Response to Mr. Robinson's Video on Creativity in the Classroom

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I have to say that I agree with Susie, Ryan and Jen that the current school wide system is killing creativity. To start, I would first like to reflect on what Susie talks about in her blog. She makes a very good point when she says that the future students that we teach will need to learn how to think outside of the box and no textbook is going to teach a student how to do this. If we focus too heavily on teaching standards in our own academic concentrations, students will lose out on the important life lessons that would guide them to help make important life decisions. I also like when Susie mentions that creativity is a life talent that needs to be trained and toned.

Next, I like how Ryan mentions how in the video Mr. Robinson states that students who started school this year will not be retiring until the year 2065. This is a very fascinating fact to think about because like Ryan says, we don't know what is going to happen five years from now; therefore, how can we expect to prepare our students for their futures by confining them to such a narrow focus of today's education system? We need to enforce to our students that they will make mistakes and that these mistakes will shape them into successful adults. I think Mr. Robinson is right by saying that teachers are only hurting students by instilling a fear of being wrong into their students. I believe it is just as important to use one's creativity to discover life's challenges on your own as it is to learn about academic subjects in the classroom.

Finally, I liked when Jen mentioned that by putting so much emphasis on grades, teachers are in exchange squandering the talents that shape their student into well-rounded individuals. I believe that as teachers we need to encourage our students to embrace their own creativity and go with it. In this way, students are more likely to face life's obstacles and find a creative way of solving them.

In summary, I feel that as a future math teacher the power is in my hands as to how I influence my students. I want to be the teacher that encourages their students to go for their dreams and use their creativity to get there. Together with academics, creativity will take students to where they want to go in life.