Season 7, Episode 1

Nurturing Creative and Critical Thinking in Education

by | Apr 17, 2024 | Season 7 | 0 comments

…there is great power when teachers work together, when they collaborate, and they don’t compete. And that’s what the [teaching community] needs right now. For educators to come together, help each other out, support each other, come up with new ideas, and share those ideas.

Katie Trowbridge

Hosts & Guests

Katie Trowbridge

Cyndi Burnett

Matthew Worwood

Episode Transcription

Nurturing Creative and Critical Thinking in Education with Katie Trowbridge

Cyndi Burnett [00:00:00]:
Hello, everyone. My name is Dr. Cindy Burnett.

Matthew Worwood [00:00:03]:
And my name is Dr. Matthew Werwood.

Cyndi Burnett [00:00:05]:
This is the fueling creativity in education. Podcast.

Matthew Worwood [00:00:09]:
On this show, we’ll be talking about creativity topics and how they apply to the field of education.

Cyndi Burnett [00:00:14]:
We’ll be speaking with scholars, educators, and resident experts about their work, challenges they face, and digging deeper into new and varying perspectives of creativity, all with the.

Matthew Worwood [00:00:25]:
Goal to help fuel a more rich and informed discussion that provides teachers and parents with knowledge they can use at home or in the classroom.

Cyndi Burnett [00:00:33]:
So let’s begin.

Matthew Worwood [00:00:35]:
Hello, and welcome to our first episode of season seven, and welcome to another new academic year. Today we welcome to the show Katie Trowbridge. Katie Trowbridge has over two decades of experience as a teacher and mentor. She is President and CEO of Curiosity to Create, a nonprofit organization focused on helping educators incorporate creative and critical thinking strategies into their existing curricula and build creative classroom environments. Katie has won several Teacher of Excellence and outstanding Educator awards. She has a master’s in teaching and a master’s in education administration and is pursuing her edd at Northeastern University in Boston. She is also co founder of the Creative Thinking Network with our co host, Cindy Burnett. So, Katie, welcome to the Fueling Creativity and Education podcast.

Katie Trowbridge [00:01:27]:
Thank you for having me.

Katie Trowbridge [00:01:28]:
I’m honored to be here.

Cyndi Burnett [00:01:29]:
So, Katie, we would love to begin by talking about your 23 years of experience as a Communication Arts teacher in Chicago. What role did creativity play inside of your classroom over those 23 years?

Katie Trowbridge [00:01:42]:
I would say that it actually didn’t.

Katie Trowbridge [00:01:44]:
Play much of a role until the last ten years.

Katie Trowbridge [00:01:47]:
And maybe that’s because or I should say it wasn’t explicitly seen in my classroom, except for the last ten years I was in marketing and public relations. That’s what I did first. I always thought that I would never teach. Everybody said I should be a teacher.

Katie Trowbridge [00:02:01]:
And I said, no way.

Katie Trowbridge [00:02:02]:
I’m never going to teach. I’m not going to be in a classroom with a bunch of bratty teenagers. And man, were they right.

Katie Trowbridge [00:02:07]:
And I was wrong.

Katie Trowbridge [00:02:08]:
So I went into teaching, and I loved it, every moment of it. But I noticed around 2010, somewhere on there, there seemed to be a shift. I was starting to lose engagement. That rapport that I used to have that was so tight in my classroom was starting to wane quite a bit. I noticed that kids were really asking.

Katie Trowbridge [00:02:29]:
Just give me the right answer.

Katie Trowbridge [00:02:30]:
I just want the right answer. And I saw that really changing and really emerging more and more throughout my years. And I thought, something has to change. So I started to do some research into thinking, creative thinking, critical thinking, with all the reports like World Forum, as, you know, all those things, saying that this is what’s really needed. So then I started changing my classroom, and we became very much orientated on thinking and asking questions. Not me lecturing, but me facilitating. And it changed so much in my teaching. I started to enjoy teaching more. My kids had more fun, I think, in their learning, and they would have.

Katie Trowbridge [00:03:12]:
More of these moments of, wait, we just learned something.

Katie Trowbridge [00:03:16]:
I saw just a huge change. And so then I started incorporating it even more. I started training other people on how to do this, and it’s just been a blast.

