Creativity and innovation have a powerful presence in educational philosophy. Emphasis on creativity as a 21st century skill that students need to be successful in the real world is a big part of the conversation. While most educators agree that teaching creativity is important, there are very few tools that exist to support the teaching and assessment of creativity in the classroom. “Cultivating Creativity” is a tool that was developed to guide students and educators through the biography of an idea. Students use four categories to record and reflect upon their creative endeavors. This powerful blueprint not only makes creative thinking visible, but offers students and teachers the opportunity to draw conclusions and assess creative experiences in the classroom.
WHAT DID WE DO?WHAT'S NEW AND WHAT'S CHANGED?(reflection and description of activity)
EVIDENCE OF LEARNING (include artifacts-photos, videos, drawings, sketches)
This entire project has been a wonderful journey, and I couldn't be happier with the results! Just one single wide concept has developed into a unique movement piece incorporating ideas from five minds into one. To make a quick log of our journey, I made a one minute montage video of our different practices, experiences, and influences that led to the creation of the dance. It incorporate different music options, developments of particular movements, and some quotes regarding Jungian psychology. I think it will be a fun and effective keepsake of the memories we shared and the piece we all created together! :)
(I'm not sure if the video will show in high quality through the blogger player, so here is the link to the Youtube Version :) )
Our experiences in the shadow group have been extremely
positive. We all did our best to keep the “yes and” mentality from improv
acting so we could help each other build our ideas to the height of their
potential and we all intuitively supported each other through the sheer
compatibility of all the energy we brought to the class. When we fell down (like
Kenzie, pictured to the right), we were always there to help each other up and
really forced each other to keep relentless optimism throughout the whole
experience. We learned specific techniques from each other too, including
footwork and how to stay in sync with each other, even when we’re not looking
at each other. All in all, we worked together and managed to create a piece of
art we are very proud of. We are extremely excited for our presentation on
Monday!
This dance would not have been nearly as successful or come together as well as it has had it not been for the environment. Being surrounded by people who we love to be around, people who are constant sources of motivation and inspiration, is something that will push a project forward like nothing else can. We didn't always want to work, but because of the environment of support and fun it never felt like work. We didn't always all feel productive but those of us who did would push each other to make something great. This environment of love and encouragement allowed us to come together and create something beautiful.
I feel that our environment at Hawken was very conducive to
our learning and exploring our creative potential. In our group we adopted
three main rules or norms: that we would debrief before and after we begin
class so we remain focused and productive, a "yes and" mentality
taken from improv acting so we can create in a space that allows growth and
acceptance, and finally, relentless optimism. Within our dance group, we
constantly support each other and our ideas, which allowed us to work very well
together. When we sought feedback from teachers and our peers, we
found that our Hawken community was very eager to provide constructive feedback
and help us improve as well. I firmly believe that our open environment allowed
us to channel creative energy and fluctuate in our dance.
The reason why we were able to finish our performance and lace everything together was because of the great bond our group has. We developed a "yes and..." attitude and we never put any other group members down which made our dance study beautiful and personalized to each persons ideas. Without everyone in our group, our performance would not be what it is. I took the role of uploading the videos onto our YouTube channel and posting them on our blog, but without my peers, there would be no point to posting the videos because without them there isn't a point. Samia came up with the beautiful "shadow" idea, Becky's enthusiasm and optimism pushed us to always be hopeful and not in distress when our time was running out, Kenzie's leadership led us to make decisions regarding our dance, and Maria and Jaia had amazing ideas that added to and further advanced our study. In conclusion, we wouldn't have been able to done what we have without our amazing team and collaborative attitude.
This week we have really put together a great piece, and it is gong to be amazing. While working on this project, I learned how easy it is to create something, when you have a group that has a good connection. My group always talked to one another, but we never interrupted each other, or judged one another. It was very easy for us to make everyone happy. I also learned that in groups, there doesn't always have to be one leader of the group, because I think that in the past I have been in groups where one person steps up and leads everyone else, and although Samia came up with the idea, I feel that we are all equal contributors to the choreography. I have learned so many new ideas, and I have benefited a lot from this project. Thank you group!
