Needed! More Creative Risks.

I had a feeling I knew. I wanted to observe what the students were going to produce when challenged to be creative.

The products were one or the other.

A poster or a PowerPoint.

Creativity has gone by the wayside in school to create more time for content. The classroom is more tidy when we give the students a list of directions to complete the project and all end up having the same item. The difference between the products is who followed all the directions better. The things that we have told the students, successfully, is to make are the things that are the easiest to assess.

Doing project-based learning (PBL) this year has allowed for student expression. Their learning being expressed in real and more powerful ways than the ways listed above. It is harder and more of process for a student to make a video about their learning. It is harder and more of process for a student to paint five different art pieces and come up with a solution for how they are going to be displayed on the Showcase Day. It is harder, for the student. It does require students to think about how to demonstrate what they have learned in a way that their learning is not lost. Don't we, as adults, struggle with explaining everything that we have learned and would have benefited from more practice throughout our school days?

I have found that when students are interested and passionate about their learning, expressing their passion in a poster and PowerPoint will not give it justice.

I wanted to provide my students with ideas that would help them start thinking differently and understanding that creating something different will be a risk. I want our students to know that even if they try something new and it fails, they are still in a successful learning cycle. The people that always do what they know will always be where they are currently. Presenting the students the below list taken from Ryan Schaaf allowed for this thinking and tinkering with their products to begin.

I will continue to show this list to my students and encourage them to take more creative risks and learn something new about themselves in their own creations!

100 Things Students Can Create To Demonstrate What They Know by Ryan Schaaf
Audio Recording
Advertisement
Analogy
Animation
Avatar
Blog
Book Jacket
Brochure
Bulletin Board
Cards (Playing/Task)
Caricature
Class Book
Creative Non-Fiction
Collage
Comedy Skit
Comic Strip
Commercial
Concept Map
Conversation
Dance
Data/Analytics Visualization
Debate
Demonstration
Diary Entry
Digitally-Documented Discussion
Diorama
Doodle
Drawing
eBook
Essay
Experiment
Fake Social Media Account
Film
Freestyle (hip-hop)
Flow Chart
Game
Gif Animation
Glossary
Google Earth Tour
Graph
Graphic Organizer
Infomercial
Interview
Kahoot!
Learning Log
Literature Circle
Live Stream
Magazine
Map
Mock-Up/Wireframe
Mock Product-Pitch
Model
Monologue
Movie Poster
Mural
Mash-Up
News Report
Newsletter/ Newspaper
Panel Discussion
Photo
Prezi
Podcast
Poem
Portfolio
Poster
Presentation (PowerPoint)
Product
Puppet Show
Reenactment
Relevant Visualization
Review
Role-Play
Rules/Framework
Scavenger Hunt
Scrapbook
Sculpture
Survey
Self-Directed Project
Self-Directed Short Video
Show & Tell
Simulation
Slideshow
Social Media Branding
Socratic Discussion
Song
Story Map
Speech
Tag Cloud
Team-Building Game
Time Capsule
Theatrical Play
Timeline
Tutorial
Video Game
Website
Whiteboard Animation
Word Splash
Word Wall
Wiki
YouTube Channel