Fueling Creativity in Education

CREATIVITY TIP: Teaching Failure

In this short Creativity Tip episode, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood offer advice on how to address incidents of failure in a classroom environment. Matthew shares his take on the Marshmallow challenge and how he uses this activity to normalize failure in a learning environment. Cyndi introduces an activity on how to reflect on and monitor incidents of failure during the learning process.
Interested in more tips to help bring creativity into the classroom?  Check out Cyndi's Books, Weaving Creativity into Every Strand of Your Curriculum, and 20 Lessons to Weave Creativity into Your Classroom.
 
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
 
Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom? 
Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.
 
What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education? 
Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom. 
 
You can also find The Fueling Creativity Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!

Bridging the Gap: Video and Creative Potential

In this debrief episode, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood reflect on the first five episodes of Season 4. Cyndi revisits creative potential and the value of integrating student interests into the learning experience. At the same time, Matthew discusses expression preferences and the ability to know when to use and not use computer algorithms to support the creative process. Cyndi and Matthew also take time to reflect on the different ways they've both used video to engage their children in creative production.
 
If you haven't listened to all five episodes of Season 4 (+ the BONUS episode), check out the links below to go back and listen, so you don't miss out on any golden nuggets of wisdom! Then, share your favorite episode with a colleague, parent, friend, or anyone else who could benefit from the show's information. 
 
Matt's Insights
Expression preferences: We all like to express our creativity through different outlets. How many opportunities do you give your students to do that?
The "future creative" is someone who knows when to use the algorithm and when to turn it off.  
Each of us has a unique creative potential. How can you find that in your students and help them act on it? (hint: Personal Interest Projects!)
 
Cynthia's Insights 
There are significant benefits to using digital innovation, like YouTube videos, to demonstrate problem-solving and creativity skills.
Creative potential: Look for things that differentiate your students and find ways to showcase and/or nurture that creative potential.
Give your students resources and tools that encourage exploration and development of their personal interests, like Personal Interest Projects. 
 
Go back and listen to Season 4:
Listen to S4 Episode 1 with Mark Runco
Listen to S4 Episode 2 with Frances Valintine
Listen to S4 Episode 3 with Carrington Faulk
Listen to S4 Episode 4 with Dr. Elizabeth Radday
Listen to S4 Episode 5 with Dr. Joseph Renzulli
Listen to the S4 BONUS Episode: Parenting for Creativity
 
Watch different video examples on the DadsforCreativity YouTube channel and review some easy video projects quickly enacted at home. 
 
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
 
Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom? 
Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.
 
What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education? 
Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom. 
 
Have a question? Email Dr. Burnett and Dr. Worwood at questions@fuelingcreativitypodcast.com!
 
You can also find The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!

How to Engage, Inspire, and Promote Creativity with Dr. Joseph Renzulli

How can we inspire and hold space for gifted and talented kids to express their creativity? 
 
In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood speak with Dr. Joseph Renzulli, a world-renowned leader and pioneer in gifted education, creativity, and gifted teaching strategies. Joseph is here to share insights from his research along with why we should care about the spectrum of giftedness in our society.
 
Listen in to learn Joseph’s take on the relationship between giftedness and creativity, how to bring more creative giftedness into the classroom, and the greatest barriers to us increasing the number of people reaching their creative potential within their field. He also talks about the Renzulli Learning system, how it works, and how it’s benefitting thousands of educators across the world.
 
“Training teachers is the key to so much of this and, of course, there has to be some administrative support for it.”  – Dr. Joseph Renzulli
 
Plus, Joseph breaks down his “Creative Idea Generator” method, how to apply “curriculum compacting” to accommodate gifted students, and how parents can facilitate creativity and learning outside of the classroom. Then, he highlights his biggest fear regarding the future of gifted education and where we need to focus our energy in the coming years.
 
Are you an educator who wants to learn and do more in the field of gifted education? Tune in to learn how to participate in the virtual Confratute learning experience held in July at the University of Connecticut!
 
Joseph’s Tips for Teachers and Parents:
Work with the school library to set up a section dedicated for “how-to” books.
Utilize basic ideas that are quick to read/learn about. Long lectures or videos are going to lead kids to lose interest.
Ask open-ended questions every single day.
 
