“‘Teachers say these students don’t’ need these so-called extras. They say what these kids need is basics. But what are the basics? How many teachers, how many people, live without music or art? None! Art is all around us, but these teachers don’t understand that. The creative arts aren’t ‘extra.’ They’re a part of life. They’re what makes life bearable” (148).
Swope offers a compelling perspective on the importance of creativity in all realms of education. Whereas some teachers focus on knowledge acquisition alone, others emphasize true learning through example, entertainment, and hands-on experience. Successful learning takes place beyond textbooks, exercises, and testing. Children are naturally inclined to open-mindedness and taking full advantage of the untainted imagination. Mr. Swope’s teaching style attests to the excitement we can derive from learning if it is motivated by passion. When he gives the children open-ended writing goals, they are able to grasp a new method of deriving understanding as well as discover which topics or prompts invigorate their interests. Swope’s own passions drove him to take risks, teach outside the box, work with various mediums and backdrops, and enlighten his students to how to activate the right brain. He fostered true creativity in his students, who would have otherwise lacked the opportunities to realize the essential yet often overlooked beauty that exists in the world surrounding them. He invites his students to an awareness of the art in the nature they rarely stop to recognize, seemingly insignificant events, and the simple pleasures they enjoy. Throughout the novel, we come to see how humans often neglect and take advantage of what we believe is mundane or extraneous. Yet according to Swope, without music, art, or color we could not appreciate life, love, and beauty. He expresses disappointment that the students aren’t given the freedoms to explore that typically pervade romanticized childhood
Identify three different exercises Swope uses and what each teaches the children about creative writing.
The first prompt Swope gives the class is an open-ended free write intended to provide the children limitless opportunities to display their written voice. In order to get to know his students, he demonstrates the excitement about writing that he hopes the students will echo. This method allows each student to express his or her individual style while breaking away from the process model of writing instruction.
Another prompt involves having students take three snapshots which represent a storyline, then exchanging photos with other groups and writing stories based upon them. Although this idea is exciting and draws in students who prefer theater and photography, Swope points out that they did not possess the background knowledge in these subjects to infer the story the pictures intended. Regardless, the students were able to add a visual component to the story.
For the poetry unit, Swope takes his students on several outings to Central Park, where they are prompted to climb trees, explore, and acknowledge nature in search of inspiration. Many of the students admit they have never climbed a tree. Swope exposes the kids to freedom in the outdoors and some idealistic aspects of childhood that get overlooked in the city. This alone generates creativity.
Are Swope’s one-on-one writing conferences beneficial to the students’ learning? Why or why not?
While I believe that individual interaction with educators creates a genuine and private connection, Swope seems to struggle with getting through to his more shy students this way. Some thrive with a little additional nudge, even those who prefer drawing comics.
Use your own creativity and interest in writing to come up with a lesson plan that aims to teach something unique and new to amateur writers.
It would be interesting to work with three dice in order to generate a story. One di could have character adjectives such as "lonely" "optimistic" "clumsy" "hyper" "intelligent" etc. Another could have character prompts such as "villan" "jungle creature" "aristocrat" "farmer" and so forth. Finally, the last di could contain a plot detail along the lines of "finds a sealed box which contains..." "must venture up the mysterious mountain in order to..." "must save the community from..."
This would allow students to each come up with a creative story that showcases their interests with a prompt that isn't too open-ended or specific. With so many story combinations, this could work as a start-of-class exercise to get the students excited for the lesson. You could change the di prompts for each class as well.
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