Creating Creative Creations
Greetings Starfighters,
I crossed an auspicious milestone this week. I’ve been using Readwise to collect highlights and notes from almost everything I read, whether it’s a book, an ebook, a research article, or an online article. I get a recap daily of 10 different highlights to review.
Of course, I can review more, but that daily reminder is a nice way to remember things I’ve read and thought were important - heck, many blog posts and articles are inspired by those passages.
This week, I passed 500 consecutive days of reviewing those highlights. There is a bit of gamification involved with Readwise since you can track your streak, something I appreciate greatly. Readwise has become invaluable to my productivity, research, and writing routines. It’s one of the best tools I’ve ever used, right up there with Dropbox (which, to this day, still works like it’s supposed to without a fuss).
What streaks are you tracking right now?
Speaking of tracking things and exploring your interests, here’s this week’s 10 Things…
I listened to a Getting Smart podcast this week featuring the Rock Tree Sky school in Ojai, California. Originally a homeschool support initiative, Rock Tree Sky has grown to serve over 200 students in grades P-12 with a unique, flexible, learner-centered focus. Rock Tree Sky offers a learner-centered, experiential education space, fostering an inclusive community focused on holistic development through relationships. I loved hearing how the school has grown and the focus on constructivist pedagogy.
From that same podcast, Jim Bailey mentioned several teachers and theorists that he and his wife drew from as they began Rock Tree Sky. I first heard about John Holt’s homeschooling newsletter through Austin Kleon and have loved many of the lessons contained inside. Of course, no conversation on constructivist pedagogy and learning by doing can occur without mentioning John Dewey & Jean Piaget.
Continuing on the theme of how we need to rethink schools and transform them from places of information overload and dumping to places of exploration and play, I’m reminded that many of the points from Tom Hodgkinson’s “Manifesto of the Idle Parent” work very well for teachers. We should be a little more idle in our classrooms while the students explore. Remember, whoever is doing all the work is doing all the learning.
If the COVID-19 pandemic did anything, it kickstarted the idea that there can be many different types of schools, not just public and private. As time passes, we see micro-schools, pods, homeschools, hybrid schools, and others, but what do we call many of these new school designs? Eric Wearne has a thought with “community crafted schools.”
I look to other creators for inspiration when I need to be creative. Perhaps you do, too. Here’s a 20-minute video of Charles Schulz drawing his famous Peanuts characters.
Leon Furze has some great thoughts on a post shared by Ethan Mollick about how Mollick believes that AI “democratizes creativity.” While I am a fan of the many possibilities AI can bring to our classrooms, I don’t know that it “democratizes” creativity. Perhaps it provides better support for anyone wanting to tap into their creativity, but true creativity only comes from one exercise: the act of creating.
I’ve been journaling for several years now and was struck by Marion Milner’s use of her diaries as a therapeutic art.
Meta (Facebook’s parent company) wants to put more Quest VR headsets in classrooms. While I applaud making VR technology more accessible to classrooms, I always question how tech giants use the data they get from these plans. Always be aware of what’s really going on.
I’m looking forward to reading Salman Rushdie’s new memoir, Knife, chronicling the attack on his life in 2022. Rushdie wrote "Knife" to confront his near-murder and regain his creative voice. Despite facing a brutal attack and ongoing trauma, Rushdie remains resilient, using art to reclaim his narrative.
Finally, Time magazine has published its annual “100 Most Influential People” list, providing a short article written by one of the influencer’s peers. Of course, several of these folks actively create as part of their influence, with names like authors Lauren Groff and James McBride appearing alongside musicians like Jack Antonoff. If you’re looking for some creative inspiration, there are several folks here to provide just that.
That’s it for this week, gang. Thanks again for reading; hopefully, you found something interesting. If so, I’d appreciate you sharing this newsletter with some friends. Your support continues to provide me with opportunities to share my learning and discoveries along this weird path we call ‘life.’