Over the last few weeks, as I approached the end of term, I have felt increasingly comfortable in my new gig. The kids work extremely hard and I hope I have created positive relationships / pedagogies with them. As my confidence increases so does my knowledge of the pupils I teach. Feeling good!
As the term has passed I had been reading and watching videos online concerning the notion of 'creativity' in schools. One video in particular had an impact:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
The notion that schools unwittingly suppress creativity in pupils worried me. Although all teachers are under pressure to deliver the best outcomes (including grades) for our pupils - surely we have an obligation to nurture creativity as well?
So I decided to make a real conscious effort over the last few weeks and made 'creativity' the priority - it became a buzzword in the classroom. I didn't change any practice fundamentally, just gave more concentrated thought to HOW outcomes are achieved. I suppose this links into the previous post I made on giving the kids more control of their learning. With more ownership, it's amazing the differing ways kids will imagine and then forge on the way to achieving and outcome.
The way activities panned out was much the same way as outlined in the previous post. I worked with students to give them basic and background knowledge, before setting an outcome. For both the S5 and S3 classes the outcomes were being properly prepared for summative assessments undertaken this week. How they revised for the test was up to them, although they were working collaboratively in groups rather than individually. Some took to this setting easier than others, but eventually every pupil seemed to be getting properly stuck in. The output was pretty remarkable and inspired me greatly. There were poems, songs, recordings, newspapers ... the list goes on!
The proof would be in the pudding or in reality the marking of their assessments. Although I am only in the midst of this massive (and completely self-inflicted through bad planning) pile of marking I have noticed a positive trend. The standard of knowledge is either at the same level or, more commonly, deeper. The kids have consolidated their learning the way that works best for them.
It's been such a valuable couple of weeks, I've learnt a lot about how to delver better outcomes. Early days but hopefully it's something I can build on moving forward!
