Keeping Creativity Alive in Your Classroom

Even with a set curriculum, you can foster creativity in your students. You don't have to resort to worksheets and practice tests to help kids master skills. Nicholas Provenzano, high school English teacher, shares three spot-on strategies to make learning the required skills in a creative way. "Creativity should not be relegated to English class or the art room. There are places for all teachers to add creative elements to their school days," Provenzano insists. You may have a framework to work within, but you CAN be imaginative within those boundaries.

Check out Provenzano's three strategies and visit his helpful website at www.TheNerdyTeacher.com

Reaching Milestones: From Fourth Graders to Marathons

The barely five-foot tall Keila Merino, dedicated fourth grade teacher in a public school in the Bronx, New York, has completed dozens of marathons both in and out of the classroom. Her classroom consists of all bilingual students, reminding her of her own beginning. Originally from Mexico, her family (mother and four siblings) traveled to Mesa, Arizona to meet up with her father who was already settled there. Knowing little English, Keila understood only one thing she was told to do in her gym class, which was to RUN. She found that she was faster than everyone else, and she ran her first marathon race in her freshman year of college. And, so years of running races ensued.

Now, Keila directs a fourth-grade running group in hopes of combating child obesity. She knows the benefits of daily exercise on the mind and body, and she wants to help students improve their lives.

Read more about Keila's personal quest and how she has helped others in the process.