Finale

The final visualization exercise had us transform into new worlds.   Something I do almost every day in my mind, so it was really powerful to put it all down on paper.

1. Envision yourself sitting next to "yourself" and write about your parallel life.
2.  Draw and write about the wild animal that you would become if you had the chance.
3.  Draw a representation of your emotions at the age of 100 and write a letter to your current self, from the perspective of your 100-year-old self, detailing what you loved about life and what you must do to have a happy life.

Through the interview activity, I told my friend Kristin that if I could have three lives, I feel like all would be well in the world.  One life in Momence doing the small town thing with a husband and kids, one life in a big city (Chicago or New York), and one life living abroad.  So obviously, transforming and imagining other lives is not too much of a stretch for me!  I remember writing my blog in Ghana and often referencing the idea that when I'm 90, I don't want to look back and feel like I missed out on anything. The letter I wrote to my younger self listed everything I have loved about my life and that to continue being happy, I need to continue to learn every day, continue to travel the world, and to really fall in love.  Easy, right?  :)

The grand finale assignment was to work with a partner and create a collage centered around an assigned quote.  I worked with Kristen, another teacher from the states.  We gathered various pictures and words from our notebooks, pictures from magazines, and decided on our plan.  Our quote was, "We took the path to the river, and there we saw a remarkable sight."

This was a very personal quote for both of us and our final product was a lovely combination of two like-minded women embarking on a similar life journey.  Our thought was that when we got to the end of the river, which we represented with the Emerald City at the end of the yellow brick road, we would look back, and the "remarkable sight" would be the journey that we endured and all of its ups and downs.

Amateur

Be an amateur.  So often, this word has a negative connotation.  But the root, "ama", means, "love", so if you're an amateur, you're doing something you love.  Maybe you're not Michelangelo, but if you are expressing your creativity and you are loving doing it, then stand proud and wear that "amateur" label proud!

The task was to find an object, area, corner, or window within the limits of the hotel that reminded you of your childhood.  Shelley described how memories are often sharpened by not being where you live.  Boy, was she right about this!  I photographed a window of the hotel.  Not really a special window in any way, but it's vastness and the curtains hanging reminded me so much of The Georgian Motel.  Some of you might remember it, but for those of you who don't know, I grew up in a small motel and my family's home was essentially part of the building.  Our living room was the biggest window in the middle of the long row of doors and windows.  I remember the curtains being closed often, but as a child, peeking out to see what new, interesting people were arriving that day. Being forced to think outside of the box got me to think about this window, one that I have not thought about in a long time.  It was nice to go back to those no-tell, motel memories.

Later, we wrote postcards.  Three identical postcards, but to three completely different people.  This is an excellent lesson for teaching voice.  The postcard I wrote to my dead mother was vastly different from the one I wrote to my dear friend, Rhiannon.  Different people provoke different feelings and require different language.  This could even be modified for characters in a book or poem.  So fun to grow my bank of teaching strategies!  

10 Objects

Our assignment:  Collect 10 tiny objects that can all fit in the palm of your hand

Everyone laid out their 10 objects, but rather than work with your own, everyone was instructed to pass their objects to the person on the right.  I received 10 tiny, random objects from my neighbor John.  From there, I was to write a play with the objects representing people, props, or whatever I see fit.

a stamp, a nut, a leaf, a piece of blue string, a pink flower, a piece of candy, a q-tip, a can top, a bottle top, and a packet of sugar from Starbucks

This required some serious brain stretching!  After a few moments of contemplation, my story began.  Mozart and Nutty were going to embark on a great journey across the sea in their leaf boat to find inspiration and love.  They would encounter a storm at sea, a magical fairy that would guide them, and would eventually find Caffeina, a beautiful queen, that would restore Mozart's musical spark.  

Storytelling is essential to keeping the creative spirit alive.  Anything hands-on is a thousand times more engaging than a simple piece of paper and pencil.  So much fun!

Take it!

