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Creativity and Change

   
    Like most of us, I'm experiencing a lot of uncertainty about what this school year will be like. I've never taught in a hybrid model before, and I'm trying to be flexible in thinking through how to design my classroom for this format and aware that plans could change.
    I'm finding my brain turning to what ifs and ruminating, but one thing that's been really helpful is turning my attention towards creating something. I'm really grateful that I got to take so many awesome professional development classes this summer, and one that I've been coming back to a lot is the book study of Intention: Critical Creativity in the Classroom by Amy Burvell and Dan Ryder (see the above quote). One key idea of the book is that creativity is for everyone. I definitely have had a boxed up definition of creativity as solely artistic talent. The idea that "creativity is a birthright," stuck in my mind and made me broaden my ideas of creativity. When I found my brain spinning about planning for the next school year, I decided to make a design to represent the quote using a picture of Avi playing. Something about the colors, playing with fonts, and finding the right picture felt absorbing and fun. Was it the most productive thing I could have done with Avi's nap time? Probably not, but when she woke up, I found myself in a much more playful and present mindset. 
    Since then, I'm trying to find opportunities to be creative whether that's thinking of new design challenges for a socially distanced and hybrid classroom, taking photos, or sketchnoting information from podcasts I want to remember. I even checked out a book on hand lettering from the library, and I've started playing with lettering. Check out my "illuminated" lettering of Avi. For my next project, I think I may try to write out some favorite quotes. As I've  seen friends on Zoom, I've been a little curious about all the embroidery or knitting projects they are doing, but I generally haven't enjoyed that type of creating. I think experimenting with lettering will allow me to create without having to untangle so much thread. Even writing this blog is a creative outlet, and I have found a lot of joy this summer in writing more frequently both in my journal and here. 
    Are you finding time for creativity? What does that look like for you? 

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  1. Grateful KaeAugust 5, 2020 at 1:07 PM

    This is so funny....I always talk about this. I have a tendency to say, "I'm not creative!" and my older son has picked up on it and says the same thing sometimes! oops. I even wrote one of my first blog posts about this topic- the idea of defining or self-limiting based on some old "perception" of ourselves. https://gratefulkae.blogspot.com/2020/04/im-not-creative.html I like how you are referring to creativity in a broader sense. I truly don't feel that I'm very "artistic", but that doesn't have to mean I'm not "creative", right?! I agree that music, writing and ideas can all be outlets for creativity. I just need to keep reminding myself of that!! :-)

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