Fueling Creativity in Education

What happens when physical education becomes more than learning the rules of traditional sports? At The Evergreen School, physical education teachers Makenna Kapperman and Haley Golden are rethinking how students experience movement by creating games that encourage participation, creativity, and teamwork.
Rather than expecting every student to enjoy the same activities or compete at the same level, Makenna and Haley build choice into their lessons. Students can participate in competitive, semi-competitive, or non-competitive creative games, while stations and adapted activities give everyone opportunities to practice and challenge themselves. They also modify traditional sports to keep students active and engaged, ensuring that every student has a meaningful role.
Their approach goes beyond physical skills. Students learn to communicate, solve problems, develop strategies, handle winning and losing, and recognize the different strengths each teammate brings. Through activities like student-designed games and Extreme Pinball, Makenna and Haley show how creativity can make physical education more welcoming while still providing challenge and meaningful learning.
Key Takeaways
Give students choices: Different levels and styles of participation help students find ways to enjoy movement and build confidence.
Focus on learning objectives, not just traditional rules: Teachers can adapt sports and activities while still teaching the intended skills.
Keep everyone involved: Giving students different roles helps prevent them from becoming spectators and reinforces that every contribution matters.
Make teamwork something students practice: Communication, listening, strategy, and problem-solving need to be taught and developed through experience.
Recognize creativity in everyday teaching: Designing and adapting games is a form of creative problem-solving that teachers may already be doing without realizing it.
About the Guests
Makenna Kapperman is in her third year teaching elementary physical education at The Evergreen School. She is passionate about making movement fun and creative for children while helping them develop social-emotional skills and discover activities they can enjoy throughout their lives.
Haley Golden has been teaching upper division physical education at The Evergreen School for four years. She enjoys showing students how they can be creative while playing traditional sports and is committed to creating an environment where every student feels they belong and have the tools to succeed.
 
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What does it take to create a high school classroom where students are excited to learn, feel comfortable taking risks, and even want to stay after the bell rings? For award-winning world languages teacher Emily Kaufman, the answer starts with making learning joyful.
In this episode, Emily shares how she brings creativity and playfulness into her French classroom. From student-created fairy tales and film debates to games, movement, and imaginative conversations, she finds ways to help students use the language while expressing their personalities. She also explains how creating a classroom culture where mistakes are welcomed helps students build confidence, take risks, and develop empathy for people communicating in a language that is not their own.
The conversation explores how joy can become part of a wider school culture. Emily describes the relationships and shared experiences that inspire students to go beyond classroom expectations, including creating books, decorating classroom spaces, and turning a crocheted duck into a classroom mascot that has travelled with students. She emphasizes the importance of teachers being willing to have fun, be playful, and model the behaviors they hope to encourage in their students.
Emily also shares practical advice for school leaders who want to nurture a more creative and joyful environment. She encourages administrators to visit classrooms, learn what teachers are passionate about, and create opportunities for educators to share ideas and learn from one another.
Key Takeaways
Joy and play can make learning more engaging, even in high school classrooms.
Creating a safe environment for mistakes encourages students to take risks and communicate with confidence.
Teachers can model creativity by being playful, embracing silliness, and showing students that learning can be enjoyable.
Strong classroom relationships can inspire students to contribute their own ideas and creativity beyond lesson time.
School leaders can support a creative culture by spending time in classrooms, listening to teachers, and encouraging shared learning.
About Emily Kaufman
Emily Kaufman is an award-winning world languages teacher at Joel Barlow High School in Connecticut. A former student of the school, she teaches French and takes on leadership roles that support colleagues, strengthen the school community, and create opportunities for students to experience language and culture beyond the classroom. She received the Teacher of the Year Award for her work in world languages education.
 
