Let Your Imagination Fly - PTA Reflections 2015-2016

Oh, the Reflections contest! Having a mother who was extremely active in the PTA, the Reflections contest was on our yearly calendar. Perhaps my memory is incorrect, but I do not recall there being so many categories. I hope if dance had been a category back when I was in school that I would have taken that opportunity!

If your students are looking for a creative outlet that can earn them a little scholarship money, encourage them to think about entering this year's contest. Entries need to connect to the theme "Let Your Imagination Fly" and fall into one of the following six categories: Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, or Visual Arts. 

The local Sioux Falls deadline is Saturday, December 5, which is less than a month away. Access the printable registration form here. As I learn more, I will update this post,

Lakota Emergence Online Exhibit

"That night, they dreamt of unknown landscapes..."

Mixed Media by Michael Two Bulls, Oglala Sioux Tribe

CAIRNS (the Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies) recently published an online exhibit titled Lakota Emergence. The main feature of this exhibit is a collection of vignettes that revolve around the Lakota emergence narrative, "How the Lakota Came Upon the World." The short narrative is divided into 16 pieces, each of which is paired with practical and historical Lakota museum objects, and an original piece by a modern Lakota artist who "creatively interpret[s] the passages and museum objects from a contemporary Lakota point of view." The culmination is a vignette that reveals a portion of the emergence narrative through not only word, but also artifact and art. Together, history and passion weave the narrative.

As part of the online exhibit, CAIRNS has also provided a number of resources for educators and students. Each vignette is accompanied by the digital version of a museum plaque; the artist is introduced, the artwork is described, and the historical significance of the objects is explained. Also woven into the vignettes is a mini-lesson on counting from one to 16 in Lakota. Beyond the vignettes, CAIRNS provides both a background and a foreground. The background documents set the stage by helping readers understand the spirits of the underworld and the Pta people (the Lakota underworld ancestors). The foreground documents provide readers with a brief history of the Oceti Sakowin (Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota), focusing on the Titonwan (Lakota) nation.

Overall, it looks to be an excellent resource for many classrooms, particularly for those who are looking to add diversity to the curriculum or to add more depth to the Oceti Sakowin components of the curriculum.

The Power of Storytelling

"While facts and figures engage a small area of the brain, stories engage multiple brain regions that work together to build colorful, rich three-dimensional images and emotional responses. As we read stories, we quickly begin to feel as if what’s happening out there is actually happening in here. Each sensory image, sound, texture, color, sensation and emotion provides a hook for our brain as the story draws us in and maintains our attention effortlessly.

This is the power of a great story" (Melcrum).

Over the past 12 years, 99,649 people have shared their stories through 57,138 interviews recorded in the form of conversations by StoryCorps. These stories are broadcast via NPR's Morning Edition and StoryCorps' website, but their real focus is on preserving an oral history of a diverse representation of Americans as each conversation is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

These oral stories, however, can be more than just a way to preserve our American history and culture. Stories are one of the most powerful ways for us to learn. About people. About topics. About ourselves. They are also a way for us to learn about listening.

Through StoryCorps' website, we have access to hundreds of those stories to use in our classrooms. The topics range from family to history, romance to struggle to memory loss. Brain research tells us that the language of story telling helps information stick in the brain, specifically because it often connects information to emotion. (On the contrary, straight informational language tends to slip more easily from our brains.)

So why aren't we using more storytelling in our classrooms?

One way we can incorporate more stories into our classrooms is through sites like StoryCorps; those stories, however, are limited in topics and scope as there are only a finite amount available. Thankfully, StoryCorps recently launched a new website called StoryCorps.me, as well as Android and Apple apps. Their purpose? To provide "a way for individuals to connect in a meaningful way with those close to them, and to gain insight into the lives of others." What a fantastic way for students to tell their stories or make meaning of content through connections with their stories or the stories of those they know.

Once a student has access to the app, all they need to do is follow these steps:

1. Choose someone to interview
2. Select questions to ask (StoryCorps.me provides ideas)
3. Find a quiet place to record using the app
4. Record (and listen!)
5. Share the interview online via StoryCorps.me 

I can think of so many places this could work in the English classroom! Research topics could come to life. Students could explore themes from literature alive and well in the world around them. And through it all, they would be building dendrites while making all of those connections...and not even realizing it!

If you'd like to do some brainstorming on ways to use this in your classroom, please let me know! I'd love to toss around some ideas. And, if you can already see where you might use something like this, I'd love to either see it in action or hear about your results!

Happy storytelling!

Are You Ready to Be a Creativist?

Know what that squiggly orange circle(ish) shape means? It means that you are a creativist, which was a new term to me. Being a creativist means you have a growth mindset about creativity, and you want to develop it in a way that brings meaningful change to the classroom.

Creativity + Activist = Creativist

The team at creativist.io wants to help you develop your inner creativist through empowerment, awareness, and practice. Starting on March 16, creativist.io is hosting

It is a 21-day challenge where each day begins with an email. Each email "contains a task that encourages a productive and successful way of thinking in order to be a more creative and modern teacher." Following each task, participants are to post about their day on Twitter and/or Google+, thus creating an online community of creativists where they can share thoughts and gain peer support.

What's the catch? There is a cost. It is $21, and 10% of it goes towards charity. You also have to be willing to commit about 30-minutes per day to the challenge and be willing to get a little uncomfortable as you challenge yourself to grow creatively. This is not an opportunity to receive quick-fix-tips and lists of "creative" websites to use in the classroom. Growing your creativity is a process, and the 21-day challenge is designed to make the practice of creativity in the classroom a habit.

What's the bonus? Because one of the creativist.io ladies (Melissa Goodwin) hails from our area, participating South Dakota teachers are offered one graduate credit from the University of Sioux Falls.

To get all the nitty-gritty details, click on the "Empowerment" image above and visit the creativist.io Google+ Page.

Go get creative!