Education and creativity are journeys that spiral and criss-cross each other neither is a linear path. Creativity to me is like paddling along a winding river as if the river alluded to In the Garth Brooks song in the dream section. I envision education as a winding trail from mountain peak to mountain peak, up the mountain sides then back down through the valleys. In my life, the river of my creativity has wound through the valley as I have crossed from mountain peak to mountain peak on my educational journey. The two journeys have worked together to propel me forward and I am not able to separate them from each other. This year and this project is another phase in those journeys as I explore new Information and new theories. I am climbing towards the peak of a new mountain; yet I am following the river of creativity and daring to dance the tides as I explore digital storytelling and book creation for the first time. As teachers we act as “guides" on our student's journeys we meet them where they are and travel with them for a short while . We are on a road together and often it will seem crazy, following our own roads as we are propelled down them by life and guiding students down their own. All we can be is a guide for students; we can pick them up when they fall down, guide them through the rapids and dance the tides with them (Brooks, 1992). We direct them to familiar landmarks, but recognize that their stops may not be our own. We celebrate with our students when they reach new peaks, and create a soft landing when they come tumbling down the mountain. We travel the road together like an experienced guide; though we may never reach the wisdom of wise old wizards like Gandolph and Dumbledore. Creatively we are always on a journey as well weather that is exploring with new mediums and techniques or pushing something we are familiar with further than it was before. We take our journeys together meeting people on out paths that both help and hinder us. As teacher, we must be mindful of helping our student’s weather they are reaching the peak, or bouncing through the rapids.
Personally, my creativity is an ever-changing journey as I play with new mediums or ideas and try new things I am learning to embrace the journey because when I embrace the process of creativity and let myself be lost in it I make the most gains. I grow when I allow the journey to take over and create for the sake of creating. Creating and creativity are not about the product it is about the process and the journey that the person took to get there.
In watching students in various setting, I have observed their creative journeys; over the past few years, I have been able to observe dance students of all ages and levels. Typically, my youngest students are three years of age, with my oldest being around 17 to 18 years; this gives me an idea of how their creative development in dance changes as they mature. I often record my student’s progress in all areas through videos so that I can watch the students and reflect on their learning and growth in a more relaxed setting. When I first meet new preschool ballet students, I get them to do a " free dance' to a variety of music to gage what they are able to do, as well as how they respond to the music. The response to the music is key; this is where they get to show me their creativity. Often young students at 3-4 years of age simply run around, hop like rabbits or twirl until they fall over. Most three to 4 year olds will follow other students and when prompted will be a bunny, ladybug or snowflake. Often when I am dancing with them, they try to copy me. Sometime around the age of 5-6, something changes and the students begin to rely less on the other students and more on their own intuition to guide their free dance. Between the ages of 7 and 10 is when I have noticed that my dance students really gain confidence in their free dance, this could be because of any number of factors including the rapidly increased diversity of technique available to students, as they get older, stronger and their comfort with the process of free dance increases. This growth also comes when students are being exposed to increasingly complex ideas at school and beginning to read stories that are more complex. When asking students about their free dance I have heard that they are being a character from, a favourite book or sharing a story that they wrote, connecting one form of expression to another. Around the age of 11 or 12 students, dances become more expressive and they begin to repeat sequences and perfect them, at this stage, they also begin to direct other students to perform their creations. I will encourage my students to share their creativity and their process because it helps to build their creativity. A big part of creativity is sharing it with others. Part of the journey of growing creatively is the sharing of your process and learning through it. Through sharing our creativity it is possible to have our process questioned which might send creatively in a new direction leading to things you never could have dreamed of.
Personally, my creativity is an ever-changing journey as I play with new mediums or ideas and try new things I am learning to embrace the journey because when I embrace the process of creativity and let myself be lost in it I make the most gains. I grow when I allow the journey to take over and create for the sake of creating. Creating and creativity are not about the product it is about the process and the journey that the person took to get there.
In watching students in various setting, I have observed their creative journeys; over the past few years, I have been able to observe dance students of all ages and levels. Typically, my youngest students are three years of age, with my oldest being around 17 to 18 years; this gives me an idea of how their creative development in dance changes as they mature. I often record my student’s progress in all areas through videos so that I can watch the students and reflect on their learning and growth in a more relaxed setting. When I first meet new preschool ballet students, I get them to do a " free dance' to a variety of music to gage what they are able to do, as well as how they respond to the music. The response to the music is key; this is where they get to show me their creativity. Often young students at 3-4 years of age simply run around, hop like rabbits or twirl until they fall over. Most three to 4 year olds will follow other students and when prompted will be a bunny, ladybug or snowflake. Often when I am dancing with them, they try to copy me. Sometime around the age of 5-6, something changes and the students begin to rely less on the other students and more on their own intuition to guide their free dance. Between the ages of 7 and 10 is when I have noticed that my dance students really gain confidence in their free dance, this could be because of any number of factors including the rapidly increased diversity of technique available to students, as they get older, stronger and their comfort with the process of free dance increases. This growth also comes when students are being exposed to increasingly complex ideas at school and beginning to read stories that are more complex. When asking students about their free dance I have heard that they are being a character from, a favourite book or sharing a story that they wrote, connecting one form of expression to another. Around the age of 11 or 12 students, dances become more expressive and they begin to repeat sequences and perfect them, at this stage, they also begin to direct other students to perform their creations. I will encourage my students to share their creativity and their process because it helps to build their creativity. A big part of creativity is sharing it with others. Part of the journey of growing creatively is the sharing of your process and learning through it. Through sharing our creativity it is possible to have our process questioned which might send creatively in a new direction leading to things you never could have dreamed of.