Personally, I have always felt that creativity was an important aspect of education. We have learned about people like Howard Gardner and I really believed that, that's how teachers really did it, they gave children choices. More recently I realized that this isn't always the case and that teachers spend so much of their time planning lessons in general and they just don't have the time or take the time to differentiate for different kinds of learners. I also realized that arts we usually placed on the back burner so to speak or used as extras instead of being taught mainstream like mathematics and language arts. Although, I have pondered many of these thoughts previously I had never actually heard such valid points presented in such an honest and sophisticated manner.
During the TED video, and after its completion I began to really think about how this video could help me make the world of education better for the children who would be in my classes. I knew that I would have the opportunity to change this "norm" for the children who would be in my classes.
I feel that when I become a teacher and have a classroom full of children to inspire, I will help them develop their own ideas and be creative. It is much easier for us to sit back and teach by the book and out of a book, but I think what can be truly motivational for children would be to put them out there in the real world and allow them to learn naturally through their experiences, through trial and error. It is our jobs as teachers to provide children with the education experience they deserve, and I feel that is by allowing them to "reach for the stars" and try on their own.
As for mathematics, what a more practical way to teach children how to "do" math then to let them do it in the real world. I bet if you take that approach you won't hear, "How will we use this in real life?' As a student I myself have said that exact phrase. Now as a teacher in training I have realized that I "CAN" show children how it will be used in real life. If we are teaching children concepts in measurement. What a better way then to actually allow them to measure objects. Give them a book: have them measure its length and its width. Show the children how to find the area of an object that they can actually see, not one that little Johnny had in his backyard in Florida. If you want children to understand volume and weight, let them see for themselves, give them beakers, containers, balloons, or bags. Remember your the teacher, it's your job to teach the outcomes but it's up to you how you are going to do that! Provide children with the tools they need to experience learning, not just hear it!
As Robinson alluded to, we aren't all the same, so why teach in all the same way?
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