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Creating, Imagining, Innovating

"But out of limitations comes creativity."

~Debbie Allen

Creativity, innovation, and imagination are often associated with artistic expression; however, utilizing this Habit of Mind extends far beyond artistic expression. When people are able to think creatively, imaginatively, or innovatively, they are able to generate atypical solutions to problems. They are able to look at a problem from many different angles in order to strategize a new solution. 

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Because the ability to think creatively is imperative in today's increasingly global society, I explicitly taught my students what it means to be creative, imaginative, and innovative so that as they are faced with new and unfamiliar situations and problems, they will be able to rise up to those challenges with the ability to examine the possibilities from a variety of perspectives. 

Introducing the Creativity, Imagining, Innovating, Habit of Mind

Without explicit teaching, many students believe that creativity is a skill that only some people are born with. However, after explicit teaching, students are able to recognize that, with enough practice and reinforcement, anyone can think creatively, imaginatively, and innovatively. 

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I created the lesson plan below to initially teach my students about this Habit of Mind.

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Students' do now quick-write was chosen intentionally in order to help students later articulate that being able to think creatively extends beyond artistic expression and is instead is more aligned with their abilities to conceive a variety of solutions to problems and generate atypical solutions.

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Initial information about this habit was presented in terms of the initial video and the PowerPoint in order to present the information about this Habit of Mind in ways that would be accessible to a variety of learners. Presenting information about this habit in a multi-modal fashion also provides students with different ways to begin thinking about what this habit looks like, sounds like, and feels like. As students are able to articulate what this habit looks like, sounds like, and feels like, they are able to apply it to additional contexts, including their own lives.

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To explore the PowerPoint I created for this lesson, scroll through the PDF below.

Once students were presented with a broad understanding of what this Habit of Mind entailed, they were tasked with applying it. I chose to have students attempt to cut paper with a perfectly straight edge without using scissors or a blade because it was a problem for which I did not have an answer. Thus, students would be forced to think creatively, imaginatively, and innovatively in order to "solve" this problem.

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Images of students engaging in this activity and some of the creative strategies they employed are included below.

Throughout this activity, students employed a variety of creative, imaginative, and innovative strategies:

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  • Used tape to create a straight edge before ripping.

  • Used ruler to ensure they teared it evenly.

  • Used their saliva to improve frayed edges.

  • Used a clipboard to saw off the paper evenly.

  • Used a straight edge from classroom furniture to prevent it from having a jagged edge.

  • Used glue to soften the frayed edges

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Even though students were unable to find a perfect solution to this problem, they tried many different strategies to solve this problem by transforming common classroom objects around the room into tools.

After struggling with the scissor activity, students completed reflections regarding how well they were able to employ this Habit of Mind.

Reading students' reflections showed that the majority of students' did not become discouraged when their initial strategy failed. Instead, they became more and more determined to find a solution. Even though none of the groups or students were able to come up with a solution during this attempt, almost all students were able to generate at least one additional strategy they would have liked to try. Additionally, many students felt proud of their out-of-the-box strategies, and many felt as though their strategies were unique, and thus demonstrated their abilities to employ this habit.

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After students were able to articulate what it meant to be creative, imaginative, and innovative and once they had had the opportunity to apply this habit in a non-artistic way, students worked together to create anchor charts depicting what employing this habit looks like, sounds like, and feels like. These anchor charts were later hung up around the room as a visual reminder to students as to how to apply this habit in a variety of subsequent situations.

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To view samples of student-created anchor charts depicting what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like to be creative, imaginative, and innovative, scroll through the PDF below.

Reinforcement: 6 Word Memoir Projects

Throughout the school year, I provided students with several opportunities to employ the habit of thinking creatively, imaginatively, and innovatively. One of these opportunities included project-based learning. Although students were provided with several opportunities to complete projects over the course of the school year, I chose but a few projects to showcase as reinforcing this habit.

