It Works for Me, Creatively

It Works for Me, Creatively: Shared Tips for the Classroom

Hal Blythe & Charlie Sweet

The authors’ purpose in this seventh book in the “It Works for Me” series is to demonstrate that “everyone possesses creative talent, though it may be latent in some and difficult to bring out in others.  It’s not just a talent possessed by artists and engineers, mind you, but everyone.”  Furthermore, “Creative people have figured out consciously or un- that a small seed of creativity can be made to grow by having the proper environment and a minimal set of skills.  And people can be taught or self-taught this process.”

The authors/editors also believe that “all creative ideas link themselves to other creative ideas to develop something new and useful, be it a concept, a process, or a product.  In order to disseminate and perpetuate [their] belief that the creative impulse resides in all of us, [they] have asked a host of friends to demonstrate it with essays and practical tips touching on supportive creative environments, strategies that foster and enhance creativity, and assessments that demonstrate creativity has indeed taken place.”

Introduction: Creativity R Us     xiii

I. Overviews                                         1

            Creativity—Defining the Undefinable      2

            Dispelling Some Myths of Creativity       3

            A Good Question                                  5

            Teaching Creativity: A Call to Action       6

            Collaborative Creativity  8

            The Meddler in the Middle          11

            Developing a Space for Creativity          13

II. The Creative Process           17

            Introduction: Process                18

            Creating Acronymic Processes  19

            How To Expand Without Losing Focus   22

            Creativity in Faculty Development: EXPLORE     24

            Design Thinking is Creative Thinking       27

            Creative Strategies Inherent to Scholarship         31

            What Makes Creative Writing Creative     33

            Communication Fosters Creative Thinking           35

            Creative Connections in a Graduate Advanced

                        Health Assessment Course        38

            Bending the Realities of Iron      41

            Inventing Parables to Use as Pedagogical Tools 42

            The Creative Classroom: A Model for

                        Developing Creative Students    47

            Sorting It Out: A Hands-On Approach for

                        Promoting Higher-Order Thinking            55

            The Play’s the Thing: Being Creative in the

                        Teaching of Lit              57

            Wait … You Want To Do What? 58

            Creative Use of Film: Students as Hollywood Consultants           61

            Hey! My Dad Takes That: Making

                        Pharmaceuticals Relevant to Non-Majors            63

            Using Guided Imagery To Cultivate

                        Creativity in Learners     65

            Unlearning Rules and Embracing Creativity:

                        Using Prezi to Rethink PowerPoint         67

            An Online Debate                                  69

            A Creative Exercise: A Joke-Telling Simulation

                        to Learn About Capitalism          70

            Le’go My Ego: An Exercise for Ego Separation

                        and Team Building         72

            Creative Options for Characterization      73

            Engaging with Text and Eliminating Highlighting  74

            A Creative Way to Choose a Research Topic      75

            “In Which Ways” Can You Foster Creativity?        76

            Beach Ball                                                        78

            Center Managers                                   79

            Natural Disasters                                   79

            Field Connections                                 80

            Changing Perspectives: A Negotiated

                        Agreements Scavenger Hunt      81

            Using Inquiry to Spark Creativity            81

III. The Creative Environment   83

            Introduction: Environment          84

            But I’m Not Creative                   86

            Practicalities in Teaching Creativity         88

            Unleashing Student Creativity by Unveiling

                        the Mystique of General Education         90

            Developing a Creative Environment        93

            Going Green: Creating a Creative Environment    94

            Trust as a Foundation of Creativity         96

            A Creative Use of Student Evaluations   98

            Building Creative Learning Environments

                        in Higher Education       99

            Using Culturally Relevant Pedagogy to Create

                        a Bridge to Learning      101

            The Reality-Based Approach to Learning            102

            Channeling Your Inner Ms. Frizzle           104

            Something New and Imaginative in Student Learning       106

            Modeling the Creative Process in the Classroom 108

            Finding the Strength in All Types of Learners      110

            Creativity as a Disposition         111

            Creative Networking                   112

            Roleplaying as Creativity           113

            Music in the Key of See 115

            Got Character?                          116

IV. The Creative Product          119

            Introduction: Product                 120

            Creating Musical Group Names to Aid Student Memory   124

            “It’s Only Words, and Words Are All I Have …”    125

            Creating Theory Stories 126

            Challenging Developmental Writers to Use Their Creativity           129

            A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Bucks,

                        But Maybe Not in Creative Writing Classes         130

            What’s Wrong With This Picture  132

            Promoting Creativity in the Learning Process      133

            Creneology                                                       134

            TIP for a Creative Summary Project        135

            Shifting Perception                    137

            Changing Student Perceptions:

                        The Family History Museum       139

            An Exercise for Creating a Poem           141

            Discovering Creativity Through Color Exploration            143

            Fundamental and Powerful Concepts     145

            Play It Again: A Creative Technique for

                        Creative Writing and Literary Analysis     147

V. Assessing Creativity            149

            Introduction to Assessment       150

            Assessing the Creative Environment       150

            Assessing Creative Strategies    151

            Assessing Instructors of Creativity         152

            She Blinded Me with Science     155

            Obtaining Mid-semester Feedback from Students           157

            Issuing Creative License            158

VI. Afterword                                        161

Hal Blythe, Ph.D., is a Foundation Professor of English at the Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY. He has authored three non-fiction books dealing with writing and over 100 critical scholarly articles. He has ghost-written over 30 Mike Shayne novellas and over 100 short stories in popular magazines to include Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Woman's World. He also has produced seven television scripts for EKU-TV's Keys to Communication Series, and over 25 articles in Writer's Digest dealing with pedagogy.

Charlie Sweet, Ph.D., is a Foundation Professor of English at Eastern Kentucky University. He formerly taught at Florida State University.