The Creative Person

Here is a talk show, Tyler Today, where the editor of the newsletter, The Creative Person, talks with Tyler Graybeal about the spotlight of this month's newsletter.

The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle

I wrote this Creative Dramatics script based on The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle. I think it would be especially applicable to a class studying telling time in math. There are many parts of varying difficulty, so it would work well for a class of varying abilities.

The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle

Characters:

• The Grouchy Ladybug
• The Friendly Ladybug
• Yellow Jacket
• Stag Beetle
• Praying Mantis
• Sparrow
• Lobster
• Skunk
• Boa Constrictor
• Hyena
• Gorilla
• Rhinoceros
• Elephant
• Whale face (not a speaking part)
• Whale fin (not a speaking part)
• Whale tail (not a speaking part)
• Clocks (as many as needed). These will be wearing clocks with movable hands to mark the time.

Setting: bright and early in the morning!
Two lady bugs approach a big green leaf covered with aphids. The happy ladybug is smiling, the grouchy ladybug is frowning

BIG CLOCKS read 5:00.

Friendly Ladybug: Good morning!

Grouchy Ladybug: Go away! I want all these aphids!

Friendly Ladybug: We can share them!

Grouchy Ladybug: No! They’re mine, all mine! OR do you want to fight me for them?! (aggressively)

Friendly Ladybug: If you insist… (sweetly)

Grouchy Ladybug: (steps back looking unsure). Oh-h-h… you’re not big enough for me to fight.

Friendly Ladybug: Then why don’t you pick on someone bigger?!

Grouchy Ladybug: I will! (in a high pitched, annoyed voice) I’ll show you! (it puffs up, and flies off)

The Grouchy Ladybug flies until he meets a yellow jacket. BIG CLOCKS read 6:00.

Grouchy Ladybug: Hey you, want to fight?!

Yellow Jacket: If you insist. (shows his stinger)

Grouchy Ladybug: Oh-h-h, you’re not big enough…

Grouchy Ladybug flies off and meets a stag beetle. BIG CLOCKS read 7:00.

Grouchy Ladybug: Hey you, want to fight?!

Stag Beetle: If you insist. (opens his jaws)

Grouchy Ladybug: Oh-h-h, you’re not big enough…

Grouchy Ladybug flies off and comes across a praying mantis. BIG CLOCKS read 8:00.

Grouchy Ladybug: Hey you, want to fight?!

Praying Mantis: If you insist. (reaches out with his long front legs)

Grouchy Ladybug: Oh-h-h, you’re not big enough…

Grouchy Ladybug flies off and almost flies into a sparrow. BIG CLOCKS read 9:00.

Grouchy Ladybug: Hey you, want to fight?!

Sparrow: If you insist. (opens his sharp beak)

Grouchy Ladybug: Oh-h-h, you’re not big enough…

Grouchy Ladybug flies off and sees a lobster. BIG CLOCKS read 10:00.

Grouchy Ladybug: Hey you, want to fight?!

Lobster: If you insist. (stretches his claws)

Grouchy Ladybug: Oh-h-h, you’re not big enough…

Grouchy Ladybug flies off and almost bumps into a skunk. BIG CLOCKS read 11:00.

Grouchy Ladybug: Hey you, want to fight?!

Skunk: If you insist. (lifts his tail)

Grouchy Ladybug: Oh-h-h, you’re not big enough…

Grouchy Ladybug flies off and spots a boa constrictor. BIG CLOCKS read 12:00.

Grouchy Ladybug: Hey you, want to fight?!

Boa Constrictor: If you insis-s-s-st, right after lunch.

Grouchy Ladybug: Oh-h-h, you’re not big enough…

Grouchy Ladybug flies off and happens upon a hyena. BIG CLOCKS read 1:00.

Grouchy Ladybug: Hey you, want to fight?!

Hyena: If you insist. (laughs eerily and shows teeth)

Grouchy Ladybug: Oh-h-h, you’re not big enough…

Grouchy Ladybug flies off and meets a gorilla. BIG CLOCKS read 2:00.

Grouchy Ladybug: Hey you, want to fight?!

Gorilla: If you insist. (beats his chest)

Grouchy Ladybug: Oh-h-h, you’re not big enough…

Grouchy Ladybug flies off and runs into a rhinoceros. BIG CLOCKS read 3:00.