Matthew Worwood [00:03:25]:
And then to continue with that story. So at some point, you transitioned out of the classroom, and do you continue to utilize that experience as you work training other teachers?

Katie Trowbridge [00:03:34]:
I do.

Katie Trowbridge [00:03:35]:
I will tell you, the transition was really tough, Matt. I’ve been out of the classroom now for a year, and there are times that I really miss it a lot. But teachers have become my students, and the transition, going into a nonprofit was an incredible experience. A lot of learning and a challenge to go out of the classroom and into more of the nonprofit world. But I’ve loved it with the training of the teachers and coaching teachers and mentoring teachers, speaking at conferences. It has really been just a joy, the amount of people I’m meeting from.

Katie Trowbridge [00:04:09]:
All over the world.

Cyndi Burnett [00:04:10]:
So can you tell us more about curiosity to create and why it exists?

Katie Trowbridge [00:04:16]:
So we were given a grant from the Driscoll Foundation, and they were focusing.

Katie Trowbridge [00:04:22]:
Mainly on after school kind of organizations.

Katie Trowbridge [00:04:28]:
Like the YMCA, Boys and Girls Club. And I happened to be on their board. They were very focused on just helping kids. And so, you know, this is great.

Katie Trowbridge [00:04:38]:
That we’re doing, but I think what.

Katie Trowbridge [00:04:40]:
Would be better if we focus on teachers, because think about the impact, right? One teacher has so many impacts, so many opportunities that impact people and kids, where an after school program might impact 30 to 50.

Katie Trowbridge [00:04:52]:
So, as I said that, the board kind of looked at me and went, so go for that.

Katie Trowbridge [00:04:58]:
Katie, you put a plan together. What does that look like? So that’s what I did. I had a bunch of my coworkers that I have worked with over years come up with some ideas to help me with that. We call it the Create Method, and we do professional development. We do coaching.

Katie Trowbridge [00:05:15]:
We have now expanded even more to.

Katie Trowbridge [00:05:17]:
The Creative Thinking Network. As you know, Cindy, our main goal is just to help teachers take what they’re already doing so that it’s not.

Katie Trowbridge [00:05:26]:
Here’S what I hated as a teacher.

Katie Trowbridge [00:05:28]:
And again, beginning of the school year, right? We’re at the beginning of the school year, principal stands up there and says.

Katie Trowbridge [00:05:33]:
We have a new initiative.

Katie Trowbridge [00:05:34]:
And all of us are thinking, wait a minute, we didn’t finish the last initiative, and now you’re throwing something else at us.

Katie Trowbridge [00:05:40]:
And that was always a difficult time.

Katie Trowbridge [00:05:44]:
As teachers tried to shift their way of doing things. So when I talked to my teacher, my coworkers, and they really said, look, what’s important is that we work within the confines. As you know, teachers have so many confines now, right? They have scripts that they’re given, what they can teach, what they can’t teach. So our main goal is to help.

Katie Trowbridge [00:06:07]:
Teachers do what they’re doing, but adding.

Katie Trowbridge [00:06:10]:
Creative thinking and critical thinking into it. So it’s not a drop in program.

Katie Trowbridge [00:06:15]:
But it’s a way for teachers to think, okay, wait, here’s my lesson.

Katie Trowbridge [00:06:19]:
How can I use this lesson? To make sure my kids are thinking creatively, to make sure my kids are thinking critically, to make my classroom much more of a thinking classroom than just a doing classroom.

Matthew Worwood [00:06:29]:
And I want to do a follow up to that because I think you have referenced in pretty much every single one of your answers, you’ve identified creative thinking, but then you’ve also referenced critical thinking. So let’s talk a little bit more about that. I want to kind of separate the two. We’ve done a whole bunch of discussions. You could argue most of our episodes center around the concept of creative thinking, or rather, at least we prioritize those words. Could you talk a little bit about what you mean by critical thinking and why you see critical thinking as being as valuable as creative thinking?

Katie Trowbridge [00:06:59]:
Absolutely. One of the ways that I try to look at it is it’s the.

Katie Trowbridge [00:07:02]:
Same coin, just different sides. Right?

