How Can We Stimulate a Child's Curiosity?

So often school is about hard work, getting assignments done, and acquiring knowledge.  But curious students fare better in careers and life than hard workers.  Read this article about the research behind curiosity.  The author, Marilyn Price-Mitchell offers 10 ways to stimulate a student's curiosity.  We can all be alert to these signals and active steps.
Share your ideas about how you have encouraged curiosity in your students in the Comments section below.


Curiosity:  The Force Within a Hungry Mind. Marilyn Price-Mitchell  2.17.15. edutopia
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/8-pathways-curiosity-hungry-mind-marilyn-price-Mitchell

A Student Thinks, "If I Could Only....."

Author, Angela Maiers, states that every student is curious about something and is quite passionate about it.  It is up to adults in their lives to allow that passion to flourish....that means we as teachers need to encourage them.  Genius Hour is that regular time during class where students can pursue their dreams and passions.  Who started this idea?  Google, not surprisingly.  Out of that opportunity to explore, Gmail and Google News were born.  This article is so very inspiring that classroom teachers everywhere will want to have their own Genius Hour.

Genius hour: Making time for passion in the classroom.  Angela Maiers. 6.11.14.  SmartBlog on Education.
http://smartblogs.com/education/2014/06/11/genius-hour-making-time-for-passion-in-the-classroom/?utm_source=brief

Instilling Curiosity is Our Job

We teachers need to understand that curiosity is the impetus for students wanting to learn.  In school curiosity is difficult to inspire, but possible by encouraging students to explore in the search to find something new and different. As a result students will be hungry for knowledge. How have you instilled curiosity in your students?  Share your thoughts below in Comments.

How Can Teachers Foster Curiosity?  Erik Shonstrom. 6.4.14. Education Week.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/06/04/33shonstrom.h33.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2

Strategies to Foster Creativity in School

Here is another article about the difficulty of encouraging creativity in school.  However, this article unlike the other, presents 5 strategies that you can use to  encourage divergent, generative thinking.  Each strategy is explained in detail...

1. Reversing the Question/Answer Paradigm
2. Let the Music Play
3. Inquiry-based Feedback
4. Encourage Play & Manage Failure
5. Using Art Strategies

What activities have you used to inspire out-ot-the-box thinking in your classes?

Fuel Creativity in the Classroom with Divergent Thinking.  Stacy Goodman's Blog. 3.18.14. Edutopia
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/fueling-creativity-through-divergent-thinking-classroom-stacey-goodman

Encouraging Curiosity in Your Students

John Barell, author of this article, tells an amusing story about his mother and how she encourged curiosity, the result being that he became a scientist. He gives teachers advice about the kinds of questions they should ask, as well as modeling their own curiosity about the world around them.  Very good.  Worth your time reading.

Fostering curisity here, there and everywhere.  John Barell. 11.20.12.  Smart Blog on Education
http://smartblogs.com/education/2012/11/20/fostering-curiosity-here-there-everywhere-john-barell/

Creativy in Math - The Perfect Place!

These difficult but thought-provoking examples in this article are definitely creative.  This 4th grade teacher uses word problems to encourage creative thinking as you probably do yourselves.  However, she goes beyond word problems into creative answers to mathematical procedures.  Read to find out more.
Do you have some examples to share with your colleagues?

Boosting Creative Thinking in Math Class.  Lana Gundy.  7.9.13.  Education Week Teacher - Premium Article.
http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/07/09/tln_gundy_math.html?tkn=UYOFmtBT9qVJDYIrkT7epS1i0NcvRxzseHyz&cmp=ENL-TU-NEWS1

How to Foster Creativity in Our Too Busy Lives

Busy, Busy, Busy!  That's the life these days for adults as well as children. We as teachers are under pressure to perform, get students prepared for tests, etc.  How to foster creativity?  One answer, the author suggests is providing a literacy-rich environment.  In our Title I classes, we can offer reading selections , both fiction and non-fiction, that show imagation and stimulate creative thinking.  Reading can be an important part of disconnecting from the world, to build in wonder and take time to relax.  (Important for us as adults too.)

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited.  Imagination encircles the world."  Albert Einstein

Are We Too Busy to Imagine...Per DeWitt. 3.28.13. Education Week - Finding Common Ground.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2013/03/are_we_too_busy_to_imagine.html?cmp=ENL-EU-VIEWS2