Chapter contents for Awakening Minds, a book about using the power of creativity in teaching<title> </head> <body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" link="#336633" vlink="#336633" alink="#FFFF99"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"> <tr> <td height="199" colspan="4" valign="top" bgcolor="#336633"><img src="images2/back.gif" width="800" height="199"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="101" height="746" rowspan="3" valign="top" bgcolor="#669966"> <p align="center"><br> </p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"><font size="4"><b><font color="#FFFF00" size="3">Inspi</font></b></font><font size="4"><b><font color="#FFFF00" size="3">ration</font><font color="#ffffFF"><br> </font></b></font><b><a href="daily-msg.pl"><font color="#ccffcc">Daily Awakenings</font></a></b></p> <p align="center"><font color="#FFFFFF"><font color="#FFFFFF"><font color="#FFFFFF"><b><a href="words%20to%20inspire%20home.htm"><font color="#ccffcc">Words to Inspire Change</font></a></b></font><font color="#ccffcc"> </font></font></font></p> <p align="center"><font size="4" color="#ffff00"><b><font size="3">Creative<br> </font></b></font><font color="#FFFF00" size="3"><b>Sidelines</b></font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#ffffff"><b><a href="screwing%20up%20love%20home.htm"><font color="#ccffcc">Screwing Up Love</font></a></b></font><font color="#ffffff" size="4"><b> </b></font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#ffffff"><b><a href="journey%20to%20nowhere%20home.htm"><font color="#ccffcc">Journey to Nowhere</font></a></b></font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#ffffff"><b><font size="4"> </font></b></font><b><a href="woo%20master%20wisdom.htm"><font color="#ccffcc">Woo Master Wisdom</font></a></b></p> <p align="center"><b><a href="poems%20in%20little%20boxes.htm"><font color="#ccffcc">Poems in <br> Little Boxes</font></a></b></p> <p align="center"><b><a href="gallery%20home.htm"><font color="#ccffcc">Art Gallery</font></a></b></p> <p align="center"><b><a href="movies%20of%20the%20mind.htm"><font color="#ccffcc">Movies of <br> the Mind</font></a><br> <br> <a href="tombstone%20epitaphs.htm"><font color="#ccffcc">Tombstone Epitaphs</font></a></b></p> <p align="center"><font color="#FFFF00" size="4"><b><font size="3">Books</font><font color="#FFFFff"><br> </font></b></font><b><a href="blooming%20home.htm"><font color="#ccffcc"><b></b></font></a></b><font color="#FFFF00"><b><font color="#FFFF00"><b><font color="#FFFF00"><b><font color="#FFFF00"><b><font color="#ccffcc"><b><a href="happiness%20home.htm"><font color="#ccffcc">DAMN <br> Unhappy?</font></a></b></font></b></font></b></font></b></font></b></font><font color="#FFFF00" size="4"><b><font color="#FFFF00"><b><font color="#FFFF00"><b><font color="#FFFFff"> </font></b></font></b></font></b></font></p> <p align="center"><b><a href="blooming%20home.htm"><font color="#ccffcc">Blooming</font><font color="#99ff99"><br> <br> </font></a></b><a href="woo%20way%20home.htm"><font color="#99ff99"><b><font color="#ccffcc">The Woo Way</font></b></font></a></p> <p align="center"><b><a href="playful%20mind%20home.htm"><font color="#ccffcc">Playful Mind</font></a></b></p> <p align="center"><a href="awakening%20minds%20home.htm"><b><font color="#ccffcc">Awakening <br> Minds</font></b></a></p> <p align="center"><b><font color="#FFFF00" size="3">The Author</font><font color="#ffFFFF" size="4"><br> </font><a href="author.htm"><font color="#ccffcc">About Jim</font></a></b></p> <p align="center"><b><a href="mailto:downton@colorado.edu"><font color="#ccffcc">Contact Jim </font></a> </b></p> <p align="center"><b><a href="index.htm"><font color="#FFFF00">Home</font></a></b><br> <font face="Verdana"><font color="#660000"><font size=-1></font></font></font> </p> </td> <td width="39" height="26" valign="top" bgcolor="#ccffcc"></td> <td width="558" height="26" valign="top" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"></td> <td width="113" height="26" valign="top" bgcolor="#CCFFCC"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="39" height="734" valign="top" bgcolor="#ccffcc"></td> <td width="558" height="734" valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" bordercolor="#CCFFCC"> <blockquote> <p align="center"><b><font color="#4E1085" size="4"><br> </font></b><a name="#top"></a><img src="Awake_minds3.gif" width="140" height="210"><br> </p> <p><font size="3" color="#0000C6"><b><font size="4" color="#00cc33"><img src="fleur2.gif" width="30" height="35">Contents</font><font color="#4E1085" size="4"><i><a name="top"></a></i></font></b></font></p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000C6"><font color="#9900CC" size="3">Becoming A More Creative Teacher</font><font color="#990099" size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> </font></font></p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000c6" size="3">The best lecturer is an interesting book. Realizing this opens the way for innovations in teaching. Instead of telling students, we involve them so they are eager to learn. By becoming more creative teachers, we discover that teaching can be a fascinating adventure.</font></p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000c6">1:</font> <font color="#9900cc" size="3"> Teaching With Purpose</font> </p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000C6">When teaching serves our life purposes, it takes on a special meaning as a mission. What are our life purposes and teaching mission? Instead of simply emulating the style of admired teachers, we create a unique way to teach that serves our own purposes. </font></p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000C6">2:</font><font color="#9900cc" size="3"> Identity Affects How You Teach</font></p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000C6">Identity affects what we try as teachers, If our identities are too conventional, we restrict our creativity and diminish our willingness to take risks. By remodeling our identities, we discover creative ways to teach that inspire us and our students.