Supporting Student Creativity in the

Learner Centered Classroom

Week 2Amanda Allen

The activities in the online portion of the class are scheduled to take

approximately five hours total. These five hours replace the five hours you would have been in class. Please let

me know if the activities take you longer then the time allotted. You

have until January 26 to complete all activities.

Online: Week 2

Adding a Photo to Angel

Look under the week 2 slides.

Please download the directions on how to upload a photo onto angel.

STOP: Upload your picture to Angel. Then come back and continue with the slides.

Who are you?

Digital Natives & Immigrants Marc Prensky wrote this article in 2001 to explain the digital divide in our nation.

Find out what you are and those around you by Reading Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.

STOP: Download the PDF from Angel (FIND IN CLASS 1 FOLDER Labeled Marc Prensky)

if iPad, download to Good Reader or ReaddleDocs to annotate/highlight

Reflect on this concept and how the concept of digital natives/digital immigrants affects your classroom

Digital Natives and Immigrants

How does this concept relate to those around you? (parents/grandparents/your children)

What does this mean in your classroom, if you are a digital immigrant and they are a digital native?

What does it mean if you are both digital natives?

The Value of Education in a Digital World

Here’s what recent college student had to say about all this...

Video - Pogobat

Please click on link and watch this short video on youtube

Education is NOT about teaching facts

Education is about stoking creativity....

Education is about empowering our

students to change the world

The Question is How?

This week, let’s explore some fun and innovative ways to “stoke creativity” in the classroom.

Let’s talk about ways to let your students be “discovers of knowledge”

Let’s talk about how to do all of this on a limited budget with limited resources....

Outcomes Big Ideas and Activities Time

Creativity Thinking: Textbook Theory 30 minutes

Technology as a Tutor: Explore Relevant Sites 1 hour

Technology as a Mindtool: Webquest and explore relevant digital storytelling sites. 1 hour

Technology as Conversation Support:Join and Post to Edmodo and Wiki Spaces 1 hour

Technology for Online Resources: Virtual Field Trip 1 hour

Checklist for Activities

Section Activity to be Completed Finished

Digital NativesRead the article posted on Angel and reflect on how the concepts of digital native/digital immigrant affect your

classroom.

Video Watch the Pogobat Video and think about the accessibility of information and the importance of constructing information

Creative Thinking

Read over slides and think critically about authentic instruction and creativity in the classroom. Research additional sites as

interested.Technology as a

TutorSpend time researching the sites as listed to find practical and

applicable sites you could use for your own classroom.Technology as a

Mindtool Spend time researching the digital storytelling sites as listed Complete Webquest activity and complete survey on Angel

Conversation Support

Sign up for Edmodo, join our class group and respond to post Join our class wiki, and post 1 relevant website for use in the

class. Online

Resources Take a virtual Field Trip. Explore one or more sites and think about how doing an activity like this might play out in class.

Discussion Post 1 Log onto Angel and post a response to the question

Supporting Student Creativity in the

Learner Centered Classroom

Week 2Amanda Allen

The Big Questions

What is a learner centered classroom?

What is creative thinking?

How do I encourage creative thinking in class?

What is authentic instruction?

What role does technology play in all of this?

What is a learner centered classroom?

Learner Centered Teaching involves:

Focusing instruction on the needs, preferences and interest of students

Teachers acting as facilitators of knowledge not just “givers” of knowledge

Learner Centered Classrooms:

Give students multiple opportunities to interact with the material

Emphasize cognitive processes that prompt students to construct knowledge from research

Tips for Creating a LCC

To create a learner centered classrooms, we as teachers must

Incorporate age appropriate lessons

Incorporate lessons relevant to both our standards and the students interests and needs

Connect learning to real life experiences (NET-T 1b)

Allow students to produce authentic work rather than regurgitate information on a worksheet (NET-T 1a)

Promote creative thinking in the classroom

What is Creative Thinking?

