Cultivating Creativity - Reimagine

Circle Theorem... What is this? How do I do this? How long is this lesson? Stress, panic, hit the 'switch off button' !

As educators, we are all aware that the creation of a low- stress environment is essential in order to maximise our children, young people and adults learning and both the environment, the activities and the pedagogical approaches we adopt are elements we should reflect upon continuously. Our reflections in and on action (Schon) would ask us to reflect upon how at times of stress our learning becomes derailed and any higher order reasoning, thinking and learning is less effective.

So how does this relate to the title of the blog? Circle Theorem, Circumference, Angles, Perpendicular are all words I love the sound of, words I love to say but relating them all to Maths used to fill me with dread until Creativity and Maths was cultivated in my homework sessions with Dad and so it is through my #ReflectConnect space and the work of @MarsMaths that I recalled this memory and it is one I wish to share with you today.

Maths and Creativity both require our minds to investigate, examine, imagine, problem solve, be flexible in our thinking and to think divergently, which in turn will give us the opportunities to both apply new knowledge, such as Circle Theorem  and create connections with our world.

So, this is exactly what my Dad and I did when Circle Theorem filled me with fear!. 

Dad was a carpenter by trade so innately creative but also a fabulous mathematician, skills which he utilised to craft mini masterpieces for our home but it was his creativity that came to the forefront in every Maths homework session as Maths was always my nemesis. 

So when tasked with completing a  Circle Theorem worksheet for homework I was filled with fear and dread and so I called,'Daaaaaddddd' and this is what my homework session looked like .....

..... out came the pens and paint and Dad got me drawing, painting and sketching circles and triangles on empty cereal boxes turned inside out so they were plain cardboard and on left over rolls of wallpaper. Together we inquired, problem solved, reflected and approached the theory in a creative way that helped me make connections in both my mind and apply new concepts into the real world. Thanks Dad.💓

Creativity is alive in so many of our subjects and topics we cover as educators and @MarsMaths has shown this in her competition she has recently launched on Twitter. We are all creative in our own unique way, we just have to find spaces for it to flow but what do these spaces look like, what do they feel like and how do we embed creativity so much more in our curriculum? If we were to reimagine our curriculum what would it look like? This is the topic for this Sunday’s #ReflectConnect over on Twitter. 

@AnniePendrey 

Join me Sunday, anytime on Twitter for #ReflectConnect