Curiosity, Imagination, Creativity, and Play

What do I know about these 4 elements?
     I know that these four elements co-exist in many ways. They each support each other in some way. Curiosity inspires imagination, and in the same way, imagination inspires curiosity; these things inspire creativity, which can in turn inspire play, but it does not have to be necessarily in that order. Curiosity requires one to ask questions. One can't be narrow minded and take everything as final; you must be willing to be confused and seek understanding. Imagination allows you to take different perspectives, and think beyond the boundaries you are given. Creativity is thinking of new innovative ways to approach, or do, something. Creativity does not always have to be something big, or outlandish, it can be finding a new way to do something practical as well. Finally, play is when you put the results of your curiosity, imagination, or creativity to work. In play you mess around with different things as a result of the previous three elements, or even as a means to inspire those three elements. Everyone exercises these four things, or is capable of exercising these four things, though some people may say that everyone is not creative, or that creativity is "hard." These elements make life more interesting. I t makes it less dull, and less redundant, and rather more exciting and new!
     In terms of these four things, I'd like to know how to best inspire these things in a classroom. How do you inspire someone who is content with accepting everything you say to be curious and ask questions? How do you inspire someone who is narrow minded to think outside the box and use their imagination to see something different? How do you inspire someone who thinks creativity is "hard" to at least try and maybe surprise themself? How do I inspire these elements in myself? How can tapping into my inner creativity maybe encourage someone else's?
     After watching the videos, they pretty much reinforced how I felt about curiosity, imagination, creativity, and play. Previously I said one must be willing to be confused; however I must quote Sir Ken Robinson in saying "If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original." As he said, creativity is all about taking a chance, so in order to take a chance you must be willing to be wrong. I thought that this idea of creativity was very insightful and made a lot of sense. The idea that we are taught out of creativity was also a very interesting way of looking at it. We get so used to accepting what our teachers of professors say, that we chose not to question, or dare to go against what is said, and in this sense, we are stifling our creativity. I also learned that "play," based on Stuart Brown's research, isn't just about having fun, it doesn't only serve to make us happy, but rather can also increase intelligence and aid development. There are different forms of play like body play, rough and tumble play, imaginative play, spectator play, ritual play, etc. I also learned that curiosity and self-exploration are all a part of play, and that play is very important, and actually does a lot for the brain. All the videos I watched were very insightful and even taught me things that I had not known before, and helped me to look at these elements in a more educated perspective.

Learning Journal #3- RSS Activity Reaction

1. What sites are you following?

I am following various news sites, some science sites, as well as some sites referencing my major (Speech-Language Pathology).

The news sites I am following are:

• ABCNews.com
• CNN.com
• FoxNews.com 
• University of Florida News
• Technology News
• New York Times.

The science sites I am following include:

• The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Elementary Science Education
• Middle School Portal- the network for middle school math and science
• Science for All Children
• Science/ AAAS| Scientific research, news and career information.

The SLP sites I am following are:

• ADVANCE for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists
• American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
• Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
• Speech Language Pathology Sharing

2. Why did you choose those sites?

     I chose to follow the news sites in order to stay up to date with what's going on around me. It's a quick way to keep up with current events. I also chose to follow the campus news site because I figure since I make up a part of this campus, it would be good to know what's going on, in terms of events around campus, ongoing research, and whatever other updates they provide. This way I can stay in the loop! I am also following a technology news site because I thought it would talk about the latest technology and so on, but it mainly references what's going on in major tech companies, and talks about a few new additions.
     I chose to follow a couple science sites, because I have an interest in the subject. I especially like elementary and early middle school science, and a couple of the sites I'm following talk about science for these grade levels. If I were to become a teacher, I'd probably choose to teach science to late elementary-early middle school students. These sites give a lot of scientific information and also some helpful things for teachers.
     Finally, I chose to follow some Speech Language Pathology sites because that's my major, and I plan to go to grad school for it. These sites had a lot of helpful information, not just for those going into the career, but also for clinicians in the field.

3. What was challenging (or not) about this activity?

The hardest part of this activity was becoming familiar with RSS, and then deciding what sites I wanted to follow. There are so many sites to choose from, and looking through everything was quite tedious. I'm actually not completely sure whether I set it up correctly, but it does show the sites I am subscribed to, so I guess maybe it's correct.

4. As a teacher, in what ways could you use a feed reader in your classroom?

As a teacher, the feed reader could be used to find some helpful suggestions from other teachers on how to enhance learning. You can also use the feed to find articles that could be used as additional resources for your students. The feed can also be used to discuss current events with your students. The feed gives you quick access to many helpful resources, and I'm sure both my students and I could benefit from this.

5. What more do you want to know about feed readers?

I'd like to know if there's a less tedious way of finding sites to follow. I know that there's a search, but sometimes I feel that even when I've made my search topic as narrow as possible, the sites that show up aren't really what I'm looking for. There's not much else that I'd like to know about the feed. While it is a helpful tool, I can't honestly say that I'd continue to use it outside of this class.