Katie Trowbridge [00:07:05]:
So you have creative thinking. You have this divergent, let’s be creative. Let’s look at all the wild impossibilities. But then I think it’s just as important to also then think, okay, this.

Katie Trowbridge [00:07:15]:
Is why I believe this.

Katie Trowbridge [00:07:17]:
So as you converge that question that I ask in my classroom, and a lot of times, I would start with.

Katie Trowbridge [00:07:23]:
The what did you think?

Katie Trowbridge [00:07:25]:
Why did you think that way? So it’s a backup to the creative.

Katie Trowbridge [00:07:30]:
Backup is probably the wrong word, but.

Katie Trowbridge [00:07:31]:
It is a complementary skill to have. So that you have this creative thinking, but you also have critical thinking. So it’s the I have all these ideas, but here’s why I think this is a really good idea. Here’s the research that shows that. Here’s the process that I’ve gone through.

Katie Trowbridge [00:07:47]:
So that there is this, I know.

Katie Trowbridge [00:07:51]:
What I know, and here’s why I.

Katie Trowbridge [00:07:52]:
Know what I know, instead of, well.

Katie Trowbridge [00:07:55]:
Maybe this is a good idea. Well, maybe that’s a good idea. We’ve got to get kids to also.

Katie Trowbridge [00:07:59]:
Think, here’s why this idea is a good idea.

Katie Trowbridge [00:08:02]:
Here’s why I believe what I believe.

Matthew Worwood [00:08:05]:
And I love that. And I think back to the Four P model by Mel Rhodes. What’s the date? Cindy 1961. And we’re looking at press, person, process, and product. And just listening to that response, my immediate thought is, okay, quite often when we talk about creativity, we might be talking about a creative product, a creative outcome, but there is a process to which that outcome comes into being. And within that process, it’s just not always about thinking creatively. It’s also about thinking critically and a whole bunch of other things as we know that goes into contributing the outcome that we see at the end of that journey. I think even with things like design thinking, but even whatever lesson you’re doing. I think this is why education, to a certain extent, this is why I value the liberal arts and science education as well is it teaches us, or at least it provides us with the information or at least provides us with the opportunity to generate the knowledge we need in order for us to think critically. And you was talking about this kind of transition that you noticed after working in the classroom for ten years, and you started to feel like students were saying, give me the answer. Give me the answer. Give me the answer. It’s not just when they’re asking that. It’s not just a case of they’re not engaging creative thinking. You’re right. They’re not engaging critical thinking either. It is why I’m going to go off on a tangent here. I totally apologize, but it is why we can have a video on YouTube of a plane landing on one wing. Okay? This was about six, seven years ago, but I used to play this YouTube video you can do a Google plane lands on one wing, and the plane flies off, and the wing falls off, and everyone’s screaming, oh, no, it’s a brilliant video. But then the plane comes down and lands on one wing, and everyone’s like, wow. I’d play it in front of the classroom. Everyone’s like, wow, this is amazing. This is amazing. And I’m like, okay, everyone just hit the pause button. I want you to just reflect on what we’ve just seen. We just saw a plane land on one wing. And I want everyone to use the words, a plane landed on one wing. And then eventually someone will say, Is that real? And I’m like, I don’t know. You tell me. You’re digital media and design students, right? You know After Effects, you know how to conduct special effects. Is it possible that this video is not real? And sure enough, after a while, they start saying, yeah, let’s go and Google it. And if you Google it, right, and you say, how was it made? Then they show you how they went and made this fake video. And the reason why I bring that up is critical thinking in today’s world is so important, and it’s not just about it being in the classroom. If I’m honest with you. I see adults in our network throwing this stuff out on social media, and you’re like, Wait, let’s just repeat what you just said. A massive giant spider in Florida as big as humans. Wouldn’t that have made mainstream media? So that’s my tangent over. I’m so happy that you’re going into critical thinking, and I totally agree. It is so important when it comes to selecting the most appropriate ideas, checking our assumptions, and making sure that we’re focused on using our knowledge to solve the problem that we’re working to solve, right?

Katie Trowbridge [00:11:25]:
And I really believe that is a relationship. So it is this knowledge and the teacher and the student, right?

Katie Trowbridge [00:11:32]:
So they all have to work together.

