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Engaging in a Creative Life
Lisa Nanninga
As I embarked on my master’s program at Michigan State my goal was to engage my students in the study of mathematics. Now with my program coming to a close in a few short weeks not only do I still want to engage my students but engage myself through creativity. What does it mean to be engaged in life? How does applying and showing our creativity engage us in all activities of life? What success can we have from being engaged?
The use of technology is a main avenue for engagement. We have access to millions of things at our finger tips. I became more engaged in life through my Twitter account I created during this program. I am more up to date on news topics, sports scores, and educational topics than I was before. It seems easier to check Twitter than read the newspaper. I was hesitant to use Twitter, not because I didn't want to be engaged in what was happening in the world, but because I only thought of it as a place for people to vent about things. There are multiple purposes for twitter just like there can be multiple uses for technology to engage students. I have determined that simply using technology is not the solution for engagement which I viewed it as initially. Allowing students to use avenues where they can be involved in their learning and show creativity helps improve engagement. Technology is simply a great way of being able to do just that.
In order for some of these technologies to be used effectively in the classroom they need to be re purposed for academic use, this requires creative thinking in my lesson planning. As a teacher I can be creative to engage my students in a way that they are able to demonstrate their creativity. I saw this most evidently during my CEP 818 course assignment Developing the Creative "I". This assignment required me to journal about how I was doing or experiencing creativity every day. Through this assignment my eyes were opened to the need for creativity even in the simplest tasks. Students need to be given the opportunity in the classroom to keep them engaged in their learning without penalization. It starts with me as the educator showing each student that creativity is valued, appreciated, and encouraged.
Personally, I have not figured this
all out yet, the ideas take a while to re purpose for classroom use, require
adequate time to test out, and require both students and teachers to be
flexible. My new assignments I have used since beginning this program have been
adapted and adjusted multiple times to work in the classroom. Striving to stay
connected is a way students can continue engaging as well as a way I can
continue engaging.