STEAM = STEM + Arts

A couple of weeks ago we focused on the importance of creativity in the classroom - both for teachers and students. Creativity is not just reserved for arts education, but is widely being integrated throughout curriculum. Additionally, it’s a 21st century skill employers are looking for in its employees. Creativity - in the form of arts education, is making itself known in the world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). There's a new letter in the acronym - A, for Arts - that changes STEM to STEAM. Many believe that educating our students in these areas will be crucial to both their future and the future of our country.

According to Edutopia article, Creativity is the Secret Sauce in STEM, “Researchers have found that play is important for productive thought. Playing with ideas also increases learning. We must encourage playing with concepts to nurture creativity in students. Playing with concepts provides multiple entry points and multiple ways of engagement.” STEAM proponents are all about creative thinking. Students who work and think scientifically must also work creatively and be willing to experiment and try new ideas and ways to make things work. Students must be comfortable with working old concepts in new ways. Careers for the 21st century will require creative, smart-thinking students.

Pepper offers a variety of Science courses to sharpen your STEM skills and allow for creative arts integration, including our Engineering K-2 course. Our Language Arts and Writing and Poetry courses also provide opportunity for integration into Science and Art. We would love to hear how our Pepper teachers are using courses to change the way they teach in the classroom.

Courses available through Pepper will provide a foundation for concepts that will allow teachers to implement a creative classroom approach. Check out our wide range of Pepper Courses and our Pepper Resource Library to further your own professional growth.

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Photo Credit: Terry Williams Graphic Art

Hope of the Future: Creativity in the Classroom

Creativity. According to Merriam-Webster, creativity is the ability to make new things or think of new ideas. Creativity is a very valuable skill. However, it is not one that is highly encouraged in many school settings. Schools value skills such as listening/paying attention, following directions, and intellectual capabilities. Ten years ago Ken Robinson gave a TED talk titled, Do Schools Kill Creativity? His focus was that to prepare students for the future educators need to encourage creativity - creative thinking and the arts. Well, today is the future he was talking about.

Due to the dynamic characteristic of today’s work environment, creativity is a skill employers desire. Creativity is no longer a skill that is reserved for students focused on arts education. It is a skill crucial for all of our students. Kristen Hicks, author of Why Creativity in the Classroom Matters More Than Ever, states, “Learning a specific skill set doesn’t have the value in today’s world that it once did. Learning how to be more creative (and thus adaptable) – now that’s what prepares students for life beyond the classroom.”

Hicks’ Edudemic article also gives 5 Ways to Bring More Creativity Into the Classroom. She asserts that creative assignments are better for both the student and the teacher. They are more engaging for the student to complete and more enjoyable for the teacher to grade. Her suggestions include the following:

1. Don’t limit assignments to one format - Differentiating instruction. You provide the subject, but give students freedom in the product.
2. Set time aside for creativity - Set aside time during the day (or week) to allow students the opportunity for creative thinking.
3. Use tech to broaden your idea of assignments - In today’s world, creativity and technology go hand-in-hand.
4. Introduce unconventional learning materials into class - Content can be found in places other than textbooks - and it may be more engaging in a different format.
5. Encourage discussion - Using debates or the Socratic method in your classroom gets students actively engaged. Hicks also states, “The ability to communicate your ideas clearly and respectfully is something that will benefit students in all areas of their life – and something a lot of people grow up never learning how to do well.”

Creating a learning environment that fosters and encourages creativity requires teachers to be creative too. Almost all children start their educational careers with a desire to learn, bright imaginations, open minds, and willingness to take risks. Even as Sir Ken Robinson says:

“The gardener does not make the plant grow. The job of a gardener is to make optimal conditions.”

- Sir Ken Robinson

Courses available through Pepper will provide foundational concepts that will allow teachers to implement a creative classroom approach. Check out our wide range of Pepper Courses and our Pepper Resource Library to further your own professional growth.

Sign up to receive "The Big Idea" directly to your email each time it's updated. To do this, simply add your email under "Follow PepperPCG Posts by E-mail!" to the right.

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

Five Creative Approaches to Helping Students with ADHD

Understanding ADHD at its core is essential to determining the best course of action for students who have it. Though teachers find students who take medication for ADHD to be less disruptive and more attentive, it may not be the only effective way to treat this "difference in cognition" as Dr. Richard Friedman, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Director of the Psychopharmacology Clinic at Weill Cornell Physicians, puts it. He doesn't consider ADHD a disorder. And, he wants to reframe the way we view ADHD and help us approach it in a more creative way.

Check out this informative article. It will help you, as an educator, work with these highly intelligent students who have enormous potential.

Common Core and Arts Education—Connections and Possibilities!

While much of the initial focus with CCSS has been on ELA and Math during this first stage, there are great reasons to get excited about the possibilities that Common Core offers for arts educators. With an emphasis on critical engagement with source materials and a push toward communicating and conveying ideas, Common Core can connect in important ways with arts pedaogogy.

Interested in knowing more? Take a look at these videos and supporting materials--including a great PowerPoint deck with useful concepts and questions--from a symposium co-hosted by LAUSD Arts Education and the Museum of Contemporary Art. The symposium videos feature educators, school leaders, and arts organization members discussing the intersections and overlaps between Common Core and arts education. Click HERE to check it out!