Resources Mentioned:
Article: What Makes Giftedness?: Reexamining a Definition
Learn more about Renzulli Learning
Listen to the episode with Dr. Sally Reis
No Child Left Bored by Sally Reis
Register for Confratute at UConn!
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
 
Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom? 
Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.
 
What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education? 
Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom. 
 
Have a question? Email Dr. Burnett and Dr. Worwood at questions@fuelingcreativitypodcast.com!
 
You can also find The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!
 
About Dr. Joseph Renzulli:
Dr. Joseph Renzulli is a leader and pioneer in gifted education and applying the pedagogy of gifted education teaching strategies to all students. The American Psychological Association named him among the 25 most influential psychologists in the world. Dr. Renzulli received the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Award for Innovation in Education, considered by many to be “the Nobel” for educators, and was a consultant to the White House Task Force on Education of the Gifted and Talented.
 
Joseph S. Renzulli is Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut, where he also served as director of the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. His research has focused on the identification and development of creativity and giftedness in young people and on organizational models and curricular strategies for total school improvement. A focus of his work has been on applying the strategies of gifted education to the improvement of learning for all students. Dr. Renzulli currently leads the Renzulli Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development. 
 
Follow Renzulli Learning on Instagram 

Personal Interest Projects with Elizabeth Radday

What is a Personal Interest Project (PIP) and how might it benefit students’ creativity?
In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood speak with Dr. Elizabeth Radday, an educator who’s been working in education for over 12 years. Currently working in Skills21 and School Services for EdAdvance, Elizabeth is passionate about student-driven personal projects, like Capstone, and loves to see what students can do when they are given the space to explore their interests. The Capstone curriculum and Personal Interest Project (PIP) curriculum she wrote are now being used by thousands of students in Connecticut each year. 
Tune in to learn about this fascinating high school program that’s built on students identifying and furthering their creativity and interests while at school. Liz provides inspiring examples of Personal Interest Projects and describes how schools and educators can creatively implement them into students’ curriculums.
Plus, Liz breaks down the most successful format of PIPs and Capstones, what types of educators can best facilitate a Capstone course, her recommendations on rubrics, stimulating motivation in struggling students, and much more.
 
Liz’s Tips for Teachers and Parents:
Give kids voice and choice. They need to feel control over the process.
Find the time to work on Personal Interest Projects. Start small if you need to.
Do your own PIP or Capstone project alongside your students and share your experience (and mistakes) with them. Also, it’s important that you choose something unrelated to school.
 
Resources Mentioned:
Skills21 Personal Interest Projects  
Skills21 Capstone  
Portrait of a Graduate
Listen to the episode with Heather Lyon
Listen to the episode with Dr. Sally Reis
Listen to the episode with Jonathan Plucker
Listen to the episode with KC Lathrop
 
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
 
Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom? 
Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.
 
What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education? 
Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom. 
 
Have a question? Email Dr. Burnett and Dr. Worwood at questions@fuelingcreativitypodcast.com!
You can also find The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!
 
About Elizabeth Radday:
Dr. Elizabeth Radday has been working in education for over twenty years. She first started teaching as a teenager doing arts and crafts at sleepaway camp. After college, she spent sixteen years in the middle and high school classrooms teaching STEM subjects and working with students with learning disabilities. She now works for EdAdvance in Connecticut for Skills21 and School Services. She is passionate about student driven personal projects like Capstone and loves to see what students can do when they are given the space to explore their interests. The Capstone curriculum and Personal Interest Project curriculum she wrote is now being used by thousands of students in Connecticut each year.
Connect with Elizabeth Radday on LinkedIn
Follow her on Instagram
Follow her on Twitter
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ecskills21
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ecskills21

Teaching Creative Content Production with Carrington Faulk

Should social media content creation be part of K-12 education? Yes, but the answer is more complex than that… 
 
In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood speak with Carrington Faulk, a high school marketing teacher, Google for Education Certified Trainer, and Founder of ‘skilltivity.’, an online education platform that seeks to advance your creative thinking skills. Carrington enjoys educating learners of all ages on how to master subjects in the realm of creativity, technology, leadership, marketing, and innovation.
 
