Creativity Contract

Sara Schuster and Madison Brett

1. Lesson Activity (20 points)

- We used a lesson plan model from a different education class that taught us how to incorporate music/technology into the classroom.  We came up with a thorough lesson plan that teaches the dynamics of music.  Therefore, the technology in this lesson plan would be the music, or the device used to play the music (video below).  This promotes creativity because the student is allowed to come up with/create examples of different songs on their own that display the dynamics of music.

2.  Mobile Devices (10 points)

- We chose 5 different mobile apps, that incorporate creativity and ranked them based on our likings.  The results are below:

1. Facebook - We have used this app the longest and we are most familiar with facebook, which is why we ranked it first!  It is an app that we both use very often.  It promotes creativity because you are able to upload and edit your own pictures, make your own status by writing whatever you feel like to share with your friends/public, and it also allows you to write whatever you like on different friend’s walls.  Facebook really allows you to post whatever you feel like which lets people get creative in their posts/pictures. 

2. Instagram - This application is fairly new compared to facebook.  It allows you to edit photos, and it posts them on your instagram account.  It is really cool because you can take a picture that you took on your phone with the regular camera, and then enhance it in so many ways.  You can change the colors of the photos, tag your friends, and add captions.  It also allows you to follow certain people, and for certain people to follow you – so that your creativity (picture editing) is made known to all of your friends and followers. 

3. Twitter - Twitter is another application that really promotes creativity, as it allows you to create your own tweets, incorporate pictures in your tweets, and follow different people and groups.  Twitter is another one of our favorite apps because it allows us to stay connected not only with close friends, but also with news around the world.  One of my teachers even got so creative as to make a twitter account for our class so that we could follow it and access her announcements through another form of communcation instead of email or eLc.  Twitter really allows you to write and post whatever you like, which is a big factor in creativity.

4. Pinterest - Pinterest is an app that looks like a bulletin board that is divided up into different categories such as food, exercise, education, etc.  Each category has different pins (recipes, workouts, clothes, etc.) relating to that category.  It also allows you to get creative and make your own pins to publish to the website.  Again, pinterest allows you to follow your friends, and for them to follow you.  Once you repin something that you like, it stays in your account until you delete it!  We really like pinterest because it has so many awesome crafts that you can do at home, such as painting and making different things.  It also has a ton of great recipes!  Pinterest really does show off people's creativity, and it allows you to be creative yourself.

5. PicStitch - PicStitch is another awesome app for mobile devices because it allows you to take as many different pictures as you want, and "stitch" them together to make one picture.  For example, a lot of people will stitch together a "before" picture and an "after" picture so that you can see the differences in one picture instead of flipping between the two.  PicStitch allows you to get creative and stitch together anything you want. Even though this is ranked last on our list, it is still an awesome app that we use frequently!

-All of the apps we mentioned above are FREE!  However, there are tons of more apps available that promote creativity.

Creativity 1

This past weekend my roommates and I decided to plant some flowers in a pot for our front doorstep!  I am not the most creative person in the world, and neither are my roommates so this proved to be a challenge!  We went to Lowes to pick out a pot and some flowers.  We quickly found a pot, but picking out the flowers was difficult.  We wanted something bright and colorful, but we also wanted something that wasn't "high maintenance" in case we forgot to water the pots!  Also, we needed something that loves sunshine, as our pots are mostly in the sun!  After reading the flower descriptions and talking to some of the Lowes workers we came up with perfect combination!  We planted our flowers, and our porch looks great!!  (Not the most creative thing ever, but it was fun and something I had never done before!)

Learning and Leading

1.  Fluency, Flexibility, Originality, and Elaboration

2.  Originality - I am not someone who is good at "thinking outside of the box". It is really hard for me to do/think of creative things.  Although I can always come up with something, it is always a struggle for me to get there.  I am more of a concrete person rather than an abstract person!

3.  Storybird - Storybird allows you to come up with your own story/book!  It was something I was not familiar with until the presentation in class!  It definitely helps with creativity (originality) because it gives you complete freedom to talk about and write about what you want and create your own book!!

4.  Pixir - It would be very helpful in my area as a speech therapist because it allows you to edit and blog about photos of your choice.  Moreover, I could use the photos to show my students different things that I am talking about! I could also use the photos to track their progress and actually show them how far they have come!

Creativity

After sleeping in this morning, I decided that I would be creative and make a "Hot Buffalo Wing Dip" for my roommates and I to eat throughout the week!! (we all LOVE Buffalo chicken so the recipe I found looked perfect)

Ingredients:

-9 x 13 pan

-One bag of Tyson frozen diced chicken

-Two 8oz. cream cheese packs

-1/2 to 1 cup of Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce (depends on how hot you want it)

-1 cup of Ranch dressing

-2 cups of Monterey Jack cheese (shredded) - put aside 1 cup for topping

How to:

-Spread 2 blocks of cream cheese in bottom of pan.  Mix hot sauce, ranch dressing, chicken and 1 cup cheese in a separate bowl.  Pour the mixture over the cream cheese. Sprinkle the other cup of cheese on top of the mixture that was put aside.

-Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

-Serve with Tostidos or Fritos.

I can't wait to tell you how it tastes!!

An Unforgettable Adventure

As I have mentioned to all of you before, I studied abroad in New Zealand in May of 2012.  It was ONE OF THE BEST EXPERIENCES of my life!!  Furthermore, I blogged every single day about my trip in New Zealand and I wanted to share the link with all of you! I hope you enjoy! 

http://saranewzealand.blogspot.com/ 

Horizon Report

I definitely think that the future of education will be impacted by the trends and challenges mentioned in the Horizon Report.  I think that education is going to become a lot more dependent on technology than it is now.  For example, number 6 under the key trends talks about active learning and how different technologies now have applications that promote challenged based learning.  I agree that this helps students to be more in control and able to relate to real life issues.  Also, I do believe that 21st century classes are going to need to change because as our everyday lives change and become more advanced, the classroom will have to advance as well in order to meet the needs of the children.  For example, the classrooms will have to incorporate smart boards and other forms of technology in order to keep the students captivated, interested, and motivated to do well.

Meaningfu Learning With Technology

Reading this chapter made me realize many things about learning with technology.  I loved when the article stated, "Technology cannot teach students".  During my high school years, we used computers occasionally and we had a few smart boards around our campus, but  I really feel like my teachers did not utilize the technology we had available.  Furthermore, I was almost "scared" of technology and learning to use it.  When we did use technology at my high school, we were either just using the computer to watch a video, or my teacher would attempt to use the smart board (and then get mad and say, "forget it").  Moreover, when i was reading this article i was very interested in learning how to engage in "meaningful learning with technology".  Another thing that stood out in the readings was that conversation is a great way of learning.  I agree 100%, as I would much rather talk to other peers about a topic and sort of talk it through instead of just listening and remaining quiet!  I think it is very important to remember that Reception is not the only/best way of helping students learn, and that seems like what students are required to do the most (just learn by listening).  Furthermore, I thought this was a great article with many interesting facts about learning that I could easily relate to!