OK, I said do something (about creativity in our schools). Here’s one more video from GOOD Magazine that tells you how. It’s short (about 3 minutes), filled with good stuff, and ends with an action plan for you and me.
We’re all teachers
Aren’t we? Some have made a noble profession of teaching others, some are volunteers sharing wisdom and knowledge, some are parents or grandmothers or big brothers or preachers or people on a bus. We all teach; we’re all creative beings who learn by watching.
Ken Robinson has some powerfully insightful ideas about how we’ve come to structure teaching (in our schools), and how we could think so differently (better) about it. Here are three videos, all remarkable and worth it. Enjoy, and do something.
1. Schools Kill Creativity (19:29). Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.
2. Bring on the Learning Revolution (16:48). In this poignant, funny follow-up to his fabled 2006 talk, Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning — creating conditions where kids’ natural talents can flourish.
3. Changing Education Paradigms (11:40). This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA’s Benjamin Franklin award.
One more. TED and Reddit asked Sir Ken Robinson anything — and he answered.
Home Made Halloween
Thank heavens for my wonderful, creative girls and a great week of creating some pretty unique costumes!
The girls picked out their own costume ideas on-line and from there we started looking for items in our home to create their masterpiece (along with a little help from Grandma Cleveland’s craft room). My intention was to have all homemade costumes, until I ran across Kiera’s on sale for $8.50 and couldn’t resist. I wish you could have seen the excitement in the girls’ eyes as we put the finishing touches on . It’s not to say we haven’t been asked what they are, but it doesn’t seem to bother them. Pretty sure they all think they are Rock Stars (as Mesa would put it) for having a hand in picking out, designing and creating their own costumes.
A very special thanks to Pam at The Portrait Place in Howard, SD. Our favorite pro photographer!
You Get to Choose
After once again lecturing two of my children today at length about their ability to choose their reaction to things that happen (“no one can make you be angry or mean”), this poem by Ishita Gupta has me reflecting on how often I’ve forgotten my own advice. I’m not being very wise at all. But I can be.
Every day is a new chance to choose. Choose to change your perspective. Choose to flip the switch in your mind. Turn on the light and stop fretting about with insecurity and doubt. Choose to do your work and be free of distraction. Choose to see the best in someone, or choose to bring out the worst in them. Choose to be a laser beam, with focused intention, or a scattered ray of light that doesn't do any good.
Telling the recession to stick it
What at first brought a sense of quiet panic has turned out, like most things we think will suck, to be a fun opportunity. The Sioux Falls Green Project, where I’ve been the Executive Director for just over a year now, is scaling back from one full time staff to none. We’re shifting things to be run by volunteers and contractors. The Green Project will still be inspiring and educating the community to build that sustainable future, it’ll just be doing it without full time staff. I’ve been playing it pretty cool, but the paper put it out there over the weekend.
So I’m being “phased out.” Well, not exactly of course, but it would be true to say I’ve been unemployed officially now for about six weeks. It’s just that I decided not to participate in this recession. In fact, I’ve been busier than ever and doing just fine.
I’ve been running a company called Ignite Workshop since summer 2004, in one way or another. My company helps groups of people who are shaping their communities–I help them get started, or re-ignite the fire, and I sometimes actually take on management and leadership of the organization for a while. Sometimes over the past few years, the method that made the most sense was to actually become an employee. That’s been the case for a while with the Green Project, and with the Rural Learning Center before that. For both organizations, I spent part of my time as a consultant, and part as an employee embedded in the everyday work.
So my point here is not to tell you about Ignite Workshop, or about being unemployed. It’s just a late night reminder that we’re all in this together. And, if you want to pout about it, go ahead. But if you want to get out there and do something about it, go do it. It will never be cheaper to start a business, and if you can make a go of it now, you’ll be in great shape to kill it when things bounce back. Yes, it will bounce back. Will you be ready?
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