</font><b><font color="#0000C6"> </font></b> </p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000C6">3:</font><b><font color="#008040"> </font></b><font color="#9900cc" size="3">Cultivate A Playful Mind</font> </p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000C6">Playful mind is flexible, imaginative, and eager to think in new ways. With a playful mind, designing innovative learning processes becomes easier. We learn to cultivate more playful thinking, which expands our ability to invent novel approaches in our teaching.</font> </p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000C6">4:</font><b><font color="#0000C6"> </font></b><font color="#9900cc" size="3">You Have Special Gifts</font> </p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000C6">Most of us are unaware of our special gifts for teaching. Those gifts are the "creativity tools" we can use to enliven education. Knowing how and when to use specific tools is part of becoming a more creative and effective teacher. </font></p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000C6">5:</font><b><font color="#0000C6"> </font></b><font color="#9900cc" size="3">Engage Students In Active Learning</font></p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000C6">"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I'll learn. Involve me and I'll understand." Students become involved when we create experiential exercises that awaken and engage their minds. By emphasizing active learning, we see a sudden rise in students' attention and receptivity.</font></p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000C6">6: <font color="#9900cc" size="3">Be Willing To Take Risks</font></font> </p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000C6">Fear permeates education. Teachers and students alike may hold back for fear of being wrong or looking foolish. Those fears add too much caution to learning. We discover how to reduce the size of our fears in order to bring new vitality to teaching and education.</font></p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000C6">7:</font><b><font color="#0000C6"> </font></b><font color="#9900cc" size="3">Manage The Size Of Your Ego</font> </p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000C6">Ego is concern for oneself and its survival. The smaller the ego feels, the more it tries to inflate its size. Education is dramatically affected by teachers and students trying to manage the size of their egos. We use "Recovery Claims" to keep our egos from shrinking.</font></p> <p align="left"><font color="#0000C6">8:</font><b><font color="#0000C6"> </font></b><font color="#9900cc" size="3">Create Motivation and Participation</font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">Motivation and participation can be created. We learn to motivate our students by designing learning exercises on "the four cornerstones of motivation." We increase their participation by understanding what holds them back.</font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6"> 9: <font color="#9900cc" size="3">Community Service Stimulates Learning</font></font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">When students serve in the community while learning in the classroom, their motivation escalates. With greater interest, their engagement with issues deepens, so classroom learning becomes more dynamic.</font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">10: <font color="#9900cc" size="3">Cultivate Inspiration</font></font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">The mind becomes more playful when it is surprised. One way to surprise it is by creating arbitrary "inspiration points." This adds a steady stream of novelty to teaching. By learning to create our own inspiration, we discover how easy it is to generate ideas for teaching. </font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6"> 11: <font color="#9900cc" size="3">Develop Novel Ideas For Teaching</font></font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">It is easy to fall into a rut while teaching. To discover new ideas and approaches, we travel down unusual pathways. We use "Object Play" and "Mind Switching" to stimulate our search. When we do, we find creative ideas coming to us with little effort. Fun is added to teaching.</font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6"> 12: <font color="#9900cc" size="3">Nurture Positive Relationships</font></font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">Teachers invent stories about students. When the stories are negative, relationships with students suffer. When they are positive, good relationships develop. By revising our stories, we nurture more positive relationships with our students. This increases mutual trust and respect. </font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6"> 13: <font color="#9900cc" size="3">Create Balance</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3"><br> </font><br> We can become so overworked as teachers, we fall out of balance, feel miserable, and lose our enthusiasm for teaching. Recovering balance helps us to create a greater sense of contentment. While innovating, we accommodate conflicting inner voices, then balance workloads. </font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6"> 14: <font color="#9900cc" size="3">Stop The Stories That Torture You</font></font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">We may live in stories of belief that limit us and make us miserable as teachers. Assumptions are beliefs that limit our thinking. Ideals are beliefs that can lead to disappointment and unhappiness. We change our stories so teaching becomes more creative and enjoyable. </font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6"> 15: <font color="#9900cc" size="3">Give Up Resistance And Resignation</font></font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">Resisting what cannot be changed produces frustration. Becoming resigned to situations that can be changed causes alienation. When we give up resistance and resignation, we create a new sense of freedom and greater ease in teaching.