Creative thinking is when students are able to generate numerous ways to solve a problem and then select the way the best serves their needs.

For example: Are your students paralyzed in math when they forget the formula or can they piece together multiple ways to reach a reasonable answer?

Creative thinkers are “motivated, flexible in their thinking, and have the confidence to act on their ideas despite the awareness that they do not know for sure how their ideas will play out.” (Black, 2005 - textbook page 45)

What is Creative Thinking?

Creative thinking takes on many forms because it involves higher order thinking skills that are not predictable.

Creative thinking is not a single skill. It requires effort to deliberate how to solve the problem, it involves trial and error, it involves generating multiple solutions and then selecting the best option with resources involved.

Like anything else, your students are more likely to attempt creative thinking if you model it!

Encourage Creative Thinking

How do I support/encourage creative thinking in the classroom?

Provide students with CHOICE:

Ensure students are clear on the objective of the lesson

Provide them with a rubric on how they will be graded

Allow them to meet the objective the way that interests them the most

For many students and teachers, they are usually most comfortable if there are three or four options for students to choose from

Consider allowing students time to brainstorm and submit ideas on ways to demonstrate knowledge. Then you select the final options.

Allowing students choice appeals to all learning styles and interests (Gardner)

By teaching students how to learn, not just what to learn.

The Frostig center in Pasadena conducted a longitudinal study to determine what made students successful in the classroom. The result: students who possessed six particular life skills were significantly more successful in the classroom and in life (i.e. career, family etc). This study applied to students of all abilities. Awareness of these six traits translates to creativity and success in the classroom.

Want to know more? Check out www.frostig.org

In the past, they have paid teachers to attend a three day summer workshop to learn how to incorporate these skills into our daily lessons. :)

Encourage Creative Thinking

Teach students how to learn, not just what to learn.

Teach them these six life skills:

Perseverance

Self-Awareness

Goal-Setting

How to find and access Support Systems

How to Cope if something goes wrong

How to be Proactive in their search for knowledge and help

Encourage Creative Thinking

Teach students how to learn, not just what to learn.

Divergent Thinking

Starts from a common point

Moves out to various perspectives

Usually starts with an open ended question

For example: What can you infer? or What can you predict?

Types of Creative Thinking

Types of Creative Thinking

Innovation Thinking

A type of divergent thinking

The goal is to produce original ideas of value

Requires students to think from a different perspective

Ex: Create an alternate ending to this story from the antagonists point of view.

Convergent Thinking

Starts with various perspectives

Moves inward to a common point or understanding

Ex: There are many different ways to solve a math problem. Encourage students to find many ways to come to the correct answer.

Types of Creative Thinking

Critical Thinking

A type of convergent thinking

The goal is to determine the value of information

Often known as analytical thinking, this allows students to objectively critique sources of information or compare and contrast as they converge information to solve problems

Types of Creative Thinking

Which type of learning can be tested and measured?

Convergent thinking is readily measured by our standardized testing process. We can test to see if students will bubble in the one correct answer on an assessment. But how often do we assess how many potential solutions students can come up with?

Think of these two types of learning as interrelated. They are both crucial to developing our students abilities to creatively think and analyze data.

Want to know more? Check out: http://www.problem-solvingtechniques.com

Why do I need to know this?

Inductive Reasoning

Moves from examples to generalization

Start with details, then ascertain the main ideas, then draw a general conclusion.

Sometimes referred to as bottom up logic

Ex: What pattern do you observe? Where have we seen this pattern before? What might be the larger reason we see this pattern reoccur?

Ex: All the swans we saw are white. Therefore, all swans are white.

Types of Creative Thinking

Deductive Reasoning

Opposite of Inductive Reasoning

Moves from generalizations to examples

Sometimes referred to as the top down approach. Start with a general theory and then follow it down from the top of the triangle to prove or disprove the specific example.

Ex: What is the spelling rule? Does this word follow the spelling rule?