Tune in to learn why video is such a popular medium for creative expression and how YouTube and TikTok play a powerful role in educating students and connecting them with the world. You’ll also learn the benefits and concerns of integrating video production and social media content creation in the classroom.
 
“I’ve never seen this many students want to be YouTubers in my life than they do right now. But the big thing that I try to tell them is it’s not what the popular platform [is] now, I tell them to think about what’s going to be popular later and what’s up and coming.” – Carrington Faulk
 
Carrington shares the tech tools and activities he uses to spark creativity in the classroom along with the real-life opportunities (and dangers) of encouraging kids to use social media to express their creativity. He also sheds light on the importance of teaching students about modern marketing, future trends, the metaverse, and creative leadership. 
 
Plus… Carrington breaks down his strategy for facilitating the “question-asking” and critical thinking/reflection parts of the creative process, as well as how his personal creativity in music inspires his students’ creativity in the classroom.
 
“If we aren’t being creative leaders in the classroom, then  we will get left behind as educators.” – Carrington Faulk
 
Carrington’s Tips for Teachers and Parents:
Everyone needs to ask more questions. 
We are in the 4th Industrial Revolution, a workforce where AI and automation is changing the landscape of work every single day. So, students need to understand that the jobs and opportunities they see today may not be the ones they see in the future.
Each district should have a Chief Creative Officer.
 
Resources Mentioned:
Subscribe to the skilltivity. YouTube channel
Listen to the episode with Jonathan Plucker
 
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
 
Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom? 
Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.
 
What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education? 
Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom. 
 
Have a question? Email Dr. Burnett and Dr. Worwood at questions@fuelingcreativitypodcast.com!
 
You can also find The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!
 
About Carrington Faulk:
Carrington Faulk is a high school marketing teacher and Google for Education Certified Trainer who enjoys educating learners of all ages on how to master subjects in the realm of creativity, technology, leadership, marketing, and innovation. He is the founder of ‘skilltivity.’, an online education platform that seeks to advance your creative skills. In his time away from education, Carrington is a musician (carringtonfaulk.com), owner of ‘MICAH3 - a video branding agency’ (micah3.com), and husband & father to his wife and 4 kids.
 
Connect with Carrington Faulk on LinkedInFollow him on Twitter

The Challenge of Educating the Future Creative with Frances Valintine

In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood speak with Frances Valintine, Founder and CEO of The Mind Lab and Tech Futures Lab, two organizations providing learning pathways for educators and professionals to participate in and have a sustainable impact on our tech-driven future. Everything Frances does revolves around supporting people, business, and organizations to understand the impact of emerging technologies and the cultural adaptation required to embrace change and build that impact. So, how is that connected to creativity in education?
 
Tune in to gain insight into the type of future we can anticipate for our students, particularly with the rise in digital innovation, as well as the technologies that can help students make education more personal to them while building on their own unique strengths. 
 
Frances breaks down the concept of compulsory education and the role of the educator in preparing students for non-traditional, more personalized careers and side hustles (think freelancing and entrepreneurship). She sheds light on how students are reacting to online learning and returning to in-person learning, along with how to effectively engage, motivate, and teach your students what they need to learn in order to thrive in a highly innovative, tech-driven future.
 
“What if we took away that need to lead every conversation and to set that tone and give the creativity back to the kids?”  – Frances Valintine
 
She also highlights the difference between cooperation and collaboration, the importance of embracing robots and cobots (collaborative robots) in and out of the classroom, and whether or not the future creative needs to develop the capacity and skills to operate outside of the algorithms.  
 
Frances’ Tips for Teachers and Parents:
Start with students asking the questions instead of answering them.
Never use a learning opportunity to get the students to do the same thing. 
Don’t be over-indexed by your own knowledge. Just because it was true at the time or place or in the group you hang out with doesn’t mean it’s representative of the real world or other people’s scenarios.
 