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One of the projects that I utilized to reinforce students' abilities to think creatively, imaginatively, and creatively was the 6-word memoir project. The requirements for this project are included below.

6WM

Before students were given the opportunity to engage in this activity, we reviewed some background information about memoirs in general and where the idea for the six-word memoir project originated and completed brainstorming activities to help students generate ideas for their own memoirs. This brainstorming process helps students examine the multiple angles and perspectives by which they can use their six words to tell their story. As a result, this brainstorming process also helps reinforce students' abilities to think creatively, imaginatively, and innovatively.

 

Scroll through the PDF below to view the PowerPoint that was shared with students as they completed their creative processes.

Within this project, students were presented with a couple of opportunities to reinforce their abilities to think creatively. For example, the majority of my students do not have access to technology at home, resulting in minimal experience with online programs. As a result, they had to think creatively and imaginatively in order to "tinker" with the Google Slides program that most had never utilized before. As they created their projects, they were asking each other for creative feedback; many were heard asking each other questions about how to improve their project and/or how to improve their project layout. These behaviors are clear demonstrations of students employing this Habit of Mind.

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In addition, the 6-word limit posed a problem for students for which creative problem-solving was the answer. Many students struggled initially with encapsulating their personal story or maxim in only six words; many students busted their word limit by utilizing contractions, which counted as two words. As a result, students were forced to generate innovative solutions in order to meet the word restrictions.

 

Their strategies:

  • utilize a thesaurus

  • vary sentence structure

  • tinker with diction

  • change verb tenses

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To explore samples of students' completed 6-word memoir projects, scroll through the PDF below.

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Reinforcement: One-Pager Projects

In order for students to internalize a Habit of Mind, they must be presented with multiple opportunities to apply and reinforce it; this reinforcement will enable students to apply this habit to their daily lives, allowing them to behave more intelligently and confidently when presented with challenging situations. To provide my students with additional project-based reinforcement, students completed a one-pager project after reading and analyzing The Lightning Thief.  The requirements for this project are included below.

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1PGR

While the scissor activity and the 6-word memoir project required students to think creatively within limits, the one-pager project encouraged students to think innovatively within the opposite parameters -- the entire 11 x 17 page had to be filled, nothing could be left blank. As a result, students had to approach this problem imaginatively to ensure that they could generate enough content necessary to creatively depict the novel.

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Although all students were given the same requirements, their approaches varied. Some students used their symbols and images as the page border, whereas others used characters' names and/or quotes from the novel as their border. Some students wrote acrostic poems, whereas others ventured to experiment with other forms of poetry. Some students utilized construction paper to fill the excess space, whereas others merely colored in the white spaces. Regardless of their methods, all students were able to apply their ingenuity to create a unique one-page depiction of the novel.

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To view samples of students' completed one-pager projects, scroll through the PDF below.

Reinforcement: Engaging Beginnings

Project-based learning was but one way that this habit was reinforced in my classroom. A key component of being able to think creatively, imaginatively, and innovatively includes being able to build associations that generate atypical or out-of-the-box types of thinking. To this end, my students regularly complete mind-mapping and brainstorming activities to assist them in generating writing that is original and idea-driven and to reinforce this Habit of Mind.

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One such instance is included in the lesson plan and artifacts below. In an effort to help my students connect to the prompt and build student voice, they completed a brainstorming activity which culminated in their writing an introduction that included an extended metaphor. As students worked together and shared ideas, they were able to stimulate more and more innovative connections to the prompt, thereby deepening their understanding of the content and improving their ability to portray their understanding of the topic and their stance upon the issue creatively.

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To explore further connections to this Habit of Mind, explore the annotated lesson plan below.

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In the past, students have viewed academic writing as a place devoid of creativity. As students completed this lesson, I reinforced the idea that all writing -- including academic writing -- can be creative. By utilizing their ingenuity, they are able to compose academic writing that excels on the grading rubric in addition to engaging readers.