Grouchy Ladybug: Hey you, want to fight?!

Rhinoceros: If you insist. (lowers his horn)

Grouchy Ladybug: Oh-h-h, you’re not big enough…

Grouchy Ladybug flies off and encounters an elephant. BIG CLOCKS read 4:00.

Grouchy Ladybug: Hey you, want to fight?!

Elephant: If you insist. (raises his trunk and shows his big tusks)

Grouchy Ladybug: Oh-h-h, you’re not big enough…

Grouchy Ladybug flies off and meets a whale. BIG CLOCKS read 5:00.

Grouchy Ladybug: Hey you, want to fight?!

(no response)

Grouchy Ladybug: You’re not big enough anyway.

Grouchy Ladybug flies on and encounters a one of the whale’s flippers. BIG CLOCKS read 5:15.

Grouchy Ladybug: Hey you, want to fight?!

(no response)

Grouchy Ladybug flies on and reaches the whale’s fin. BIG CLOCKS read 5:30.

Grouchy Ladybug: Hey you, want to fight?!

(no response)

Grouchy Ladybug flies on and meets the whale’s tail. BIG CLOCKS read 5:45.

Grouchy Ladybug: Hey you, want to fight?!

The whale’s tail GENTLY pushes the Grouchy Ladybug. He flutters around the room until he lands back upon the leaf upon which he started. The Friendly Ladybug is still there. BIG CLOCKS read 6:00.

Friendly Ladybug: Ah! You have returned! You MUST be hungry! There are still some aphids left. You can have them for dinner.

Grouchy Ladybug: (tiredly) Oh, thank you.

CREATIVE dramatics in the classroom

Here are some cool web resources that can help you learn about creative dramatics and implement it in your classroom!

• All about reader’s theater
• A great site about using puppetry
• Some more insight into CD
• Some fun Readers Theater Scripts
• CD with picture books!
• Students simulate a market in their classroom
• Using CD with the Mayflower
• This was the closest I could find to an excerpt from a college text we read called Classrooms that Work. (Cunningham and Allington, 2007, p. 134). See the section on “Doing the Book.”
• Lots of cool CD games/activities here.
• What is CD? The "Red Sweater Lady" elaborates. (YouTube)
  
• Mrs. Frizzle implements CD as she “takes her kids” to Phoebe’s skin. :) (YouTube)
  

Discovering a Balance in Instruction

I liked this article because I think it saw the need for a balance between the standards and creativity, BUT it saw that such a balance is a very difficult thing.

WCPSS stresses the curriculum. You cannot really teach a lesson that does not directly relate to an objective from the NCSCOS. However, you will not be helping to nurture 21^st century learners that will be productive members of the community if you do not cultivate the students’ creativity. The author notes that the “standards focus on basic skill level” (Burke-Adams, 2007, p. 59) which does not allow for very much in the way of differentiation. What if your class is slow and needs more time? What if your class has far surpassed this? Are we not to meet our students where they are? How does that correlate with the pacing guides and objectives/standards?

I liked that the author suggested some strategies for fostering creativity such as technology, creative writing, and creating portfolios. I think the idea of portfolios is particularly important when considering gifted identification. As I found when doing my “Alternative Identification” project last semester, I found that the gifted identification process does very little to account for skills that are not testable through a multiple choice test. If we show no value of originality in the identification process, how can we then cultivate it if these students are qualified to be served?

In lesson planning, “teachers must show evidence that content standards are the focus of the lesson and students are expected to connect the lessons they are taught to the standards. Although this focus benefits goal and objective writing for lessons and ensures necessary content is covered, no criteria for including creative or innovative methods that integrate high-level thinking skills are mandated” (Burke-Adams, 2007, p. 62). Teachers are required—at the sake of their JOB!—to relate every objective of the lesson to a standard, but nowhere does it say anything about creativity or originality, or high interest… THIS IS SO WRONG! Standards are “safer,” but not alone better. I have no problems with having standards to hold teachers accountable. However, this should NOT come at the expense of allowing teachers and students to be innovative. (See the cookie-cutter article from earlier.)