Resources Mentioned:
The Mind Lab
Tech Futures Lab
Listen to the episode with Bea Leiderman
Listen to the episode with Bryan Alexander
Listen to the episode with David Cropley
 
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
 
Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom? 
Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.
 
What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education? 
Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom. 
 
Have a question? Email Dr. Burnett and Dr. Worwood at questions@fuelingcreativitypodcast.com!
 
You can also find The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!
 
About Frances Valintine:
A well regarded and recognised technologist and educator, Frances has been focused on the future of work and the development of human capability for the duration of her career. She has a life mission to uncover the potential in anyone she meets -  if you have a conversation with Frances you’ll come away buzzing with inspiration, confidence and optimism for what lies ahead.
 
In recent years, Frances has built up The Mind Lab (started in 2013) and Tech Futures Lab (2016) to provide learning pathways for educators and professionals to not just participate in but have sustainable impact for the technologically driven future. Everything she does is about supporting people, businesses and organisations to understand the impact of emerging technologies and the cultural adaptation required to embrace change and build that impact.
 
Connect with Frances Valintine on LinkedIn
 

BONUS: Parenting for Creativity with Matthew Worwood

The month of June celebrates Father's Day, and this prompted Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood to produce a special episode on parenting for Creativity. In a slightly different format, Cyndi interviews Matthew about his parenting blog, Dads for Creativity, and discusses the need to monitor parental bias when celebrating Creativity in the home environment. 
"We have to be mindful of how our biases, and our backgrounds, and what we're into, and what we know, is going to influence our children's creative behaviors and what the pursue in the early years." - Matthew Worwood
Resources Mentioned:
Visit DadsforCreativity.com
 
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
 
Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom? 
Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.
 
What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education? 
Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom. 
 
You can also find The Fueling Creativity Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!

Discussing the Future of Creativity Research with Mark Runco

In part two of this “double expresso” discussion, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood continue speaking with creativity researcher, thought leader, and cognitive psychologist, Dr. Mark Runco, about the future of creativity research and his upcoming creativity conference.
 
Tune in to gain insight into the current creativity in education research and where Mark thinks this research is headed in the future. He also speaks on the misuses of divergent thinking tests, particularly in neuroscientific research, as well as how educators can promote creativity and originality in the classroom, even when they’re following a curriculum. 
 
Then, Mark sheds light on what you can expect from the Southern Oregon University Creativity Conference (coming up on July 14th-17th, 2022) and why everyone could benefit from attending.
 
Mark’s Tips for Teachers and Parents:
Be creative and appreciate creativity – whatever that looks like for you. 
Depending on the age of your students/kids, work on building confidence, which is called “ego strength” in creativity research. 
You don’t need to look for unambiguously creative behaviors in your students. Look for creative potential and look for things that enable and encourage originality, like self-expression. Self-expression is extremely important and leads directly to creativity.
 
“One of - if not the main problem with creativity among students has to do with social pressure and fitting in… This is really a huge problem in the middle and upper elementary grades… because a strict adherence to convention precludes creativity. It’s basically antithetical to originality.” – Dr. Mark Runco
Resources Mentioned:
Listen to the episode about inquiry-based learning with Dr. Frank LaBanca
Listen to the episode with Jonathan Plucker
Register for the Southern Oregon University Creativity Conference
 
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter!
 
Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom? 
Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.
 
What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education? 
Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school?  Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom. 
 
Have a question? Email Dr. Burnett and Dr. Worwood at questions@fuelingcreativitypodcast.com!
 
You can also find The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and PodBean! Make sure to rate, review, and share the podcast if you enjoy it!
 
About Dr. Mark A. Runco:
Dr. Mark A. Runco is a leading creativity scholar who is active in empirical research and has published cognitive, economic, genetic, historical, developmental, and educational books and articles on the topic. To help people fulfill their capacity for creativity, he has devised a battery of tests that measures creative potential and performance. He teaches a variety of graduate and undergraduate classes on creativity and innovation, and once each year he organizes an international creativity conference. Mark earned his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the Claremont Graduate School in California and has studied creativity ever since. He is currently the Director of Creativity Research and Programming at Southern Oregon University.
Connect with Mark Runco on LinkedIn
Visit his website