Katie Trowbridge [00:11:34]:
It’s not just the teacher on top. And then, oh, yeah, here’s the knowledge. And no student, you’re at the bottom, but it’s student coming on up and saying, okay, here’s what I think. One of my favorite things in just even teaching poetry, just letting them read.

Katie Trowbridge [00:11:48]:
The poem and say, okay, what do you think?

Katie Trowbridge [00:11:51]:
So that it’s not looking to me for what is the right answer, and.

Katie Trowbridge [00:11:55]:
Oh, anagreetian arm means this, right, but what did you get out of it?

Katie Trowbridge [00:11:59]:
What do you think? And sometimes it’s very frustrating, and that goes to that creative thinking of how do you deal with ambiguity? How do you deal with being able to fail? I always tell my students that I had an English teacher when I was.

Katie Trowbridge [00:12:13]:
In high school that would just do that same thing.

Katie Trowbridge [00:12:16]:
She would say, what do you think? She’d call on you, and then she.

Katie Trowbridge [00:12:20]:
Would go wrong right in your face.

Katie Trowbridge [00:12:22]:
And it was humiliating. Every time I walked into her English class, I was a nervous wreck. I was so anxious she was going to call on me and yell at me for getting an answer wrong. But one of the things I really want my students to learn is, look, you got to think about this. Don’t go to me. Don’t go to Google. Use your brain. At first, I think teachers are in that spot as well, especially when we’re dealing with some parents. There’s a lot of assumptions going around. We have to start teaching our students and all of us to ask, Why?

Katie Trowbridge [00:12:55]:
How do you know? Why do you think that way?

Katie Trowbridge [00:12:58]:
And so really, creative and critical thinking.

Katie Trowbridge [00:13:00]:
That they have to go together, they.

Katie Trowbridge [00:13:03]:
Have to play a part in each other’s lives, basically.

Cyndi Burnett [00:13:06]:
Well, and some classic creativity scholars talk about creativity and critical thinking is the dynamic balance of divergent and convergent thinking. And I think another important piece about that critical thinking is that sometimes you need creativity there, because people often think of creativity just existing within creative thinking. But actually, you also need to think creatively within critical thinking. So as you see something and you’re thinking about it, reflecting on it and trying to make a decision or trying to determine whether or not it’s correct, you also have to keep that open mind and curiosity, because otherwise you might just go into your assumptions and select something that you’ve always done, and that might not be what you’re after. So I think it’s interesting, this whole conversation around creative and critical thinking because, you know, in some ways they exist in both, and they exist independently.

Matthew Worwood [00:13:57]:
And I think, Cindy, what you’re picking up, there’s been some stuff written around this idea of creative metacognition as well. And I think that you’re also talking, Katie, in essence, about this ability to reflect. And I think the more we develop knowledge and understanding of what creativity is and our process I mean, Katie, I love the idea of kind of like getting the teachers to think about some of the challenges that exist in their classroom environment, where they go about trying to do something new and different within their practice. We can engage in that creative metacognition to kind of identify, well, how am I feeling in this moment? Number one, how much of an impact is this really having on my students? How new or different do I think this is? Reflect on out my process? Where’s the point at which I feel uncomfortable, how is that uncomfort influencing what I’m choosing to do, what I’m deciding to do in the moment? And I think that’s probably that creative metacognition is just as much about critical thinking is about creative thinking. The two coin analogy was fantastic.

Katie Trowbridge [00:14:58]:
I think that that is incredibly important for teachers also to then be vulnerable with their students and say, so I’m reflecting on this a little bit. Did this work? Did this not? Because I think if students can see their teacher modeling the process of creative and critical thinking, they will more likely want to do the same thing. If we say I tried this and I failed, or this didn’t work like I thought it would, after reflecting on it and you’re open and vulnerable with your students, then they’re like, oh, wait, if Mrs. Trowbridge messed up in the way she was thinking or doing or finding, then it’s okay for me to do that as well. So that there’s this community that’s being built around creative and critical thinking. Like, I’m coming up with these great ideas, but now let’s see what really works. And again, parents, I think, play a.

Katie Trowbridge [00:15:49]:
Role in that as well.

Katie Trowbridge [00:15:50]:
A lot of times when you say to a student, well, why do you think that way? You get a lot of, well, because.

