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10 - Everyday Creativity in the Classroom: A Trip through Time with Seven Suggestions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Ruth Richards
Edited by
Ronald A. Beghetto  and
James C. Kaufman
Ruth Richards
Affiliation:
Saybrook University, USA; McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School, USA
Ronald A. Beghetto
Affiliation:
University of Oregon
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
California State University, San Bernardino
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Summary

Years ago, while a secondary-level student teacher (I was getting a teaching credential in physics and math, and also in visual arts), a friend asked me if I would visit the fourth- through six-grade class at a small and quite charming three-room schoolhouse – truly a little wooden house – in a quaint rural California town, to teach a guest science lesson. I was learning some good things and wanted to try them out, so I said, “Sure!”

There were three schoolrooms: My friend's personally designed classroom (K–3), the upper elementary room (4–6), and finally what was at that time called a junior high school (7–8) – here the junior high school room. My friend's K-3 room had the distinction of red and white-checkered curtains, special areas, and clustered furniture, a very homey feel, and she often played music, especially classical, for the kids. As I recall, there was a lot of time for reading and thinking, and I can picture them happily scattered on the floor with their books, on large cushions. They also got to ask lots of questions.

I was encouraged – surely my own creative lesson plan would be welcome. I was training to work with secondary-level kids, not with fourth- through six-graders. But I was bringing challenging activities for any age, I thought; surely my attempts would be appreciated. Yet, as it turned out, they were not appreciated by everyone. This experience has actually motivated me for years.

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Nurturing Creativity in the Classroom , pp. 206 - 234
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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