Ex: All squares are rectangles. All rectangles have four sides. Therefore, all squares have four sides.

Types of Creative Thinking

Why do I need to know this?

Teaching and modeling convergent and divergent models of thinking is important because these are ways students learn to critically analyze and solve problems. (Higher Order Thinking)

Divergent thinking: Think of Albert Einstein and the way he would ask a simple question, but then pose many different solutions or answers to the problem.

Convergent thinking: Think of Sherlock Holmes and the way he would gather information from various sources, analyze the information and put it all together to solve the mystery (aka find the answer)

Follow the formula below to teach students how to learn, not just what to learn.

The Formula

Teach and model creative thinking skills

Create an environment where students are motivated to learn (often times this is the piece connected to technology)

•Mix in your expertise as a facilitator

•RESULT = Authentic creativity in the classroom

Encourage Creative Thinking

What is authentic instruction?Authentic instruction is a model for high quality instruction to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. It provides students with:

a depth of knowledge on a subject

a connection to real world issues and problems

student support

learner autonomyWant to know more? Check out www.authenticinstruction.com for grade and subject specific lesson plans that demonstrate authentic instruction

a chance to apply higher-order thinking skills

Learner Autonomy Learner autonomy is when students control their learning

Authentic instruction builds learner autonomy

Allowing students choice during authentic instruction builds motivation to learn!

All students can learn!

Technology is one amazing way to create authentic instruction in your classroom and increase motivation!

Authentic InstructionAuthentic instruction/learning plays on the idea of students being actively involved in their own learning process.

This means teachers need to scaffold information to ensure students are working at their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD - Vygotsky). This is the level where students must think through problems, slightly beyond their own knowledge base, but ultimately gain understanding with scaffolded assistance from the teacher.

Authentic Instruction

“Tell me and I will forget. Show me, and I may

remember. Involve me, and I will understand.”

Just like you and me - students learn by actively constructing their own knowledge. Study this next chart.

Compliments of: http://courses.science.fau.edu/~rjordan/active_learning.htm

Make sure you take a minute to read and understand this chart.

In a traditional classroom

Every student learns the material delivered in one format

The teacher is the focal point

Students learn by listening and reading

Very few active “constructivists” tasks

This accommodates verbal, linguistic and logical learners

Interesting enough, this is the type of learner I am. But I know all my students do not learn this way.

Authentic Instruction

The Learner Centered Classroom

Allows students to work collaboratively to solve problems

Encourages Blooms Taxonomy of Higher Order Thinking

Promotes creativity

Reaches all learning styles

Technology is an excellent tool to augment instruction.

Authentic Instruction

Technology’s role in the LCCTechnology can save you time (teacher sites)

Technology can supplement and enhance your lessons (videos, graphic organizers, webquests)

Technology can help reach students who might otherwise be silent in class (Edmodo)

Technology can provide virtual simulations and field trips for students (google earth, virtual animal dissections)

Technology can help students direct their own learning (choice)

What about Videos?Is Watching a Video using technology?

YES! YES! YES! Videos have become so ubiquitous we no longer think of them as technology, but they are. Imagine how teachers felt in the 1980s when videos were just being introduced in the classroom. Soon, the technology we fear will become so ubiquitous, people will forget to think of it as technology.

Use videos to give students the opportunity to see things they are studying. A video can show students things you can only explain (think digestive system).

Based on the previous triangle chart, videos fall in the 50% retention category. Take it up a notch and have students take notes, and discuss what they learned (70%) and then ask them to articulate what they learned in an activity (90%).

As we go on from here, I am going to offer examples of the following roles of technology in the classroom with activities for you to complete mixed in. As I list reference sites, please take the time to check them out and add them to your personal reference bank.

Technology as a Tutor

Technology as a Mindtool

Technology as Conversation Support

Technology for Online Resources

Technology’s role in the LCC

Technology as a TutorTutors present new information, provide practice and information on a topic and evaluate students learning.