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My students, skeptical that they could apply this habit to their writing, needed to have examples of how this habit could be applied to the brainstorming and writing process. To this end, I created the PowerPoint below, which provided students with a student and a teacher exemplar. Providing students with these models gave students the confidence to apply this habit to their own argumentative writing. 

The slideshow to the left showcases images of students utilizing creativity, imagination, and innovation as they  worked to create similes and metaphors as engaging beginnings for their introductions.

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Throughout this process, students compared cyber-bullying to:

  • spiderwebs

  • caterpillars

  • cancer

  • the immune system

  • a raging bull

  • scary movies

  • catci

  • bombs

  • bees

  • lemons

  • snakes

  • storms

  • legos

  • leeches

  • trash on the beach

  • black holes

While these are but a few things to which students compared cyber-bullying, this list demonstrates the ingenuity with which students applied as they brainstormed ideas for their introductions. As students shared their comparisons, other students were able to deepen and build up each other's ideas, creating an environment of collaboration and shared innovation. 

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To view samples of students' completed work while they engaged with this Habit of Mind, explore the PDF below.

After applying this habit throughout the brainstorming and writing process, students published their creative introduction to our class Padlet page. Once students posted their introductions, they gave each other feedback for their introductions. While students are improving their abilities to provide constructive feedback, some students were able to push each other to develop their innovative extended metaphors further.

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To view a samples of students' innovative introductions check out the image below.

After completing this lesson, one of my students excitedly beckoned me to her desk. Completing this brainstorming activity had inspired her to apply this habit to create a poem about cyber-bullying. To hear her poem and her reflection as to how this activity impacted her ability to apply this habit, watch the video below. Note: portions of this video have been blurred to maintain student privacy.

Creativity Habit Reflection

Creativity Habit Reflection

Watch Now

Reinforcement Through Role-Playing

Having been taught what it means to be creative, imaginative, and innovative and having had this habit reinforced through project-based learning, brainstorming, and writing activities, students began to apply this habit more regularly and began to take initiative to apply this habit on their own terms.

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Students were merely told to act out their favorite scene from the short story as a way to help make the story come alive for students. Through their student-initiated innovation and creativity, they were able to extend this lesson and activity well-beyond my intentions, thus creating a more realistic and meaningful experience for all students.

For example, students took initiative to apply the habit of creating, imagining, and innovating during a role-playing activity for "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry when they sought to find and create props to create a more realistic experience.

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Their strategies:

  • Finding real money

  • Making money out of notecards

  • Using their necklaces to represent the watch

  • Using scissors to pretend to cut hair

  • Borrowing a watch from me

  • Using a hat to cover up students' hair after it had been "cut off" and donated

  • Drawing hair combs and other props

Teacher Reflection

Being able to think creatively, imaginatively, and innovatively is imperative for students' academic success and college and career readiness. As they progress throughout their lives, they will be presented with a variety of challenges for which the solutions are not immediately known or readily available. Consequently, students will need to be able to think outside of the box in order to attain success. To this end, I developed a variety of project-based learning opportunities and lesson activities that required students to think of atypical solutions to problems or generate an innovative understanding of the topic. These opportunities and activities demonstrated for students that creativity extends beyond artistic expression and that creative thinking and innovation can be achieved by anyone.

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As my students completed these activities, many students struggled at first since there were multiple avenues to success (or in the case of the scissors activity, none). As students became more comfortable with applying their creativity, imagination, and innovation to a variety of settings, they began to embrace challenges with more enthusiasm.

Reflection

Continually reinforcing this Habit of Mind pushed my students to think more deeply and critically about my content. As they thought about my content more creatively, they shared their innovative thoughts with other students and myself, resulting in a classroom culture in which students consistently pushed each other to consider alternate perspectives and more rigorous trains of thought. One of my favorite moments from reinforcing this habit was when one of my students said: "Mrs. Griffith, I just realized something. Things are only impossible until someone comes up with an innovative solution."

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