Katie Trowbridge [00:15:55]:
My mom and dad said that, or.

Katie Trowbridge [00:15:56]:
Because my grandparents think that. And so it’s really important then in a classroom that we say, okay, well, why do you think then your mom and dad think that? Or can you go back and find out? Why do they think that?

Katie Trowbridge [00:16:06]:
So that there is this detailed kind.

Katie Trowbridge [00:16:09]:
Of thought process in their minds. I love having debates in my classroom, and I even had a teacher or a parent, rather sorry, a parent came up to me one day and went, so you’re the reason my kid is always asking me questions.

Katie Trowbridge [00:16:23]:
Yes, that’s me.

Katie Trowbridge [00:16:24]:
Because I think there’s a way to debate with your parents in a healthy way, just like with your teachers.

Katie Trowbridge [00:16:30]:
Be creative, ask that why push the.

Katie Trowbridge [00:16:33]:
Button a little bit in a respectful and guiding kind of way, so that you as a student, you as a parent, you as a teacher, really know why you are going to do what.

Katie Trowbridge [00:16:44]:
You’Re going to do and what kind of impact that has to our listeners.

Matthew Worwood [00:16:48]:
I want to do a quick shout out and we’re not going to do it in this episode, but debate is a whole nother tangent. I could go on, but I’m not going to. But the idea of engaging our students in debate again, particularly in today’s society, I think is so important. So if there is any listener out there who feels that they’ve got a really good way of facilitating debate, healthy debate in their classroom environment, please reach out to us because we’d love to have you on the show and have a discussion about facilitating thoughtful, critical discussions around various topics in the classroom environment. So that’s a shout out to our audience.

Cyndi Burnett [00:17:28]:
So, Katie, I want to talk about something that you and I have had lots of conversations around, which is the difference between creative teaching and creative learning, which is not something we’ve talked about on the show, Matt. So I thought we’d have Katie share her perspective on these two.

Katie Trowbridge [00:17:44]:
It’s interesting when I talk about this topic with teachers and with administration and others that they know what this means. They just don’t embrace what this means. So we want to be creative teachers. Correct. We have a creative classroom full of Harry Potter motif. We spend hours and hours sometimes cutting out hexagons and cutting out fun, craft ideas for our students. And we are this creative teacher. We have this great vision in our head of what this is going to look like, and then all of a.

Katie Trowbridge [00:18:17]:
Sudden, the learning falls flat.

Katie Trowbridge [00:18:19]:
So did the kids have fun?

Katie Trowbridge [00:18:20]:
Yes. Did they learn anything? Maybe not.

Katie Trowbridge [00:18:23]:
I always use the example and I’m always dating myself when I use this example. When you were in PE class and.

Katie Trowbridge [00:18:29]:
They had the big huge parachute, do you remember that?

Katie Trowbridge [00:18:33]:
And you would throw the parachute up and down and you’d run to the other side. And when I was done with that.

Katie Trowbridge [00:18:39]:
What did I learn?

Katie Trowbridge [00:18:41]:
I didn’t learn anything. But for the PE teacher, the PE teachers think, well, you learned balance, you learned listening skills, you will learn coordination.

Katie Trowbridge [00:18:48]:
But to me, the kid, that was.

Katie Trowbridge [00:18:51]:
Fun, I didn’t learn anything. So we’ve got to bridge that gap of, hey, the teacher has this idea in their head and this is really going to work and it’s going to create this great learning moment. And then the gap of, did the kids actually get that creative learning process? Did they actually learn something from it? And sometimes those things don’t connect and they have to connect. So a creative teacher is much more teacher led. It’s my ideas. I’m coming up with the content.

Katie Trowbridge [00:19:19]:
I’m the one taking the risks.

Katie Trowbridge [00:19:21]:
I’m the one who’s being open minded. And it has to shift over to creative learning so that the kids are creating some of the content. The kids are the one taking the risks. The kids are the one asking the questions. They’re formatting the questions, not the teacher. Think about a Socratic seminar, which I love Socratic seminars. There’s one way of thinking of where I create all the questions for the Socratic seminar, but then there’s the other way of thinking of let the kids.

Katie Trowbridge [00:19:42]:
Come up with questions for the Socratic seminar instead of me doing all the.