There are, of course, many programs that you can purchase to provide direct instruction and practice for your students and some provide you with feedback on their performance.

There are ALSO many free programs your students can access on the internet to provide them with direct instruction and practice on specific skill sets.

Activity: Spend some time looking into some of the resources listed on the next few slides.

Ticket to Read (www.tickettoread.com) is sponsored by the public schools and provides phonics and reading support and enrichment to students at their zone of proximal development. Students take an assessment to determine level. Designed for K-6 students, you can also purchase a license for your class. Accelerated Reader (http://www.renlearn.com/ar/) is similar

IXL (www.ixl.com) is designed for students in grades K through Algebra. Each content standard is targeted and reports highlighting student progress are generated and e-mailed to the teacher weekly. Class subscriptions are available.

Technology as a Tutor

Mathletics (www.mathletics.com) is similar to ixl. It provides repeated practice on targeted skills, but it spans grades K-12. Subscriptions are available for purchase and reports are generated.

HAND HELD DEVICES

In addition to your subject / grade level. If you have an iPad, iPhone, or other HHD (hand held device).....there’s an app for that! Do your research (check out iear.org or teacherswithapps.com) and you are guaranteed to find an amazing app that helps you reach your students!

Technology as a Tutor

Spelling City (www.spellingcity.com) is FREE. Create a free account and upload all your spelling and vocabulary words to this site. Students can independently take quizzes and play games to learn the words. A premium account membership allows your kids to take their tests online and it grades it for you!

Starfall (www.starfall.com) is FREE. Students in primary grades (K-2/3) practice phonics, reading and some math skills. A must use for any primary grade teacher and those with children at home!

Technology as a Tutor

For older students here are two great options:

Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.com) provides visual demonstrations of math lessons. Students forget the pythagorean theorem? No problem, watch a refresher video here.

Podcasts: Top notch professors from universities and authors alike have recorded podcasts on a range of subjects from history to religion. Open up i-tunes, download a podcast and have your students listen to it while they take notes.

Technology as a Tutor

What is a WebQuest?A WebQuest is an inquiry orientated lesson plan with an organized format for presenting lessons that utilize web resources. Students use the technique (discovery based learning) as they analyze and synthesize information on a specific topicThey usually consist of five parts

Motivational Instruction

A clear objective/outcome

Outlined steps the students should take

Evaluation Criteria

Concluding and reflective closing activities

Technology as a Tutor: WebQuests

WebQuestsActivity: Today, technology is going to act as your tutor is a very structured way. Technology is going to allow you to construct knowledge just like your student would. You are going to perform a WebQuest for educators learning about WebQuests. Find your grade level (next slide) and cut and paste the appropriate link into your browser. You will find a guide on how to navigate through 4 different WebQuests. Since we will not meet in groups to discuss, it will be up to you to think critically about the sites you are exploring. What did you like? What didn’t you like? How would this engage your students?

WebQuest Links • High School (General):

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquestwebquest-hs.html

• High School English: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquestwebquest-hs-eng.html

• High School Math/Science: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquestwebquest-hs-mathsci.html

• High School Humanties: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquestwebquest-hum.html

• Elementary School: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquestwebquest-es.html

• Middle School: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquestwebquest-ms.html

The best part about WebQuests is that you can find a lot of them already made. Why reinvent the wheel? Want to know more? Check out webquest.org

WebQuests

Activity: After you have finished your WebQuest, please log onto Angel and complete the short survey I have

posted about WebQuests.

Technology as a Mindtool

Definition: Mindtools are computer applications that enable learners to represent, manipulate or reflect on what they know, rather than to reproduce what someone else knows. (page 80)

Example: Concept Mapping Tools (i.e. Graphic Organizers) require students to sort and reflect on information

Check out these internet sites for tools.

Read Write Think sponsored by IRA International Reading Association

Inspiration or Kidspiration Grades K-5

Example: Databases like Excel require students to amalgamate and sort data into categories. Have students create spreadsheets of data they are collecting.

