Encouraging creativity in students

The project I would like to pursue for my isearch is to work with individual students and design a specific project for each relating to their own personal interests. The intention of the project is to show students how writing relates to all aspects of life, not just school work. This project would encourage students not only to take pride and pleasure in the imaginative writing process, but may open them up to sharing a passion or talent that they would otherwise be afraid to share.

Kids can be cruel and judgmental. I grew up a creative kid in a town full of people that love to crush your dreams (or bust your balls as they so eloquently state.) If your aspirations after high school didn’t involve wearing a hard hat or crunching numbers at college with a cozy cubicle waiting four years later you were a slacker. There was no room in Plymouth for dreamers and music makers. (“Willie Wonka can go pound tahhh, kid”.) Local musicians played other people’s music. Anyone who wrote a song would be wise to keep it to themselves or a few trusted friends or risk every note and letter being scrutinized by unforgiving, uninformed critics. They didn’t necessarily know what they were talking about, but criticizing other people’s creations would put haters, as they are now referred, at the top of the social ladder.

When put into a workforce perspective, writing seems like a lazy man’s career; an easy way out. Though pressure to meet deadlines and come up with new material is ever present, it’s not the same as the back-breaking agony of shingling a house or the mental anguish of researching the growth of a company. Writers are magicians, bringing to life anything they can imagine; producing their craft with as little as a pen and paper, or even a mind and a mouth. They don’t have to work in the rain or risk getting electrocuted. Perhaps that is why a blue collar town such as the one I grew up in harbors so much resentment toward creativity.

By the time I reached middle school, I had already (and unknowingly) begun writing. As a young kid I had written a play, a few songs, developed a comic and even designed a videogame but was scared to death to share these with anyone. Even if I found the courage to share, I’m sure I would have been mocked in some capacity. I can’t help but think that if my creativity was embraced and nurtured through the proper channel I could have made a career out of writing sooner (or gotten in on the ground floor of the multi-billion dollar gaming industry.). This project would provide students with that encouragement and insight In a safe, non-judgmental setting and allow them to explore their own creativity. It will also show students that everything in the modern world relates to writing in some capacity.

how to reach these kids

As a student, reading and writing for me were more a source of anxiety than a means to creativity. Every new assignment gave birth to another deadline, another sacrifice of my personal time; some other enjoyable personal activity I would have to forego to expend valuable brain energy on dumb words that I would forget about when the school year is over. Needless to say, I didn’t exactly have a positive attitude regarding the language arts. I was more interested in music, television, movies, videogames and sports. Little did I know that all these activities could not exist without writing. Faced with the task of comparing Orwell to Huxley, I would painstakingly breeze through the reading and fill in the required information in a format assigned by the teacher; all work and no play. I never actually took time to enjoy the experience of the stories or to consider what they say about society. It was a headache, an inconvenience; something to keep me from playing football in the street with my friends. Twenty years later, I look back on the utopian visions of Huxley and Orwell or the American spirit enveloped by Mark Twain and realize that if taken in the proper context, reading and writing, and movies, music and television are one in the same. Had I known that back then, I would have looked forward to reading the next few chapters, or writing my own interpretation of the piece. The obvious key to inspire students to learn is to make them want to participate, instead of displaying reading and writing as a requirement. I feel my ideas for the I-search project would encourage students not only to take pleasure in assigned schoolwork, but also use the lessons learned In their everyday lives and expand on their creativity to mold it into a possible career.

               The first idea I would like to expand on is the idea of reading books through twice. I believe it would ease the scholastic pressure on students and enable them to go far beyond the surface of a story, introducing them to symbolism and personification. Students under less pressure to finish x-amount of books in a short time window may be more likely to lose themselves in a story and experience first hand how imagining situations in your head can be more fulfilling than seeing the stories played out on screen. While students may not be introduced to as much literature as with traditional teaching methods, complete, intricate exposure to a select few works may cause average students who could not be bothered with Shakespeare or Twain to realize how much fun they can be, (fun meaning vulgar, violent and inappropriate, following the Hollywood or TV standard when it comes to gaining kids’ attention.) Once exposed to how fun reading and writing could be, students can then pursue any angle of literature they desire outside of, and beyond their classroom, weather finding a good college to attend, or starting a career as a writer right out of high school, which leads me to my second idea.

               It is important that students know that reading and writing is not just an activity required to get you through to the next grade; it is just as much a personal interest as it is a practical means of communication and evaluation. When preparing students for after high school, whether it’s college or the workforce, the goal of teachers is to help students decide what it is they want to do with the rest of their lives. Ideally, they should find something they enjoy, and writing applies to virtually any profession. This activity works to get to know students on a personal level and work with them to suggest careers based on their interests. Students would meet with teachers one-on-one on a weekly basis and develop a creative project based on the students’ interests. Teachers should design tasks for the students to complete leading up to a unique major project. Such an activity would enrich the student/teacher relationship and give the student some perspective on potential careers, helping them find a career they enjoy so they never have to work a day in their lives.