Creativity is an essential skill that should be encouraged daily in classrooms.  The most difficult aspect of teaching this skill is that it is not tangible, explainable, or necessarily teachable in the traditional sense.  Rather, it is usually best cultivated when students are given the right type of learning environment.  Creation and sharing can take an individual, whether child or adult, to their most vulnerable of states.  Not only is the creation reflective of the creator, but it also is tied to their self-esteem and self-worth.  For a student to feel comfortable creating, the classroom community must be inclusive, caring, and supportive of one another.  My personal challenge for myself this year was to integrate several windows of meaningful opportunity for my students to create their own learning content.  

So the first thing that needed to happen, naturally, was to give kids open-ended choice on some form of a creative assignment. At the beginning of the year, I usually make this some kind of art project so that their creations can be proudly displayed on our walls throughout the school year. I got this started through the creation of "personal dots" for International Dot Day this week. Though my instructions were clear and concise and the context was set, there was a problem: most my students seemed to have NO idea what to do with the blank canvas of white paper in front of them. "Ms. Olson, what do I do?"  "What am I supposed to draw?"  The cries for help resonated across the entire group.  And when I calmly replied, "Well... whatever you want. It's your dot", they looked at me like I was a lunatic.

I am finding out quickly that, unfortunately, many of our students have learned that learning is defined as completing tasks and not creating them. They've learned that one of the only things that schools have to offer is worksheet inundation and close-ended lessons that do not allow the learner to engage in critical thinking processes or creativity.  And the worst part? They've come to expect that from their teachers.  When these same students have a well-defined task that takes the creative edge off, they seem to be as happy as clams. In my opinion, learning should be just a teensy bit uncomfortable, especially at the beginning.  

So it is now my mission is to keep pushing that discomfort with creativity until it becomes increasingly natural for my students to engage in; to open up their minds and hearts to possibilities that they couldn't previously imagine in their learned context of what is allowed in schools.  Truthfully, this can't be viewed as just a mission.  Oh no... it must be my professional pledge to my students to make them into the makers of their own learning.  In the coming weeks, we will be making our first videos, augmented reality, blog posts, and screencasts in my classroom. I'm looking forward to the continued challenge of "teaching" creativity and I'm even more excited about what my kiddos will produce. (Stay tuned for upcoming blog posts on the topic, too!) 

Do you have any tips for others on moving away from student completion and towards student creation? Please leave a comment below to share how you inspire creativity with your students. 

The first week of school in my district can be confusing, stressful, and nerve-wracking for some, perhaps even most.  Our classes are not set until the end of the first week as we wait for upper management to confirm and crunch the final numbers for student enrolment at each school.  Careful thought is put into class composition as we move forward to determining which students we will be working with this year. 

But while all of that is going on, we are still teaching.  We are not necessarily teaching our kids that we will receive, though we might have a few of them in our midst.  We don't know that until the classes are set on Friday.  This is something that challenges me year after year as I always strive to create purposeful learning opportunities.  I stress over planning aspects because I find it difficult to make my teaching meaningful when I can't continue the journey with the same students.  It's all about relationships.

But the group I have been working with are a wonderful bunch of Grade 4 students who have made me feel incredibly at home in my new job.  Not only have they been welcoming, kind, and receptive to my style, but we have had so much fun in the little time I've gotten to know them.  Needless to say, I'm going to be sad to see many of them move on to other classrooms.  Luckily, a few of them will be staying with me as I am teaching a Grade 3/4 split this year. 

Today we journeyed through the first stages of the MindUP program.  I am a huge advocate for promoting social responsibility and self-regulation within students.  I believe that everyone, no matter the personality or background, deserves an opportunity to develop the skills needed to become an independent and contributing citizen to their communities.  This can translate in many ways depending on the needs of the learner, but as always, I'm challenging them to meet a higher standard than the one in which they enter my classroom.  

MindUP is based upon deep-breathing exercises and metacognition.  It allows students to understand the parts of their brain at work in social processes and to become more aware, or "mindful," of the impact they have on themselves and others.  By using a common language in class that includes brain anatomy and neural processes, students begin to understand that they are truly in control of their reactive selves in social situations, both in the classroom and in real-world contexts.

My big edu-win today was that even though I may never teach some of these kids again, the lessons we experienced together were meaningful, filled with enriched discussion, and curiosity.   I even had a couple who approached me to say that they wanted to continue learning about "self-control by using their brain."  This day made me forget all about being stressed out about creating "one-off lessons" and to remember that every day, every moment, can impact the life of a student.

Thanks for reading!  I encourage you to comment below to tell your classroom's stories of building community, relationships, and mindful learners. 

Remind101 is a free, safe, and efficient way to communicate with students and parents via SMS (text) messaging.  You can sign up for the service on their website or through their iOS or Android apps on your phone or device. 

Remind101 does not give your subscribers your personal phone number and does not allow for them to reply to your reminders.  Likewise, you cannot access the personal phone numbers of your subscribers. Messages cannot be edited or deleted once sent, either. 

Once you sign up and create a class, Remind101 will generate a domestic phone number and unique class code so that subscribers to your class can begin to sign up.  Any phone that receives text messages will be able to subscribe to your class reminders.

Through both the web portal and the app, you can schedule SMS messages to be sent out at specific times.  Another cool feature is that if you are composing a message at a late hour - let's be honest, teachers work often work late - you will be prompted to schedule the message to roll out at a more reasonable time.  After all, your subscribers probably don't want to receive a text message at 12:30 AM! 

The text message interface is set up exactly as a regular SMS message.  In the screenshot below, I have sent the code to subscribe to my class texts, and followed the prompts sent back to set up the subscription.  Having your parents and/or students inputting their full name is important so that you can manage your subscription lists.  You don't want to have anyone on your subscription list that isn't a part of your class.

Near the bottom of this same screenshot, you will see that every time I send out a text message via the Remind101 web portal or iPhone app, my name will appear at the front of the text.  This will remind parents and students who don't save your Remind101 number into their phones that the text is from you. 

It is my hope that these instructions can help you get set up with this awesome app.  Communicating is easy when you have Remind101! 

This post will be available for future reference under "Remind 101" on my site. 

Aurasma is the primary app and web resource that I utilize for getting my students to create their own augmented reality (AR).  For those that do not know, augmented reality is the ability to digitally overlay images or video overtop of a static image or "trigger image."  AR is often jokingly referred to as "QR codes on steroids." After creating an aura using Aurasma, you would then point the iPad camera at the trigger image, which would automatically generate the overlay video or image onto the screen of your device. 

There are some specific things that you need to know before getting started with Aurasma in your classroom:

1) You need an account via Aurasma Studio 

2) Create a Channel for your classroom/class section through your new Aurasma Studio Account

3) You will need to sign into your account on each device that you will use in your classroom OR follow your channel to see the auras you create on your studio account (see gallery below for visuals)

4)  UPDATE: Auras created on devices can be viewed immediately on other devices that are signed into the same Aurasma account. However, they cannot be added to a channel for other users to view on their devices. (...yet. Perhaps soon on another update!)

When getting started with Aurasma, it would be prudent to go through these amazing tutorial videos on twoguysandsomeipads.com.  The authors of the site are Drew Minock and Brad Waid, and they are leaders in the field of augmented reality in education.  There is also a fantastic compilation on their site of "Meaningful Integration of AR in Education," co-authored by several educators, myself included, that hosts some amazing ideas of integrating augmented reality into the classroom. 

Happy augmenting of reality! Thanks for reading!

This post will be available for future reference in the "Augmented Reality" section of my website.