For the past year I've been trying to get past the surface issues of low test scores, poor attendance and behavior problems. I want to look at the culture of the schools in our district. I want to identify and put into words the many tiny forces that, over a period of 13 years, add up to the atmosphere in a building or a classroom. By the last four years that we're with the students, we try to control this force with rules and requirements, but by all indications students are missing the point.
I haven't been great at this yet, but I think I'm asking better questions. Here's how I am phrasing it now. Consider two groups of students in the secondary buildings--those who are learning what we'd like them to learn (group I) and those that aren't (group II). This includes learning the content to a high standard, plus any of the other important things we want to see in young people such as responsibility, punctuality and so on. In the other group we have everyone from the struggling learner to the talented but lazy to the outright resistant.
Now, my question is this: What do the students in group II see regularly that will encourage them to make the changes necessary to move into group I? On an emotional and rational level, what is set before them throughout their waking hours that says it is urgent and worth the effort?
I think the time at home might outweigh what we can accomplish at school in this regard, but leaving that aside, I tried to answer this question from the students' point of view. I thought of a school day, the teachers and classrooms that they will see. I thought of the messages they get through words and actions. I don't yet know what the solution is, but as I considered this, the frustrations I hear from the staff in the high school suddenly made more sense. There's just not much reason to aim high.
I don't know if this is obvious and I can't say it's a problem anywhere other than in the buildings where I work. I do know it doesn't get asked in this way in the meetings I attend. I'm going to start asking it more of others and of myself. I'm going to propose some answers and put them into practice.
My Oh, Really! game is present throughout this blog, but before it was Oh, Really! it was What's It To Ya?. It is a fun game that is useful for initiating discussion about values and opinions.
My friend who published that older version of the game is now blowing that inventory out for only $2.39 per copy. Check it out here at Fair Play Games. (Note that I am no longer getting royalties from the sale of this edition of the game, so sales do not benefit me directly.)
Each copy will allow up to eight players to play, so four copies will probably be enough for most classrooms. But beyond the K - 12 classroom, the game has entertained everyone from couples and families to Sunday school classes and college students. This is probably the best price you'll find on the game, so consider ordering a few.
And here's a rules explanation you could use in class or anywhere else to teach everyone how to play in about four minutes. (And after watching you can see it's pretty easy to make your own set of the game with note cards.)
This post about my highly entertaining classroomcreativity games (which some refer to as class presentation games) has been one of my most popular. There are two parts here. First are links to the games, then I have a related presentation that introduces the exercises and the games.
If you're interested in more information on these and other styles of games I have posted on this blog, see these pages. (They are also accessible from the top menu.)
The Presentation
When I began posting about my creativity exercises and games I also started developing the presentation I use in class to introduce them.
If you want to use (or deliver your own version of) this presentation, here's the outline:
Define creativity.
Offer practice with specific exercises.
Give an opportunity to play fun games related to the lesson.
Effectively presenting and practicing the exercises before playing the games will greatly enhance the students' enjoyment of the games. Written feedback from students has been positive with many expressing how fun it is to practice creativity.
Students learn that they can improve creativity by practicing certain skills.
This has been very encouraging to me and I am continuing to develop this into a unit of study or possibly a 10-week course on the subject.
The video presentation and tips for modifying it
I created two videos below that can be played for the students in class. Normally the outline would be:
Watch the first video.
Play the example games I refer to.
Watch the second video.
Play the creativity games while they practice the skills.
Alternatively, a teacher could use my presentations as an example, but presentation the information and exercises in her own way. If you're thinking of adapting it, here's a more detailed flow of the presentation:
Examples from my creative pursuits in game design - A teacher would want to substitute his or her personal examples here.
A working definition of creativity - "Making connections to find new, good ideas"
The distinction between an idea and a final product
Some questions for classroom response systems to measure students' own perceptions of their creativity
Examples that allow students to practice the skills of brainstorming and evaluating ideas and making connections
Sample games - Two are just examples of my own work. The third is Why Did the Chicken...? which allows some students to compete to write the funniest answers to random riddles.
Here is the first video of the presentation.It covers the purpose of the activity and provides the definition of creativity used throughout.