Tools4Students•iPad app•10+

Graphic Organizers

Consider working on graphic organizers as a whole class if you only have one Hand Held

Device

Technology as a Mindtool

Digital Stories: Get your kids excited about the writing process. Have them create storybooks to illustrate points in all subjects. Take the next 15 minutes or so and explore the following story making sites. Students can e-mail and share their work with family around the world.

www.storybird.com

www.storynory.com

www.zooburst.com

Toontastic (iPad app) - Check out launchpadtoys.com

Digital Stories

Steps to Creating a Digital Story

1. Write a script

2. Develop a storyboard

3. Locate images

4. Create a digital story

5. Share with others

Also, spend some time checking out Pixie software, use iMovie (mac), Moviemaker (PC) or iPad apps such as Toontastic, Puppet Pals or Comic Life

Technology as a Mindtool

Mindtools can also be classified as real life simulations. My favorite example of this is the beloved Oregon Trail. Not familiar? Learn more at www.oregontrail.com or get the app.

ENHANCE lessons on westward expansion with this simulated experience of the pioneers. Do not have students work on things like this without coupling it with teaching.

EXPAND the lesson by talking about westward expansion from the Native Americans’ point of view. (Higher Order Thinking)

INTERNALIZE the lesson by having students debate and discuss why they made certain decisions in the game.

Technology as Conversation Support

The ways to use technology to converse with other people around the world and in your own classroom is exploding.

Around the World: Pen pals can now write each other letters and Face Time or Skype with one another. Never tried it? It’s free. Download them and check it out.

In your Classroom: Have all the students contribute to one online source. This allows even your quietest students in the back of the room to speak up and share their thoughts. I am going to highlight both Edmodo and Wikispaces as forums for knowledge construction. You will need to join both sites for our classroom discussions.

ActivityI want to introduce you to a FREE, private, secure “facebook for the classroom like” site that allows your class to post, turn in assignments, take free polls and keep a class calendar.Take a moment and go to www.edmodo.com to create an account - Make sure you sign up as a teacher, so you can use this with your own students and/or parents.

Once you have logged in, on the left hand side of the screen click on the join button to join our class group

Next, enter our specific group code (see below)

to join our class discussions

uaxuaz

Make sure you responded to the question listed on Edmodo before you move on.Think of this site as a central repository for ideas, quickwrites, drafts, brainstorming, etc..There are no ads or games to distract studentsRemember, as a teacher you will need to teach students how to interact on a site like this. This includes:

Controlling for “i” vs. “I” Posting content appropriate information

Technology as Conversation Support

Activity: Wikispaces is FREE for educators and an excellent way for students to collaborate as they construct knowledge. Please go to

www.technology205.wikispaces.com and join our group. You will need to create an account. I recommend you use the same

username/password that you used for edmodo. You need to post to this site three times over the semester to this site with resources your

colleagues would benefit from.

WikispacesOnce you have joined our group, it is time to post:

Consider all the research you have done looking into the teaching sites I have listed throughout this presentation. Perhaps one site led you to another site. Consider your own personal resources you use in your classroom. Now it’s time to collaborate. Let’s work together to give everyone fresh ideas.

Activity: Post one relevant site for teachers that relates to the classroom. You will need to post one each class session, so pick one this week that is specifically geared towards teachers, or students or a miscellaneous site with valuable resources. Please see the wiki for an example of content that needs to be posted with the site. If you want to use a site that I listed in this presentation, that’s fine, but be sure to elaborate on its functions in the classroom. Resources not mentioned already are an excellent addition!

Technology for Online Resources

Online Resources are designed to

Save time: Why reinvent the wheel when another teacher may have already constructed an amazing lesson around what you are teaching. While we often feel isolated in our own classrooms, just think about how many other teachers there are in this world teaching your same grade level and same content area. Let’s give ourselves a break and collaborate!