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How can intense focus become both a creative strength and a challenge? And what can educators learn from the experiences of neurodivergent learners?
In this episode, clinical psychologist, author, and educator Dr. Megan Anna Neff explores AuDHD, a community-created term for the experience of being both autistic and having ADHD. She explains how these traits can interact in complex ways, such as the need for routine and predictability alongside a desire for novelty and new experiences.
The conversation explores the connection between interest, motivation, and learning. Megan discusses how offering students choices in how they demonstrate their understanding, from writing and drawing to creating videos, can help educators connect learning with students' interests. She also introduces hyperfocus, a state of deep concentration that can support creativity, productivity, and new insights, while making it difficult to switch tasks or respond to interruptions.
Megan shares practical ways educators can support students during these periods of intense focus, including giving advance notice before transitions, allowing time to wrap up activities, and reducing unnecessary interruptions. She also emphasizes the importance of recognizing the costs of hyperfocus, including neglecting sleep, food, hydration, and other basic needs. The conversation highlights why understanding individual differences and building supportive relationships matter when creating environments where neurodivergent learners can thrive.
Key Takeaways
AuDHD can involve balancing competing needs, such as routine and predictability alongside novelty and stimulation.
Connecting learning to students' interests and offering flexible ways to demonstrate understanding can support motivation.
Hyperfocus may create opportunities for deep exploration and creative connections, but it can also make transitions challenging.
Advance warnings, gentle transitions, and fewer unnecessary interruptions can help students move between tasks.
Supporting creativity also means helping learners recognize their needs, maintain wellbeing, and regulate intense periods of focus.
About Dr. Megan Anna Neff
Dr. Megan Anna Neff is a clinical psychologist, author, and educator whose work focuses on self-understanding, nervous system regulation, and identity integration for autistic, ADHD, and AuDHD adults, particularly those identified later in life. She is the founder of Neurodivergent Insights and the author of Self-Care for Autistic People and The Autistic Burnout Workbook. Her forthcoming book is AuDHD Unlocked.
 
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How can educators make creativity a deliberate part of teaching, build stronger connections with students, and create school environments where new ideas can grow?
In this second Season 13 debrief, Dr. Matthew Worwood and Dr. Cyndi Burnett revisit conversations with educators Greg McClure, Valencia Abbott, and school principal Dan Mault. Together, they reflect on how creativity shows up in everyday teaching and explore practical ways educators can make learning more meaningful for students.
The discussion begins with Greg McClure and the connection between creativity and the science of reading. The hosts consider how teachers can deliberately invite creative thinking into literacy lessons by asking students to imagine new possibilities, explore different perspectives, and make connections with characters. They then reflect on Valencia Abbott's work, exploring why some educators may not recognize themselves as creative and how creativity also involves improving teaching practices, responding to students' needs, and connecting classroom learning with the wider community.
The conversation also examines Dan Mault's approach to school leadership and his commitment to remaining open to teachers' ideas. His simple phrase, “We'll figure it out,” highlights how leaders can work collaboratively through challenges rather than dismissing new possibilities. The hosts also discuss the importance of hands-on learning, play, face-to-face communication, and building relationships as schools reconsider the role of technology in students' lives.
Key Takeaways
Creativity can be taught explicitly while also being woven into everyday instruction.
Teachers demonstrate creativity when they reflect on their practice, adapt to students' needs, and find better ways to support learning.
Educators may be practicing creativity without recognizing it, especially when they associate creativity only with artistic expression.
School leaders can nurture a creative culture by staying open to new ideas and working collaboratively through practical challenges.
Building relationships, encouraging play, and creating opportunities for meaningful conversation are essential parts of supporting students' growth.
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How can educators give students the freedom to solve problems creatively? And how can school leaders create an environment where teachers feel comfortable sharing and exploring new ideas?
In this episode, educator, principal, and author Dan Mault shares his experiences coaching students through Odyssey of the Mind and Destination Imagination. These programs challenge students to collaborate, design, build, and solve open-ended problems. Dan explains why educators need to guide students without taking over, allowing them to experience productive struggle, test ideas, and adapt when things do not go as planned.
The conversation then explores how school leaders can support creativity among teachers. Drawing on his experience as an elementary school principal, Dan discusses how creative problem-solving practices can make meetings more inclusive, encourage different perspectives, and help educators feel safe sharing their ideas. Rather than immediately saying yes or no to a new proposal, he encourages leaders to work with teachers to figure out what is possible.
Dan also reflects on the role of technology in elementary education and why his school has renewed its focus on hands-on learning, play, and meaningful conversations between students. His experiences highlight how schools can make room for creativity by prioritizing collaboration, relationships, and opportunities to explore.
Key Takeaways
Students develop creative problem-solving skills when educators provide support without giving them all the answers.
Open-ended challenges can encourage students to experiment, collaborate, and adapt when their ideas do not work as expected.
School leaders can foster creativity by creating psychological safety and making sure every voice is heard.
Responding to new ideas with “Let's figure out how to make this work” can open the door to meaningful change.
Hands-on activities, play, and face-to-face conversations remain important parts of creative learning, even in technology-rich schools.
About our Guest
Dan Mault is an educator, elementary school principal, and author with nearly two decades of experience in education. He began his career as an elementary teacher, coached Destination Imagination and Odyssey of the Mind teams, and founded a STEAM club to help students collaborate and explore creative problem-solving. He is the author of Creativity by Design, hosts the Real Talk School Leadership podcast, and is studying Creativity and Change Leadership at Buffalo State University.
 