Katie Trowbridge [00:19:47]:
Work so that there has to be this mix. There’s, like, this sweet spot where I’m.

Katie Trowbridge [00:19:52]:
Doing some creative think they’re teaching, but.

Katie Trowbridge [00:19:54]:
Man, my kids are really doing some.

Katie Trowbridge [00:19:55]:
Creative learning instead of it all just.

Katie Trowbridge [00:19:58]:
Being a one man kind of I’m.

Katie Trowbridge [00:20:00]:
Super creative as a teacher, but my.

Katie Trowbridge [00:20:02]:
Kids walk out and you say, hey.

Katie Trowbridge [00:20:03]:
What’D you learn today? I don’t know. We had fun.

Katie Trowbridge [00:20:08]:
So there’s got to be this balance between the two of them. And it’s interesting when I talk to teachers about that, there’s definitely an AHA moment.

Katie Trowbridge [00:20:16]:
Another example is one of the creative.

Katie Trowbridge [00:20:19]:
Ways I used to teach some literature.

Katie Trowbridge [00:20:22]:
Was I’d have them come up with.

Katie Trowbridge [00:20:24]:
Instant messaging between the two characters, or I might have them create a Facebook page for Holden Caulfield. And a lot of times I would think, this is so creative. Look at these great Facebook pages.

Katie Trowbridge [00:20:39]:
But where is the then learning process, right? They could have just Googled anything about.

Katie Trowbridge [00:20:43]:
Holden Coffeeield and put that on the Facebook page. But taking a look at then okay, now let’s put everybody’s Facebook page up on the wall. Walk around.

Katie Trowbridge [00:20:52]:
What do you think? Did this work?

Katie Trowbridge [00:20:54]:
Did this not work? Why did this person know the red hunting hat? And this here and this one used Phoebe, the sister. So then there’s not this I made this creative thing, but there’s this thinking around it, right?

Katie Trowbridge [00:21:09]:
What worked?

Katie Trowbridge [00:21:09]:
What didn’t oh, that person used that and then going back to their desks.

Katie Trowbridge [00:21:13]:
And reflecting, I missed this.

Katie Trowbridge [00:21:15]:
I missed that. Or this was really good.

Katie Trowbridge [00:21:17]:
So that there is this learning process happening around the creative well, it almost.

Cyndi Burnett [00:21:22]:
Feels like the creative metacognition that Matt was talking about earlier.

Katie Trowbridge [00:21:26]:
Right?

Matthew Worwood [00:21:26]:
I mean, I love, you know, correct me if just my immediate response to this is that this also can be a process that might take a couple of years. You might go and actually go and throw the parachute up to test out this idea that you have, and it might be that it ticks the box of, oh, okay. Students increased engagement and oh, okay, they had fun. Oh, you know what? The parachute was only 499 to get from Amazon, and the activity itself took 20 minutes. So now, you know, you’ve got this idea you can do it, but then you might need to go and identify the learning objectives, what’s the learning that’s taking place? And it might be that you start focused on that in the next iteration, which might be next semester or next year. But it sounds to me, though, if you get to a point where you say, you know what, I can’t actually identify an area where this is having a benefit to my students. From a learning perspective, you might need to be ready to abandon it, even though you absolutely love it. However, it might be that you just a little bit of subtle tweaking and before you know it, you’re introducing some aerodynamics or some physics, I don’t know, but there’s probably some physics you could introduce into that.

Katie Trowbridge [00:22:35]:
Right, right.

Katie Trowbridge [00:22:36]:
And I think that that’s key. That’s where the teacher failing and being, oh, I tried this and it didn’t work. And reflecting back is so incredibly important for the students to see. And as a teacher, I was changing things every year and I kept notes, this did not work or this is what I need to do. And so I had a whole notebook of just things that I kept so.

Katie Trowbridge [00:22:55]:
That next year I would be able.

Katie Trowbridge [00:22:57]:
To go back and say, oh, I need to do this or that. So absolutely, I think it’s definitely a process. I mean, again, it’s not like there’s.

Katie Trowbridge [00:23:03]:
A switch and, oh, now I have.

Katie Trowbridge [00:23:05]:
A creative teacher and my kids are creative learning that doesn’t exist. It’s an entire, like we mentioned before, an entire process. That can take years, but it can be also exhilarating to do that.