Enhance your lesson by...

providing experiences for your students they may not have otherwise been exposed to

Think.....Virtual Field Trips

Technology for Online Resources

Virtual Field Trips provide authentic real life experiences. Teachers rely on pre-teaching to get students excited about what they might discover while exploring the site. They take kids places they would have never otherwise gone.

Ways to take a Virtual Field Trip:

Assign individuals or groups to explore specific sites or areas and report back.

Project and tour places as a whole class. This allows you to guide the discovery of information

Virtual Field TripsActivity: Take your own Virtual Field Trip. Spend some time exploring one or all of these sites based on your own grade level and interest. Be sure to treat this as a real Field Trip. Look at their pre and post teaching resources. If you find another site that makes a great Virtual Field Trip, feel free to explore that one as well. Your discussion prompt 2 will be directly linked to your Virtual Field Trip. Take a look at the next slide to see what you should be thinking about as you explore.

The Smithsonian

UPM Forest Life

The Moon in Google Earth

Planet in Action

AR Sights

This list of top 5 virtual Field Trips I took directly from

teaching monster. Click this link to get detailed descriptions of each one with

links to their sites and have fun exploring!

Teaching Monster

Virtual Field Trips

1. How might a Virtual Field Trip augment a learner centered classroom?

2. Are there any other relevant sites you explored today that you could tie in with the Virtual Field Trip?

3. What type of creative thinking (divergent, convergent, etc) would an activity like this encourage and why?

Discussion Prompt 1

Discussion Prompt #1 is now posted on Angel. Please log on to Angel and post your response by Thursday, January 24th. You must respond to 2 of your classmates by Saturday January 26th.

Remember No matter how old your students are, it is important you teach your students how to interact on a web based program or exploration. Spending time training your students early will result in engaged students and a happy teacher!

RememberTechnology change is hard because we don’t always know the outcome. Teachers like to be in control and sure of the outcome.

It’s hard for us, but it’s a natural transition for the students.

Enlist your students to help you. Put them in charge of teaching the class how to use a site or new technology.

Working together creates a shared learning space with mutual respect and minimizes behavior problems.

Information Age

Work Work is knowledge oriented

WorkersWorkers are learners needing flexible, advanced skill sets for

rapid innovations

Time and authority

Workgroups identify and solve problems over extended time periods, then communicate

results

Lesson Plan AssignmentAs you are working on your

lesson plan, please keep these things in mind.

1. Students should be actively involved in the lesson. They remember 90% of what they say and do!2. The lesson should be knowledge orientated not product orientated.3. Technology should be incorporated. 4. Students at different abilities need to be addressed.5. Think about combining elements of “choice” in your lesson planning.

Support student creativity by involving them. Create an environment where

students construct knowledge.

Give technology as a choice for studentsto demonstrate what they have learned

We remember 90% of what we say and do!

Almost Finished

Double check the list on the next slide to make sure you have completed all the activities.

If you need help with anything, PLEASE let me know sooner rather than later. I am happy to help.

Congratulations on all your hard work. Hope you learned something new you can use in your classroom.

Checklist for Activities

Section Activity to be Completed Finished

Digital NativesRead the article posted on Angel and reflect on how the concepts of digital native/digital immigrant affect your

classroom.

Video Watch the Pogobat Video and think about the accessibility of information and the importance of constructing information

Creative Thinking

Read over slides and think critically about authentic instruction and creativity in the classroom. Research additional sites as

interested.Technology as a

TutorSpend time researching the sites as listed to find practical and

applicable sites you could use for your own classroom.Technology as a

Mindtool Spend time researching the digital storytelling sites as listed Complete Webquest activity and complete survey on Angel

Conversation Support

Sign up for Edmodo, join our class group and respond to post Join our class wiki, and post 1 relevant website for use in the

class. Online

Resources Take a virtual Field Trip. Explore one or more sites and think about how doing an activity like this might play out in class.

Discussion Post 1 Log onto Angel and post a response to the question