Creativity in the Classroom.

It is common knowledge that schools are being ridiculed more and more for their stifling of student creativity.  So how as teachers do we avoid this?  It is important that we recognize student creativity, and applaud it.  Each student learns differently.  In the classroom, we need to offer a variety of activities to accommodate to all of these learning styles.  This way, students can express their creativity not only through their writing, but maybe through an oral presentation, or poster project.  Teachers should also offer students a number of choices.  When assigning homework, let the students choose from a variety of activities in order that they may express their creativity they way they want.  I believe that creativity is extremely important as a skill for the 21st century.  In today's ever-changing world, new jobs are frequently created, and old jobs eliminated.  Creativity is extremely important in order that these new jobs are filled and executed successfully.   These new employees are essentially the pioneers in these new positions and need to utilize their creativity to create them how they want.  Creativity starts when a child is young.  It is extremely important that we as future teachers understand the impact we have on a student's creativity, and foster creative thinking so that they may carry it into the future.
 

Reflectiveness in the Classroom.

I am currently taking Education 222, which is Instructional Strategies for K-12 Teachers.  Right now in this class we are really focusing on this aspect of teaching.  Reflection is extremely important.  It is when we, as teachers, can modify lesson plans and maybe even try a different lesson next time.  I think it is hard for many teachers to reflect because they think it will take up a lot of time - too much time that they do not have.  They also probably think that many times their lessons went as well as possible, and they have nothing to change, thus, nothing to reflect on from the day.  However, this belief is false.  If a teacher had the best day of his or her career, that should be even more reason to reflect!  On those days, teachers should reflect on why that day was so good. What was done differently that made that day particularly smooth?  On the other side, if a day did not go as planned, reflection should be done then too.  When reflection is done on these days, teachers can evaluate exactly what made the day go wrong, and how to do it differently next time.  This could provide an opportunity to brainstorm different ways of running the classroom, or different ways to approach a lesson.  I think for reflection to be most effective, it should be done immediately after the day is over.  The activities of the day are fresh in the teacher's mind, making it easy to reflect.  If it is not possible to reflect after each day, then reflect every couple of days, or at week's end.  Reflection does not have to be a long process.  Even a few minutes can benefit the teacher's instruction and the students' learning.

Passion in the Classroom.

It is so important that a teacher is passionate about what he or she is teaching.  I have had numerous experiences in which my teacher has not been passionate about the subject he or she was teaching.  This has definitely negatively impacted not only my learning, but also my view on that subject as a whole.  Not only did this affect me, but numerous of my classmates as well.  This was especially relevant in my 8th grade year.  My social studies teacher was clearly not passionate about what he was teaching and simply sat behind his desk and gave us assignments to do each class period.  He had minimal interaction with any of the students, and did not know any of our names.  I remember countless class periods spent coloring maps or filling out worksheets.  Before that class, I actually enjoyed social studies.  However, since that class, social studies has been one of my least favorite subjects.  A counter example of this actually occurred in the same year.  We were required to take Woods class, something that I dreaded.  I went in with a pit in my stomach, but to my surprise, came out actually enjoying the class.  This attitude was definitely partly the result of the teacher.  He was so passionate about what he was teaching and was very involved in our learning.  He always had a lot of energy in class, and was so excited when we accomplished something that was challenging for us.  I never thought I would enjoy a class like that so much, but fortunately, it was a great experience.  Taking these two examples, it is obvious that a teacher's attitude and passion toward the subject matter directly impacts the students' viewpoint on the subject matter.  It is important that we enjoy what we teach, or at least pretend to enjoy it, for the sake of the students.