Happy Birthday Katie

This Saturday my friend turned 25. I wanted to get her something that would be meaningful, especially because I wasn't able to see her on her birthday. Katie lives in Chandler, AZ. When I was visiting her this summer we did many silly things together, like skipping and dancing in the street. We also got really into coloring. We bought the biggest box of crayons and markers Target had. Coloring books are expensive if you want to get a good one. Our favorite was the Disney Princesses, and it was worth $15. We enjoyed coloring them perfectly, weird colors, or addicting words for a funny caption. I did not have a princess book with me here, so I colored Katie what I had. She loves turkey sandwiches and pink. In Arizona we went to Yogurtland frequently. At this frozen yogurt place they had special spoons that we may or may not have taken extras of to eat cereal and yogurt at home.

Creativity (FFOE)

1.     What are the four dimensions that J.P. Guilford used to describe creativity?

Fluency (FL), flexibility (FLX), originality (O),and elaboration (E)

2.     
 With which of the four dimensions do you struggle the most? Provide details as to why/how this dimension is difficult for you.


a.     I have a tough time in general with flexibility. I tend to think very concretely and rigidly. I prefer and prepare lessons that are detailed and specific. I know my students will get so much more out of any activity if they have a say and make their own choices. The world is constantly changing and my students need to be prepared to adapt to whatever comes. Incorporating flexibility into all areas of life will be beneficial. Looking at an issue from someone else’s perspective allows information to be processed in different ways, and create “interpersonal and cross cultural bonds.”

3.     Think about all of the tools we’ve learned about in class so far. Select a tool and describe how it might help with two or more of the four dimensions of creativity.

a.     I have not used Pearltrees, but from the amount of time I have explored it, I can easily see the flexibility and elaboration. The way Pearltrees works is through collecting, joining, and connecting various information you find interesting on the web. Someone can personalize their own tree and add to it at anytime. There is collaboration amongst its users that easily share information with one another. The flow of thoughts could easily be changed and represented in a different way. Changing your pearltrees is part of the benefit of the tool. Pearltrees is designed for organization with continual information being added, and then shared. The ability to collect, organize, change, add to, and share information are endless.

4.     
 Spend 10-15 minutes exploring one of the creativity tools listed in the chart on p. 14 in the article. Make sure not to choose a tool you’ve used before. How could that tool be used to support creativity in your chosen grade/subject area?

a.     Bubbl.us (http://bubbl.us) FL FLX E

b.     From the playing around that I did on Bubbl.us, I discovered how easy it is to use and to build off of your ideas. It simply helps you brainstorm and connect one thing to anther. It makes a lot of sense visually to see your brain take one concept and expand that to something completely different. There is a lot of flexibility in the way you choose to represent your flow of thoughts. Students will be able to tailor their “Bubbl” to their specific needs and process.

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms

Please read for the hard truth about our education system

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

Creative Inspiration

I have been thinking about our assignment to take a nap and do something creative since Friday. Neither one of those tasks come easily for me. Honestly I never really planned on the nap part, but I hope it will happen later. I decided to color a picture and send it to my friend. I flipped through the coloring book and selected my page. I want to be able to use whatever I create for this assignment, so I decided something more inspirational might be more appropriate for my friend. 

These words speak directly to where we both are in life. Time and time again I fall on my face when I go about life my way. I connect with God in the beautiful places he created only for my enjoyment. I took this picture early Saturday morning on top of Blood Mountain. Friday night at 12:30, twenty three of my friends and I  headed to the Appalachian Trail. We hiked through the night, and were on top of the mountain to witness the sun rise. The sun peaked out the brightest pink I have ever seen. It amazes me how intricate and intimate my Father is. Looking at this sunrise reminds me that Christ is my rock and foundation, not myself.

I appreciate inspirational quotes and images from other people, but I decided to make one specifically by me and for me.

NMC Horizon Report

Significant changes in education are afoot. Technology is changing rapidly and schools are trying to keep up. Many people are now using a cloud-based network. At this point, I know that iCloud exists, but to what extent and how to use it, I have no idea. It makes sense for all information we want to be saved, to be saved so that it can be accessible anywhere. Anywhere and everywhere are a big focus of this drive of technology. People want immediate gratification in their academic and social media learning. I stand in the middle on this topic because I can see larger implications of society affected outside of the learning and technology worlds. Another dynamic of this trend is the advantage of collaboration. In my teaching classes I have found discussion and collaboration on topics of debate, lesson plans, or reading to be extremely helpful. The old saying is true, “Two heads are better than one.” Having at least one other person to bounce ideas off enables more dynamics of a situation to be evaluated. Across the campus as a whole, I often hear peers complaining about “group projects.” Working with someone else on a project is a pain, because trying to get together with someone is always difficult and inconvenient. This is true especially in elementary school when your parents have to drive and pick you up. In light of the previous discussion off the effective means of collaboration, if used appropriately, the ability to collaboration is a skill to be cultured in students. This approach is correlated to challenge based and active learning. I see a lot of benefit in using technology students already have (like smartphones) to connect students to one another and students to real life problem solving. Much of student learning is through Internet perusing that is pulled from sites that are more informal than textbooks. Libraries and university collections are being challenged at large to remain innovative and part of a student’s foundational learning.