EVIDENCE OF LEARNING (include artifacts-photos, videos, drawings, sketches)
Our group created a performance for our creative movement study which involved the interactions and development of shadows. The piece delves into a conflict between the good and the bad and the conscience of a human. This is our fourth iteration and we were able to get some feedback a peer who was in the arts field. This is our finished piece and although we will definitely tweak parts and pieces of it- we will not add anything else. Our last steps are just to work on our technique and timing in order to make this an amazing experience for the audience as well. We have progressed so much from the start and we are happy with how far we've come. This is our original idea come to life.
Our group decided to focus on timing and bringing in feedback from an outside source. We performed for her and she was actually an experienced dancer with great and constructive feedback. By the end of class we were able to add on to our movement study in addition to refining and perfecting it. The outside source allowed us to have a great conversation about what we should try to do and what to avoid while dancing. In addition to an outside source we experimented and worked on timing by having Ms. Ricci (our instructor) help us and simplify the idea of rhythm. We will try to say "now" to make the timing and synchronization of our piece perfect, because the biggest issue when synchronizing is often times communication.We have attached our third iteration with a bit of Ms. Ricci's feedback at the end.
Our group created a performance for our creative movement study which involved the interactions and development of shadows. The piece delves into a conflict between the good and the bad and the conscience of a human. This is our second iteration and today one of the performers who had been missing for the first iteration was added to the piece and took the performance to a whole other level. Our piece has progressed greatly from the start, and after this iteration we received feedback from an impartial source. There is work to be done, but we have put in a lot of new techniques and been more mindful with all of our actions. This is our original idea coming to life.
After each rehearsal and class, our group has planned to go over ideas and make sure to add on and clearly formulate our performance's end result. We all share our own ideas and maintain a "Yes and..." attitude when sharing. This short clip includes a point of view into the process of formulation of our ideas. This is new because before we wouldn't analyze and specifically have a time to talk about new ideas. This new addition has helped us become more creative and inclusive to each other's thoughts and ideas. This will help us work efficiently and maximize each other's potential.
Click the Link to find a piece of our Debrief: Debrief Video
WHAT DID WE DO?WHAT'S NEW AND WHAT'S CHANGED?(reflection and description of activity)
EVIDENCE OF LEARNING (include artifacts-photos, videos, drawings, sketches)
In Miwa Matreyek's peformance, Glorious Visions in Animation and Performance, the abstract interactions between shadows and emotion come into reality. Within 10 minutes, Matreyek leads the viewer into an exploration of inner discovery, manifesting what was once unreal. This can be applied to our project because it provides inspiration as how we can connect the concept of shadows and conflict with movement. The story of our piece delves into concepts strongly tied with Matreyek's creation, and her perspective will provide and interesting advancement to our dance.
These are the experiences that each member of our group brings to the table.
How am I participating in this idea at this particular moment?
(reflection and description of your new thinking)
Document ideas & changes generated through this interaction:
(artifacts of learning, collaboration, and iteration)
All of the students have different experiences and they are able to contribute to the study in new ways. In her past Ana was a gymnast, and ballet dancer. She believes that her day to day interactions inspire her to bring new ideas to the table. Samia also was a ballet dancer, but Samia thinks her most influential experience is hat she has always been interested in light an movement in painting. Her background in the visual arts, has impacted the idea of this project. Kenzie was a dancer, but she is influenced by her interest in black and white photography, and this is one connection she has to this idea. As a child Jaia was a gymnast, and from there she was a very diverse dancer. With her modern dance background Jaia hopes to represent an emotional connection with the other dancers. Maria has always been infatuated with art, especially external connection, and she has many creative ideas that she feels that will impact the group. Becky has always been fascinated with the ideas of shadows coexisting, and the idea of ambivalence is an idea that Becky has always agreed on.
WHAT DID WE DO?(reflection and description of activity)
WHAT'S NEW AND WHAT'S CHANGED?(include artifacts of learning, collaboration, and iteration)
Samia's original idea was to create a dance that tells a story using the concept of shadows and underlying feelings or motives.
After Samia pitched her idea, we formed a team of Samia, Jaia, Ana, Kenzie, Becky, and Maria. We listened and created a list of ideas for a story. From our potential story line, we discussed song choices, the beginning, middle, and end of the story, and the layout of our movement sequence. Kenzie chose to join this group because of her inspiration from the idea of shadows, immediately thinking of numerous dance ideas. Maria also felt a swarm of ideas and felt like there were so many possibilities to explore with this idea.