Wednesday's workshop began with a visualization journey to Italy where I received a letter from my father as a 16-year-old.  The catch was that I had to write from the point of view of my father and write the letter.  Sigh....The emotions have been running high this week!  Very unexpectedly.  This magic, "What If..." writing exercise was done to show us that creativity doesn't always have to come from a happy place, in certain instances, deep pain can fuel creativity.  I felt lucky enough to be able to write a very positive, warm, and loving letter.  Still, I lost my composure and shed some tears.  Though creativity is flowing through the room, a lot of pain is as well.  The exercises are triggering so many memories and feelings and leading to pretty powerful creation.

Later on this day we were given a license to steal.  I read a previously written automatic writing piece to a partner and she did the same.  While listening, I jotted key words or phrases that struck a particular chord with me.  Then, I used those phrases in my own writing.  I was highly impressed with the woman I worked with who is a writing professor and an exceptionally eloquent writer herself.  Snatching her goods helped to really enhance my writing and she got me thinking about two things: creative writing and the value of figurative language.  Most of my writing is personal and in the form of a journal, but turns out, I really enjoy writing fictional stories as well.  "Stealing" the language of another writer really helped to get my creative wheels turning and inspired me to consider writing more than just personal pieces.  This "license to steal" is something I hope to encourage teachers to do for generating ideas in writing workshop.  So often, students are stumped and claim to not know what to write about, but now, I can encourage them to legally steal!  They'll love it!

Nice to Meet You!

Turns out, I'm not the only Fund for Teachers participant at the Crete Creativity Workshop.  Two ladies from Houston, Texas have also embarked on this journey thanks to a Fund for Teachers grant.  Along with them, another American teacher from Philadelphia has joined in on the fun.  The workshop is loaded with interesting people from various countries and professions!  Along with the teachers, there are bankers, writers, businessmen, and psychologists.  Though we are all seemingly different on the surface, it's refreshing to spend time with like-minded people that share a similar passion for exploring the world and their own creativity.

Meeting a variety of people is surely one of the major highlights of traveling the globe.  The world is filled with fascinating people.

Hello, I am John

The power of the pronoun "I".  

Imagine telling the story of someone else's life, but doing it from their point of view using that powerful word, "I".  Participants were asked to do just that through an interview process.  I chatted with a fellow workshop participant and learned as much as I could about his life.  I then took on the role of him and told everyone about "my" life.  Through this process, I internalized so much more information about this stranger than I would have if I just wrote it down and reported out.  Putting myself in his shoes and seeing life from his perspective gave new insight.  

Shelley, one of the workshop leaders, has repeatedly emphasized the importance of empathy for feeding creativity.  Seeing the world from multiple perspectives is powerful and can lead to the creation of new, original ideas.  Creativity can often come from joy and happy places, but more times than not, it comes from pain and hurt.  With the continued release of creativity, comes the further development of compassion and empathy.  This empathy and understanding of others is something that is largely lacking in many of the students I work with.  They don't know how to imagine the world from someone else's shoes and are primarily concerned with themselves.  An activity like this could be a powerful tool for helping my students to develop a better understanding of others' feelings.  Empathy development is essential for fighting the terrible culture of bullying that exists in many schools today.

Map It!

Each day's workshop begins with a visualization exercise where participants are asked to lay down, close their eyes, and listen.  These stories are bending my creative bones and getting me to think far outside of any box I have been in for quite some time.  When I was a child, I remember loving creative writing and being able to easily concoct some faraway land with random creatures and exciting adventures.  As an adult, most of my thinking and writing has revolved around my personal life and has been rooted in reality.  Escaping to the world of fantasy has been quite refreshing really.  Especially considering the reality of my personal life over the course of the last year.  :/

On this one particular journey, I was to imagine myself taking a walk on my own brain.  While strolling, a paper airplane falls into my hands from National Geographic.  They want me to design a map of a new planet - My Brain.

After some time, another paper airplane arrives and because of my great work on the map of My Brain, National Geographic is now requesting that I design another map.  This one of a land called, My Heart.

Mapping is a technique used by many artists in various forms.  One artist drew a new heart map each month for a year and displayed all of the maps to show the progression of his "heart" over a period of time.  Another artist displayed his life map on the ground and literally walked spectators through his story.  This could easily be adapted for Writing Workshop.  Rather than students brainstorming ideas  in words, they could draw a map of their thoughts and orally share stories before beginning to actually write.  Brilliant!

