a creative lesson
children involved in all activities
open ended tasks
content guided by childrens responses

What is a creative lesson?

You can both give and receive a creative lesson.

Unrestricted, risk taking, flex the curriculum, bend the rules.

Different and alterntive ways of of parting knowledge and ideas - effective outcomes.

Freedom to choose one of any alterntive routes to reach the end outcome, and to change direction as required.

A learning style can influence the way a learner thinks and behaves.

Outcomes would be
children value what they've done/created
I as the teacher would feel satisfied
children would want to carry on the activity and want to know/do more

Impact would be recorded by having a baseline assessment proir to the activity related to the objectives of the lesson then measured at the end to see if there has been an impact
Using a lot of thinking skills strategies can help to gather pupils voice and feedback
observation during the session by staff
focussing on the childrens cognitive abiilities
photos, video recording, sound recorders
IF YOU'VE GOT TIME AND IF YOU NEED THE DOCUMENTATION

a creative experience should be as long as you are alive
in school it could be 2 minutes at the beginning of the day or last all afternoon

Recording the impact?

Flexibility in interpretation.
Destroy all multiple form-filling.
Ways in which it means something to the children / learners.
Using many colours, styles, designs ...
Collaborative, including the learners in end result.
However is most meaningful.

Do you always need to record the end result? What about the importance of the process?

Chidren are curious and engaged.
They can take the lead and alter the direction of the session.
Everyone is on a learning journey, which has no predetermined outcomes and through this participants remain alive and alert.

How long should a creative learning experience be?

Life-long!

creative lesson:

moving forward from initial stimulus or idea
process of growth and development
encouraging different ways of thinking
standing in other peoples shoes
devising relevant practical tasks

responsive to need, flexible, allows tangential learning.Leaves students wanting to know and learn more, encourages divergent and original thinking.Open questioning, open dialogue, co-learning.Exploration and researchT
outcomes:
Turning themes on their head and examining them from the inside out and see where that leads you.Open ended outcome.
At the beginning you agree the aims and objectives and then measure the journey travelled.
Use creative learning outcomes as an assessment tool.
Life long - as long as you need.

creative lesson
would include a practical demonstration if appropriate as a base and sensory reference

space/time for the learner to solve problems independently or in a group but with the opportunity for effective questioning to guide them through the process

start with a particular aim but recognise that the outcome achieved may be a different one

outcomes:

increased self confidence
being part of a team
the learner understanding what they have learned
celebration of progression

A creative lesson is...

learning experience
different
fun
taking risks
sharing whole process-plan-do-review-'tweaking'-evaluating....like a cycle yet moving forward!
encompasses different styles of learning/cross curricular
explorative
memorable
active/engaging
evolving

outcomes...
an exhausted (yet energised) teacher
excited and expressive children
willingness to learn more
more well-rounded children
a recognition of the importance of the process as well as an end product in some cases
individually confident pupils yet increase in collaborative skills

recording...
must be by child
children reviewing impact
feedback from children
use of IT-visual recording
range of means of chn recording
knowing baseline-ongoing process by both teacher and pupil
short term/long term need to recognised
observing children-linked to success criteria
observing learning environment-measure external impact
opportunity for reflective practice/feedback to teachers, pupils, parents.
pupils work/mark (verbal as well)
learning journal for both staff and pupils-perhaps as homework-collecting own pictures/notes etc of learning experiences

ask the children what they have learnt to record the impact - they might meet the objective of hte lesson but htey have also gained from the experience itself - the outcomes may be very different -
bounce ideas off each other, co-operate with peers, succeed in one particular obvious aspect but also recognise other skills that have been developed - social, problem-solving, communication, expression

Use of the outside learning enviroinment. Children experience its richness and diversity.
Use it as a stimulus for their own imaginations.
Children's perception is focussed so they see deeper than they normally would.

Using simple stimuli to take children into theiir own imaginative worlds to facilitate problem solving and a sense of discovery.

outcomes: good for self-esteem
creative process can start in level playing field, all start at the same level - the novelty can be good for some learners
coping with change of routine - different structure of a lesson - unexpected results

recording the impact: evaluation built in during lesson rather than at the end - questioning why/how learners have done things - what is different from previous way of doing things - why are they doing it this way?

recording the impact:

talking partners - tell partner what new thing has been learned, partner share with class
group recording - large paper, drawings etc
displays etc in which children have an active part
subjective evaluations - what do children say?

no finite length to a creative learning experience! it will feed the future experience/knowledge/skill base, even if unconsciously. we hope.

Something that is fun, interesting, visual, animated, interactive, varied in content , time length.
It would be great if there was more flexibility in the length of the learning experience for the teacher and the learner.
Using dance as an example, I would like for children to leave a session feeling inspired, excited, with a sense of achievement.
Outcome of a creative experience is engagement of the learner, using their experiences, ideas, and the learner taking ownership of their learning.
A Creative Teacher can measure impact of the creative learning session using impact indicators of - greater self esteem - confidence - interactiong with other students and teachers - increased inter-personal skills - more willing to participate - more open to risk taking and learning from getting things wrong - joyfulness and happiness.

the experience ideally would be as long as it takes - how to plan for flexibility?
lifelong?

The participants discovered something that they could do that they didn't know before.
They feel alive in the world and an importtant part of it.
Envigorated and energised.
They want to find out more and see the world in a different way than they did before.Children able to listen and co-operate.

stimulating and interesting...exchange of ideas...the unexpected...enjoyable for all...

everyone has learnt something...including the teacher...

visual record...verbal feedback...via weblogs and RSS feeds...

should be always creative - you're always learning - should have a sense of achievement - steps to progress learning...

In a creative lesson you would have the space to explore and discover. No definite prescribed outcome. No testing. Reflection on what has been 'learnt' rather than what has been 'taught'. Lesson pace dictated by everyone in the room. All individuals are valued as learners and teachers ensuring that learning is a two way process. You would have the confidence to respond and change direction so that the learning experience isn't simply didactic. There are no answers in the creative lesson all exploration is guided by the interests of the group and the duration of the learning experience is undefined.

ideal learning is in small groups
deal with group dynamics ie the dominant ones dont dominate
inclusive from the outset
use good quality material for good quality outcome
reward is the achievement of work and peer and teacher approval

enable creativity by separating cliques

In the future classes will be run by two or three teachers in a team with fewer children and more space and resources some outside some in the class and some online

It is child led.
Involves parents and children, encouraging parental involvement in projects e.g. Project Important people, Important places - Clay representations were made at home by parents and sent in with children - Chopwell Primary School 2004.

Record impact at the end of a lesson through self reflection. It's difficult for learners to acknowledge or understand the impact of the learning until maybe months or years later. The impact of the 'whole lesson' may have less impact than specific moments contained within it. It is often the things that happen outside the 'formal learning environment' that have the biggest impact.