I promised a new blog back in April 2015... oops! It is interesting how life can be so distracting.
I remember a long time ago I made a promise on this blog. I promised I would write more, and everyday. Well, I have to admit I do not write everyday, but I do most days. Many of the classes I have taken/are taking, I have to write a lot. It is a little draining to write that much for my classes and then for my own personal benefit. I see it like this; as long as I am writing, I am doing myself good.
Last semester my classes were Texts and Teaching, a Special Education class, Petrology (a subgroup of geology), and meteorology (weather). Between Texts and Teaching and Petrology I did quite a bit of writing. One of my favorite assignments from Texts and Teaching was a free writing assignment, meaning I could write about anything I wanted to. Normally I would hate this. When I am a student I hate having too many choices, it makes me anxious. I would rather just be told what to do (in that case). However! There was an idea I have had for a while and this was my chance to start it! I am very happy with how it turned out, but I will not be sharing it on here.
This semester I am taking Middle-Level Education, Science Methods, Philosophy of Education, and Astronomy. Astronomy is the only class that I will not have to do a significant amount of writing assignments, except that twenty page paper... Now I will not delve into all my classes, but I would like to highlight my favorite writing assignment this semester. In my Philosophy of Education class we each have a Thinking and Discussion Journal. Some students type on their lap top, but I prefer writing by hand. We use the journal mostly in class to reflect and collect our thoughts before jumping into a small group or class discussion. I am not sure how this works for other students, however I love it because I need more time to think out what I want to say. I like being prepared, because sometime I tend to ramble, which classmates might not like, plus no new points or ideas are coming to light.
Through my adventure of trying to write more, I have realized it has turned from writing more, to I just want to be more creative my all aspects of my life. As a child I can still recall my best friend and I playing a game where we combine aspects from The Little Mermaid, Harry Potter, Atlantus, Lord of the Rings, Teen Titans and later on we even fit in Pirates of the Caribbean. To be able to combine all those themes, books, and movies into one role playing game takes a lot of creativity! Then I went to middle and high school. My purpose is not to knock education, especially because I am becoming a part of the community, however, the structures that have been put in place leave little room for students to express their creativity. Teachers have been forced into teaching to standards and tests. Now I want to use the students' creativity to help them learn. Science is all about learning by experimenting, that is how we know everything we know about the world today. Should students learn through that same method? Yes! Now, there are somethings I will not be able to teach in this way, but I have some great ideas for when I get there.
Moving away from education, but still talking about creativity, the Dungeon Master of my Dungeons and Dragons group has recently passed the honor onto me. I am loving it! It is a great chance for me to create my own world, which sounds easy at first, but there is a lot that goes into a world that I never thought of. For anyone that is trying to become more creative this is a great way to stretch and exercise your mind while having fun with friends.
Well, this is all I have for now, but there is something big just around the corner......