The presentation leads intotwo free classroom games I created. You can find information about those here:
And here is the second video. In this part I lead a couple of brainstorming activities and I show what it means to make connections. After those practice exercises the teacher could lead the class in one to three games, which are listed below.
Games for this part of the presentation are here, along with the rules:
Again, if you don't have ActivInspire, these generic creativity games can be played in a variety of ways on many more computer systems than the versions above:
Other things I've learned from using this in class:
Have a backup plan in case the riddle game is not going over well. Other creativity games or activities can be found through the related pages linked from the header of this blog.
Pick yourself or another teacher as one of the nouns for the first riddle of Why Did the Chicken...? It makes it much easier for them.
The games and presentation does not have to be completed in one sitting. Break up the elements of the presentation over several days or throughout the semester. Most of the games I have created would work well as a prompt for the end of class. Homework could be to turn in one or more answers to a riddle. Votes for the best one could be done the next day or even later after the teacher has narrowed it down to some possibilities.
If you're interested in the previous version of my videos, they are here: These videos are notes to a teacher rather than the presentation that could be played in class for students.
Part 1: Definitions, examples of my work and the questions for the class
Note: I neglected to mention in this recording that I also talk about the need for more creativity in school and how creativity enhances one's life. I never present these activities as a way to convince students their ideas will make them rich.
Part 2: Examples from a game of Why Did the Chicken...? and some practice exercises for brainstorming and evaluation
Note: In this clip I'm not sure I brought out the purpose of the brainstorming practice very well. The end result is to find connections between the two lists. I purposely did not have students turn those possibly good ideas into answers to the riddle. In other words, I asked them to find the first good idea, but they did not necessarily turn it into a finished product. Some naturally went further and made a funny joke.
I tried this activity last week without the creativity exercises before the game and the responses were much more interesting from the class that did the exercises. Based on their answers in the game and written responses after we played there is no doubt they were thinking more and they better grasped the point of the activity.
I was surprised that no one at a recent flipped teaching workshop had heard of Sophia.org. I came across the site at least a year ago and I've put a few lessons there myself. I hope to do more in the weeks ahead.
Sophia is a combination of a social network and a lesson repository. The learning "packets" are categorized and rated by users, so ideally you'd be able to search for any topic and find a variety lessons for it.
I suggest any teachers who are flipping their classroom should put their lessons on Sophia in addition to where they post them for their classes. It could be a great place to develop a following or to get feedback from other teachers and learners.
When I first stumbled on Sophia I thought it sounded exactly like the vision of learning described in Disrupting Class. I loved the book and was excited to see the predictions in it coming to life. I soon learned it was created by one of the authors of that book, making it a little less surprising. I have remained hopeful nonetheless. (Though I'm never motivated by accumulating little icons.) The fact that no one had heard of it at the workshop wasn't encouraging, but I still think it has potential and I will continue to support it.
Check it out first by searching for something you'd like to learn. I would love to hear if you find it useful. Next, think of how you could present your favorite thing to teach.
In the past I made a few suggestions for using iPad apps for digital storytelling and flipped teaching. I also have been trying to squeeze the most out of a few free video editors. Then someone finally convinced me to spend the $4.99 on iMovie. I'm very impressed with it so far.
I made the short video slideshow below that describes an experience* I had with some creativity games at the middle school level. I love how intuitive is to arrange the pictures, set the length and adjust the pan/zoom settings. Narration is equally as simple--just talk while the pictures go by. Keep what worked and do the other parts over.
I haven't used the app to record any lessons for flipped teaching yet, but it makes a portable recording studio and I can't see why it wouldn't be perfect. Cutting out a part of a clip is a swipe down to split it and a hold and drag to remove or rearrange it. Prop the iPad up to record you presentation at the board, edit and upload to YouTube. I am amazed at the power and creativity that this app allows.
I also love that songs from GarageBand (another $4.99 app that still fascinates me) are easily exported directly into iMovie. I put a simple loop in the background of the video below just to try it out.
*Two notes about the classroom experience:
My designated camera person did a good job, but she missed all the opportunities showing the class laughed A LOT as we played!
I will have a followup post soon about the creativity exercises I mention in the video.
