Maths Reflection

15/04/2011
Well, I taught the maths lesson...
Turns out leaving the kids to come up with their own creative ways of predicting patterns was a bit of a faliure. The kids basically copied the examples we had done on the board and together on the mat. There wasn't enough time for them to tet their theories, either.
Which leads me to three conclusions:
When working creatively in the classroom, you have to have time to try things out.
6 year olds are absorbing everything around them and interperating it. If you introduce a new idea, they have to have time to play with it.
There are DEFINITELY stages of creative process. And they can't be done at the same time.
The first stage is research of theory and ideas. The second is finding real world examples of those theories and ideas. The third is testing those theories and ideas in other situations, and looking at new ways to apply them. The fourth is adapting, changing or creating new theories/ideas.
What does this mean for me in the classroom?
Well, it's pretty simple. If I want to promote creative thinking in my classroom, I can't expect kids to come up with ideas without stimulation. I also have to know which stage I am at in the process of learning, and teach to that.
More later!