How Creative Are You?

I feel as though my summer experience at ISU has positively impacted my "creative confidence," because as I start to think about lessons and activities for this coming year, I am going to be "thinking out of the box" a lot more :)  I tend to try to think creatively anyway, but I am excited to instill creativity in my students as well.  I am definitely going to have the students complete a couple of creative design projects throughout the year, though I am not sure which ones at this time.

I think that the way I design my lessons for students will be more focused on the process and getting students to really look at the "steps" on the "Lab-o-Matic" as a great tool to start with.  I am also excited to post a checklist of critical thinking skills I want students to achieve by the end of this year for me to refer to and "check off" as I incorporate them into my lessons.  By incorporating the "Lab-o-Matic" and DBCS into my teaching style, I am hopeful to enhance my students' critical thinking skills throughout the year!!

I am the lead in our PLC group, so I am planning to take one PLC meeting and share out what I learned, some of the tools, resources and ideas that are available for us to use and incorporate into our classrooms.  I think a lot of the science teachers in our PLC would benefit from the "Lab-o-Matic" and the DBCS ideas.  I am excited to share these with my colleagues and hopefully help them realize the benefits of thinking outside of the box!!