</font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6"> 16: <font color="#9900cc" size="3">Use Questions To Guide The Mind</font></font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">Teachers often ask questions without a clear sense for their impact on the activity of the mind. Questions guide what the mind thinks about and how deeply it engages an issue. We learn to use questions consciously to deepen inquiry, expand options, and empower students to change. </font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6"> 17:</font><font color="#9900cc" size="3"> Listening Deeply</font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">Listening usually occurs on the surface. Facts and feelings may be heard, but needs and desires for change are often missed. By learning to listen at four levels, we hear more as teachers, which gives us the ability to deepen any discussion and to solve problems more effectively. </font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6"> 18: <font color="#9900cc" size="3">Leading Dynamic Discussions</font></font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">Discussions are great learning opportunities when they are focused and dynamic. When we listen deeply and ask probing questions, we engage the interest of students and intensify their learning. The ability to lead dynamic discussions gives our teaching greater impact. </font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">19: <font color="#9900cc" size="3">Be Receptive To Coaching</font></font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">When receiving "criticism," a teacher's ego is likely to deflate, so listening stops. "Defend" and "counterattack" may be automatic. We discover how we respond to criticisms, then develop greater receptivity to coaching and change. Our effectiveness increases as a result. </font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6"> 20:</font><font color="#9900cc" size="3"> Coach Effectively</font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">When teachers give feedback to students, it is often negative. Using the "Sandwich Technique" while coaching, we create a better balance between positive and negative feedback. We show students what they are doing well and what they might change. </font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6"> 21:</font><font color="#9900cc" size="3"> "Nightmare" Students</font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">"Nightmare" students present unique and creative challenges. There are the "unmotivated," "critics," "minimalists," and "tormentors." Like sleeping nightmares, we wish they did not exist, but they do. How we teach can also make normal students into nightmares. </font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6"> 22: <font color="#9900cc" size="3">Creativity Is Always Possible</font></font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">When circumstances seem too limiting, we may play it safe and take a conventional approach rather than be creative. Imposed requirements or teaching a large class may weaken our resolve to the point where we forget that using a creative approach is always possible. </font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6"> 23:</font><font color="#9900cc" size="3"> Teaching Wisdom</font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">"Wisdom" is not a word often heard in teaching. Yet, when we ask questions about wisdom, the mind gladly seeks answers. We discover the power of wisdom to open new understandings about any issue. We use wisdom as a crucial part of our creativity as teachers.</font> </p> <p><font color="#0000C6"> 24: <font color="#9900cc" size="3">Looking Back</font></font></p> <p><font color="#0000C6">Creative teaching enlivens education, deepens a teacher's impact on the thinking and lives of students, and leads to a sense of greater fulfillment. Imagining those possibilities for ourselves, we discover why we became teachers.</font></p> <p align="left"><img src="fleur2.gif" width="30" height="35"></p> <p align="left"><font color="#9900cc"><b><font color="#00cc33">Purchase</font></b></font><font color="#9900cc" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br> </font><br> <font color="#FF0000">To buy the book, go to <a href="http://greendragonbooks.com/awakening-minds-the-power-of-creativity-in-teaching.html">Green Dragon Books</a>.</font></p> <p align="center"><font color="#3333FF"><a href="#top"><font color="#33cc00">top</font></a>/ <a href="index.htm"><font color="#33cc00">home</font></a></font><b></b></p> <p align="center"><font color="#00cc33"><b><a href="#top"><font color="#3333FF"></font></a><font color="#3333FF"><a href="#top"></a></font><font color="#FF0066"><br> </font></b></font></p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"></p> <font color="#003333"><br> <br> <br> <br> </font> <p> </p> <p> </blockquote></td> <td width="113" height="734" valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="39" height="3" valign="top"></td> <td width="558" height="3" valign="top"></td> <td width="113" height="3" valign="top"></td> </tr> </table> <script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript"> _uacct = "UA-3303399-1"; urchinTracker(); </script> </body> </html>