Transformers: Creative Teachers for the 21st Century » (New Edition)

Packed with research-based strategies, this step-by-step resource shows educators how to cultivate a more creative teaching practice by accessing their creative resources, eliciting students' creativity, and more.

Preface viii

Acknowledgments xi

About the Author xii

Prologue #1 An Elementary Teacher Speaks Out About Creativity 1

1 What Teachers and Students Have to Say About Creativity: An Introduction 3

41 Creative Ideas 3

Teachers Voice Their Creative Blocks 12

Jump Starting Student Creativity: Making Mind Maps 15

This Is Not the "Crayola Curriculum" 19

Student Blocks to Creativity 20

A Past Student's E-mail on Creativity 23

Prologue #2 Before We Begin ... Get Out Your Notebook! 25

2 What Is, What Isn't Creativity? 27

An Overview of Preconceptions 27

Worshipping at the Altar of Right Answers 29

Making Mistakes 30

Specific Methods of Creative Behavior 32

Prologue #3 20 Keys to a More Creative Classroom 47

3 Memoir of a Creative Career (Abridged) 50

My First Creative Teacher 50

A First-Year Teacher 51

My Home Teaching Days 53

Back to the Traditional Classroom 55

Early Years at Francis Howell School District 57

Teaching Skills as Well as Content 59

My Repeaters on Grammar Patrol 62

Prologue #4 The Creative Teacher's Bill of Rights 65

4 What's Going On? 66

Side Effects of the Mandated Testing Phenomenon 66

The Whole Child, The Whole Teacher 69

Teaching the Whole Brain 71

The Necessity of Teacher Empowerment 74

Needs of the 21st Century, Glaringly Visible 76

Dropouts and High Achievers 79

Prologue #5 Affirmations: One Way to Rewire You for the Creativity You'll Need for the 21st Century 83

5 Links Between Creativity and Research-Based Instruction 84

Brain Research: A Gold Mine for Creative Strategies 84

Novelty 85

Meaning and Choice 86

Challenge Without Threat 92

Visualization 93

Emotions and Bodies94

Prologue #6 Letter From Arthur Costa 102

6 Transformational Journey: From the Inside Out 104

The Saturday/Sunday Kings and Queens 104

You, the Saturday/Sunday King or Queen 107

Transformational Stages 109

Our Hero's Journey: Moving Toward Ownership 110

Your Questions: The Main Tool of Transformers 113

Creative Thinking Versus Critical Thinking 116

Thinking in Metaphor 120

More Powerful Metaphors 121

Frames, Narratives, Scripts: How We Think 123

Prologue #7 The Administrator's Creativity Checklist 126

7 The Administrator's Role in Providing a Creative Environment 127

Metaphor and School Transformation, By Linda Henke 127

An Informal Ethnographic Study 128

School Culture 128

School as Factory 129

The Search for New Metaphors 130

Reframing Beliefs at MRH 136

Prologue #8 Leslie Wilson's Thinking Patterns That Help Create New Ideas 138

8 What Can We Do to Strengthen Our Creative Muscles? 139

For Ourselves-The Gift of Surprise 139

Mindfulness, Awareness, and All That Good Stuff 142

Begin With Fostering Creative Courage 145

Let's Look at Fear for a Moment 147

Respecting the Need to Make Time for Yourself 148

How to Help Your Fellow Teachers 151

Prologue #9 Our Tiny Digital Natives 155

9 Technology and the Creative Classroom 156

Swimming in a Technological Environment, By John Ross 156

Connecting Technology and Creativity: National Trends 157

Promoting Student Creativity With Technology 162

Becoming a More Creative Teacher With Technology 171

Prologue #10 Rules for Lady Teachers in 1915 173

10 Transforming Teaching Through Creativity for the 21st Century 174

The Last Time 174

A Look at Possible Future Transformation 175

The Past as of 1970 180

What Does the Public Think We Should Be Doing? 182

Welcome to Our Brave New Right-Brained World 186

Every Teacher a Creative Teacher 187

References 189

Index 194