EDPS DB

Please respond
After viewing the Ansel Adams’ clip and reading the excerpt from the Steve Jobs’ biography, which of the creative characteristics from Davis’s Chapter 5 did you notice? Did you see any parallels between the two men and their experiences? What other observations did you have from reading/viewing?
Feel free to answer either (or both, if you would like) prompts on the creative process:

A. In describing Torrance’s model of the creative process, Starko (2001) noted that unlike the previous models, Torrance’s model emphasizes actually doing something with the idea. She posed the question, and I will pose it to you, too: Is an idea less creative if it is never used or shared? Describe your thoughts in this week’s posting.
B. We focus so much on problem SOLVING but less on problem FINDING. Torrance argued that problem finding is one of the most important elements of creative thinking. Problem finding means noticing opportunities (think entrepreneurs) as well as getting to the root of an issue or problem (spending time figuring out why you have a headache each day or why a child isn’t completing work on time) before jumping to finding a solution (take Advil, punish the child by taking away recess). If you don’t get to the root of a problem, you might be just tending to a symptom and never actually solve the problem. For example, all the Advil in the world isn’t going to fix a sinus infection and taking away recess repeatedly isn’t going to fix an attention problem preventing a student from completing work on time. What ideas do you have for teaching people to be better problem finders, not just problem solvers?

Respond to A or B or both:
A: Try your hand at synectics by giving an answer and explanation for each of the following:
Direct analogies: How is fear like grapefruit? How is a gossip like a pizza?

Personal Analogy: Pretend you are your favorite breakfast food. What are you? How do you feel? What do you want most?
Pretend that you are a child’s bed. How can you get a child excited to come to you and stay in you all night?
B. Share a specific example of how you might use personal or direct analogies in your professional life to help people understand ideas or solve problems.

Please respond

Creative Dramatics: How might you use creative dramatics either with a group of individuals or for the development of your own creative thinking? What factors do you think are most important to the success of a creative dramatics activity?

Please respond to either prompt:
Prompt 1: Spend some time searching the web for the application of creativity to your discipline area (this can be in the form of lesson plans, therapy techniques, etc.). Share the websites in your discussion board posting as well as a commentary on whether or not you think they represent good applications of creative thinking.
Prompt 2: Should creative potential be included in the identification of gifted students? If so, how much weight should it receive? Equal to intelligence scores? Less? More? Explain why.