Katie Trowbridge has over two decades of experience as a teacher and mentor. She is President and CEO of Curiosity 2 CREATE, a nonprofit organization focused on helping educators incorporate creative and critical thinking strategies into their existing curricula and build creative classroom environments. Katie is also co-founder of the Creative Thinking Network, an online network to assist teachers in adding creative thinking into their curriculum. Katie has won several Teacher of Excellence and Outstanding Educator awards, has a Master’s in Teaching and a Master’s in Education Administration, and is pursuing her ED.D at Northeastern University in Boston. She currently travels around the nation, speaking at conferences and training educators.
Trench story: Most of her trenches were when struggling with student engagement. Loved teaching. Things shifted. Connection was dwindling. Thought “I don’t want to be @ the school”. Figured she needed to change things up. Did research into shift of why t’s are changing, students are changing. Creative & critical thinking. Pulled her out of that slump.
Why are teachers struggling so much now? She focuses in on how teachers are unhappy, we’re doing way more than we need to be doing. #1 think is to collaborate. Their dept. are very competitive. don’t share lessons. We’re all struggling. There’s power when t’s work together. It can change the way edu is going. Don’t be in a bubble in your own classroom. Get out & talk to admin, coaches. As far as st’s are concerned. Look @ curriculum & make choices. “Why am I learning this” is what st’s often think. Make the curriculum more interested. During her workshops, for resistant t’s. Eventually they come around.
Why are creative and critical thinking important K-12? They separate creative and critical thinking. LinkedIn, Adobe, have reports on what employers are looking for. Collaboration, critical thinking. Employment-ppl have to be problem solvers. Kids aren’t being allowed to be creative. They still do rote memorization. We often see the 2 as separate. She sees them as 2 sides of the same coin. When we creatively think-it’s more divergent. Critical-which ideas do we want to try? How do you know? Why do we think this way?
What does it mean to infuse curriculum with creative and critical thinking? Biggest think is that is goes w/ everything-needs to be in every aspect. Helps t’s walk thru what they need in a curriculum. As why we’re learning to spell, why we’re learning about WWI. What if the outcomes of WWI were different. What could the future have held?
What are the benefits of incorporating critical and creative thinking into your class & helping t’s get out of the trenches? Just say “what do you think” to st’s. #1: the workload shifts. You’re not the “sage on the stage”. It becomes more st centered. Ask a lot of ?’s. If st’s have others they can depend on, in groups, it helps. Belonging & connection. Makes a CR much more fun. We’re keeping open-minded, taking risks. Observe others in your PLC teach. Defer judgement. The other t may teach differently. Embrace it. St’s may not agree w/ each other either.
How does a teacher start creating a thinking classroom? Go thru your current unit. T’s are tired of “we have a new initiative”. Look @ this as a new way of thinking & doing instead of initiative. Look @ points where we can allow st’s to take ownership. Where am I allowing them to work together. Rewrite curriculum, personal flair. Make sure t’s don’t do all the work. Don’t grade everything! Don’t need to rewrite the whole thing. Say “be creative” to st’s. Ask what they think. You give them permission to do something different.
Can talk about EDD research: Teachers and how adding creative thinking into curriculum can help improve classrooms K-12, mostly HS- experience-action research.What does research show about the need for creative and critical thinking? A little research and also with dissertation. Everyone knows about it but mot how to do it.our perception hasn’t changed in 20 yrs. ESP. when we’re not getting at st. engagement. It’s not an initiative. Her doctorate will be in innovative teaching strategies. Wants to look at how it will change t’s attitudes/experiences as t’s. How does this help ME? None of the research shows HOW. Will be finished around Dec. ‘24.
Does creative and critical thinking help us with social emotional learning? How can creativity help relieve your stress and anxiety. We need to stop thinking it’s just a small lesson on respect. SEL needs to be incorporated & infused. If a st knows we’re going to celebrate their failures, it helps them come out of their shell. A lot of anxiety comes from “what if I’m wrong”. Have open-mindedness. It has to do w/ the classroom climate too.
How does creative/critical thinking transfer to soft skills? They’re essential skills. The younger employees often want to just google the right answer. It’s about expanding your knowledge. When you go to post-secondary options, it’s about knowing how to think thru a problem on your own. Ppl have to work together to find ways to solve problems. We need to adapt to how employment is changing. Find out what they REALLY need to know. Real world skills. Communication is an essential skill. We need to help t’s find more joy w/ what they’re doing.
Out of everything? The best thing we can do is collaborate with each other, it’s OK to look to others for advice. Work in your PLCs. Let go of your stuff. There’s great power in that. Click To Tweet
Where can ppl find you online? the creative thinking network (experts, lesson plans, etc) Curiosity2create hosts workshops. Email (include in show notes). They’re very active on social too.
https://curiosity2create.org and www.creativethinkingnet.com/
View this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/9lyg7zPlLes
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