Open and Close

We received an assignment.  Explore Chania's doors and windows.  Take pictures of 7 doors and 7 windows.  As random as this seemed, it was truly interesting to look at a specific element of a place.  When I travel, I generally enjoy watching the people or the big-picture scenes, but to hone in on one particular component was new for me and definitely stretched my creative muscles.  In workshop, we discussed the photos with a partner and chatted about this opportunity to explore a special element of Chania.

Day 1

Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”   Shelly Berc, one of the coordinators of The Creativity Workshop, reminded participants of this quote while introducing herself and the workshop to everyone.  Picasso's response to this quote was that he never grew up.  In other words, his imagination and creativity stayed strong with age.  As children, our imaginations are constantly going wild.  But with adulthood comes a fading of those imaginary dragons and faraway lands.  It's sad really.  

Shelley Berc, an educator and a writer, and Alejandro Fogel, an educator and an artist, are the leaders of this week full of outside-the-box thinking.  "Creativity is transformation", declared Shelly and creativity needs three things:  imagination, inspiration, and envisioning.   With these tools, people can better put the right side of their brains to use.  The right side of your brain loves risks, images, is imaginative, and chaotic.  The left side takes all of that right-side stuff, interprets it, and decides what is safe and/or smart choices.  For many people, with the insanity of work, data-driven thinking, and productivity at the forefront of most people's minds, the right side of the brain gets far less exercise.  Thankfully, I make conscious choices to keep my right side active.  I dabble in art classes, write here and there, and am always considering the possibilities that exist in the world.  I put that right side of the brain to work often, but I'm hoping to acquire even more tools with this workshop.

The monster!

Day 1 began with some relaxation and breathing exercises followed by a visualization activity.  Shelly told a story while we laid down, closed our eyes, and imagined the tale.  This tale included a call to action, a magical object, a wise old woman, a monster, and a heroic escape.  She took us on a "hero's journey".  Periodically through the telling of the story, Shelly had everyone pause and draw to put our visualizations into action.

My magical object

Afterwards, we whisper-shared with partners.  It was fascinating to see other people's interpretations of the same oral story.  Oddly, this exercise conjured up striking memories and I've found myself exceptionally emotional feeling with memories of my grandparents and parents consuming me.  It's really the first time since my parents died that I have slowed down, relaxed, and really kind of soaked in it.  For the last year, I have been my typical busy-bee self constantly on the go and moving at about 100 mph.  This workshop is forcing me to slow my mind.

After a short break, Alejandro led us in an activity called Automatic Drawing.  Here, we closed our eyes and drew lines on a blank sheet of paper as fast as we could for several minutes.  Then, we examined the pictures and looked for shapes.  Using our erasers, we discovered new images inside of our seemingly mess of a paper.  Rather than a mess of scribbles, I was able to discover hidden gems and see the art from a different perspective.

I had no idea what to expect coming into this workshop, but I am finding every word these people say to be exceptionally fascinating.  I'm learning, discovering, and creating.  Over the years, I feel I've sharpened my craft as a teacher and have become a rather effective educator.  However, I often feel boring,  monotonous, and generally disregard different learning styles because of the enormous pressure I feel to produce high test scores.  I'm not sure what the future holds for me professionally, but I do know that to feel truly successful and fulfilled, I have to find a way to let my students be more creative and have more fun while learning.  School feels dry and I know quite a few students who don't love showing up every day, so it would really be something if I could add some spark to the imaginations of these young people and ignite a passion for learning.  

It's Time

As a recipient of a Fund for Teachers Grant, I have the opportunity to embark on a learning fellowship by attending The Creativity Workshop in Chania, Crete.  This workshop is offered all over the world and its purpose is to help people become more creative through writing, storytelling, photography, and drawing.  With the heavy emphasis on standardized testing in schools today, it seems the fun, creative side of teaching has gone to the wayside.  I'm hoping that this workshop will provide some fresh ideas for arts-infusion that I can share with the teachers at my school.  In addition, as a Reading Specialist, I will spend a portion of my day helping struggling readers.  These reluctant readers are sometimes difficult to get hooked, so maybe The Creativity Workshop will help me to get my students excited about literacy, even in the toughest of times. 

http://www.creativityworkshop.com/