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What happens when students can see themselves and their own experiences in what they are learning? And how can teachers make history more relevant, meaningful, and connected to the world beyond the classroom?
In this episode, award-winning history teacher Valencia Abbott shares how she brings creativity into her social studies classroom by connecting historical content to her students' interests, experiences, and communities. From using NASCAR to make the 1920s more relevant to her students to exploring Korean history through her own curiosity, Valencia shows how making unexpected connections can create more engaging learning experiences.
Valencia also discusses a community history project focused on the Supreme Court case Griggs v. Duke Power Company. Through research, grants, and partnerships with her local community, she brought students into the process of uncovering and preserving an important story that many people in their own community did not know. The project gave students opportunities to work as historians while connecting classroom learning to their local history.
The conversation also explores the importance of recognizing teachers and the humanities. Valencia reflects on what being named the 2025 National History Teacher of the Year meant to her and how recognition can validate work that often happens behind the scenes. She also shares how becoming a teacher later in life helped her discover a career that connected her passion for history, storytelling, and helping students build meaningful futures.
Key Takeaways
Creativity can emerge from making meaningful connections between curriculum and students' interests.
Teachers can help students engage with history by showing them a wider range of perspectives and stories.
Community-based projects can give students authentic opportunities to research, contribute, and preserve history.
Creativity often requires curiosity, flexibility, and a willingness to explore ideas before knowing exactly where they will lead.
Recognizing teachers can affirm the value of work that may otherwise go unnoticed, especially in the humanities.
About Valencia Abbott
Valencia Abbott is an award-winning history teacher and department chair at Rockingham Early College High School in Wentworth, North Carolina. She was named the 2025 National History Teacher of the Year and the 2025 North Carolina History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History. Her work connects local history with broader conversations around democracy, civic engagement, and historical memory.
 
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Can creativity thrive within a structured literacy classroom?
Greg McClure, an elementary educator and literacy specialist, joins us to explore how teachers can bring creativity into reading instruction without treating it as an extra.
Greg shares his experience moving toward the science of reading and explains how explicitly teaching literacy skills can work alongside creativity. Rather than choosing between structure and creative learning, he encourages teachers to find meaningful ways to bring both into the classroom.
The conversation explores how creative questions can strengthen reading comprehension. Greg shares examples from Hatchet, showing how questions that invite students to make connections, imagine possibilities, and explain their thinking can lead to richer discussions while still checking for understanding.
Greg also introduces the idea of clarifying a problem before jumping to solutions through a live activity called “Quest for Clarity.” The activity demonstrates how asking thoughtful questions can help students gather information, understand a problem more clearly, and develop better solutions.
Key Takeaways
Creativity and structured literacy can work together rather than being treated as competing approaches.
Giving students language and strategies for creativity can help them apply creative thinking beyond a single classroom activity.
Creative questions can deepen comprehension while encouraging students to make their own connections.
Asking clarifying questions helps students move beyond assumptions and better understand the problem they are trying to solve.
Teachers can use the curriculum as a foundation while creating opportunities for deeper, more engaging learning.
About Greg McClure
Greg McClure is an elementary educator and literacy specialist with a master's in Creativity and Change Leadership from SUNY Buffalo State University. He has worked in elementary education for more than a decade and focuses on bringing creativity research into practical classroom experiences. He also develops creative classroom tools and activities through Breakout Brains.
 
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What can neuroscience and neurodiversity teach us about creativity, and how can we create professional development experiences that are both meaningful and enjoyable?
In this first debrief episode of Season 13, Dr. Matthew Worwood and Dr. Cyndi Burnett reflect on their recent conversations with Adam Green, Leonie Baldacchino, and Dr. Matt Zagreski. They revisit ideas about creativity, neuroscience, neurodiversity, and the role of fun in learning.
The conversation explores whether we sometimes overcomplicate creativity, how evaluation can affect students' willingness to take creative risks, and why creativity should be recognized across all areas of learning, not just gifted education.
They also discuss the value of fun in professional development. Rather than using activities simply to entertain, they consider how purposeful play, warm-ups, and opportunities to connect can help educators engage, build relationships, and prepare for deeper learning.
Key Takeaways
Creativity does not always need to be complicated to be encouraged or recognized.
Evaluation should allow space for students to take creative risks and demonstrate growth.
Neurodivergent students may need different environments and opportunities to thrive.
Creativity belongs in every classroom, not only gifted education.
Fun in professional development can be valuable when it has a clear purpose and connection to learning.
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