As you can see, this is something that I feel passionately about. I hope as my teaching career continues that the powers at be (whoever they are) can see that standards ARE important, but that there are other ways to hold teachers accountable that allow teachers to be as creative and original as we expect our students to be.

CREATIVE productivity

I think creative productivity is a result of all three factors AND MORE. Different people are creatively productive in different ways. Some people are just lucky and have things come to them (mental happenings as discussed earlier). Some people have ideas resonate with something they already know or have studied. Some people work hard to come up with something original.

In my own personal life of creativity, original ideas do not typically just spring into my head. More often than not, I start with something that has been given to me (either by divine inspiration or by someone else—directly or indirectly) and I work at it. I was not someone that was gifted with innate intelligence, but I work hard enough to try to make up for it. I spend QUALITY time (there is ABSOLUTELY a difference between time and quality time!) doing what I think is important and sometimes when the stars align, I end up with a worthwhile result.

If I had to split it up (I am thinking in terms of circle/pie graphs as we just studied these in my own classroom) I might say that 70% of my productivity is a result of hard work, 5% is sudden insight, 15% is chance happenings (random inspiration or ideas from friends/family/people), and 10% other factors.

CREATIVITY scavenger hunt

Creativity is EVERYWHERE!

Click above to see my Prezi showing creativity all over the Douglas playground. To view, simply click on the link, and then the forward arrow.

My place in the CREATIVE world

In looking at tables 5.1 and 5.2, I possess many of the qualities of the personality traits AND the negative traits. This surprised me because I do not think of myself as overly creative—mostly just averagely creative. Having said that, though, these tables contain MANY qualities, and the possibility of someone finding traits that resonate with them are high. Also, some of the qualities might indicate creativity in particular instances, but potentially not always. For example, under high energy in table 5.1, impulsive is a trait. I agree that creative people might be impulsive, but being impulsive does not necessarily indicate creativity. As I find qualities that I possess on these lists, I do not think that alone fact “makes me creative.” I have, though, recognized that I am more creative than I might have thought before this class started. J

One of the most interesting parts of Davis chapter 5 was the birth order section. I am very close with my family, and we have all sorts of thoughts on how birth order has shaped our relationships and personalities. Additionally, I just read an article in Time Magazine about parental favoritism and how birth order and gender plays into that, so I have had birth order on the mind all week.

I am the oldest girl of three children (I am followed by a girl, then a boy) and I am ALL “oldest sister” in so many ways. I play peace maker, role model, big sister, pieces-picker-upper-when-things-fall-apart, I-have-2-years-on-you-so-let-me-share-my-wisdom-er, road paver, and people pleaser. To add to things, I was the first grandchild, so my whole extended family sees me as “the oldest.” Because of this, I definitely received LOTS of attention as a child. I was read to the most, held the most, payed attention to in a one-on-one basis the most, etc. As Davis says, “first and only children are more anxious, conforming, passive, and worried about failure” (Davis, 2004, p. 99). This is me to a T! All I ever want is people to like me. However, Davis says that this often leads to a more academically focused child. This is NOT my role in my family.

I think what happened in my family is that (Laughlin, if you are reading this, sorry… hahah) I was born and was the favorite by default—there were no other options! When my younger sister Laughlin was born 2 years later, she immediately felt that she needed to find a way to become the favorite. She did this by pitching a lot of fits, crying a lot, and eventually becoming excellent at everything she did. Anyone will tell you that she is the more academic child (both because she studies more and harder AND because she is simply smarter), she is more athletic, and her room is ALWAYS cleaner. I think in response to HER role, I took on the “creative child” qualities. If I couldn’t be the smartest or fastest, I would paint the prettier pictures. Our mom is EXTREMELY creative, and, taking after her in so many other ways, I guess I picked this up too. I loved art in school, scrapbooked every trip I have ever taken, and just loved “crafting” in general. Beyond the arts, my creativity has reached into many of the qualities from table 5.1 such as imagining as a child, reflective, sensitive, emotional, and empathetic. Laughlin got more of the “risk taking” qualities, and is much more independent.

I think birth order is an extremely interesting concept to study, and I think it is interesting how it plays into so many aspects of our lives. What is even cooler is that as we get older, our birth order roles will continue to change. What being the oldest NOW means is different than what it will mean in our lives in 15 years.