Creative Process

Planning and running a workshop was a trial by fire. Each week I stood in front of my fire and hoped that my lesson plans, slideshows, and activities would prove flame retardant. Crafting lesson plans around objectives that utilize Bloom's Taxonomy really helped me when it came to this. It was easy to get lost in pursuing the final product, but breaking my workshop down into a step by step process using objectives helped focus both the students and myself on what was expected of them each class period. I also found myslef grounding each lesson in the creative process itself. Each class period, I used a creative process check-in where students reflected on the part of the creative process that we were in. It was gratifying to see how people who had previously said they could not envision how we would go through all steps of the creative process see the breakdown of how we reached each step. 

My lesson plans foregrounded an approach that utilized hands-on practice. Each day I went over new content in a form of a slideshow or demonstration and then let participants try their hand at the skill for themselves. Utilizing group work and discussion proved beneficial in allowing participatns to exercixe collaborative skills and grow in familiarity. It also increased participation when groups were smaller and had guiding questions. Overall, I was pleased with the sense of community built through maximizing classroom location and seating.