-2-projects.html

I have been amazed at the quality of work that I get when I allow the students freedom with specific parameters. Last year when I detailed exactly what I wanted, I received exactly what my rubric stated, but it lacked passion and enjoyment.

I hope that educators will embrace the demands on us, and use it to inspire creative solutions to the daily struggles of being a great teacher.