Cyndi Burnett [00:23:14]:
I also think it’s a matter of putting things into context. So it is that one step, just that one additional step of saying, here’s what we did. What did you notice? How did it work for you? Why does this matter? A lot of times when I speak with teachers, they say, I just don’t think they’re making those connections. But sometimes you have to go into that deep debrief to really show those connections. Because it’s funny that you bring up the parachute, Katie, because honestly, I think back to my early elementary school days, and that’s the one thing I remember is hiding underneath that parachute. Now, I don’t know why we did it. I do remember it was part of PE, but if they had made a connection to how we connect with one another, then it shows actually, that those creative teaching moments really help amplify the stickability of what happens inside the classroom.

Katie Trowbridge [00:24:04]:
Well, and I also will tell teachers.

Katie Trowbridge [00:24:06]:
Just be explicit with it.

Katie Trowbridge [00:24:07]:
So, yes, we just did this fun parachute activity, but here’s what you learned. You might not realize it, but here’s what you learned. And I think just even saying to.

Katie Trowbridge [00:24:17]:
Our students, I’m going to tell you.

Katie Trowbridge [00:24:20]:
What we were going to accomplish today, and it goes back to targets and objectives and everything that we have in our classrooms. But it’s one thing that if we are teacher lingo of here’s, our targets and our objectives, and another thing of.

Katie Trowbridge [00:24:31]:
Being kid lingo of, dude, look at what you just learned.

Katie Trowbridge [00:24:34]:
I think that also helps with that building a rapport in your classroom so that kids are willing to try something.

Katie Trowbridge [00:24:40]:
Different as long as they know, yeah, I’m going to learn something.

Matthew Worwood [00:24:43]:
What’s popping into my mind a little bit is I also have got some fond memories of that parachute activity. And it was so fun you brought it up because actually, I bought a parachute about six months ago for my boys, but we didn’t have enough people to make it work. But I think what you’re highlighting as well is the importance of the teacher in these moments, because I remember us kind of like flowing it up in the air, as you said, Cindy, then you go under it. And I do remember being curious on how it stays. Think, you know, it might be that one of the reasons why we remember it is I don’t know if there’s that many times where you actually it’s magical, right? Like you’re throwing this thing up in the air. It stays up in the air. It floats beautifully and delicately. There’s so many things to observe. But what we don’t have, or at least I would say the majority of us who experience this activity don’t have, is a teacher who’s making the connections to what could be learned in this moment. And I think that’s what you’re highlighting, and I think it’s the importance of the teacher. We have to connect the dots to the learning. Otherwise, sometimes it just becomes a fun thing, but we don’t go away and learn well.

Katie Trowbridge [00:25:46]:
And I think that’s really key in today’s society, especially Matt, because teachers are.

Katie Trowbridge [00:25:50]:
So burnt out, as we know, right?

Katie Trowbridge [00:25:53]:
And just thinking of asking the students, what did you learn? What are you curious about? I love when you said that if the teacher stopped and said, what are.

Katie Trowbridge [00:26:01]:
You curious about using this parachute?

Katie Trowbridge [00:26:03]:
What did you think? It makes us, the teacher, more of.

Katie Trowbridge [00:26:06]:
A facilitator than it does this person.

Katie Trowbridge [00:26:09]:
Who is just kind of putting all the information out there and hoping something will stick. And I think that would also help.

Katie Trowbridge [00:26:15]:
Teachers stress teachers ability to be more creative, teachers ability to bring joy back.

Katie Trowbridge [00:26:20]:
In their classroom, because you know what?

Katie Trowbridge [00:26:23]:
You tell me, students, which direction should we go?

Katie Trowbridge [00:26:26]:
What are you curious about? What do you want to do next? And I think that that helps, again, with that creative, critical thinking, but also that trying to bring that joy back in the classroom again. So teachers love what they’re doing.

Cyndi Burnett [00:26:37]:
Love it. Well, Katie, you know, because you’ve listened to most of our episodes of the podcast, that we end every episode with three tips that you would give to educators to help them bring creativity into the classroom.

Katie Trowbridge [00:26:49]:
Absolutely. That’s. My favorite part of every episode. So here are my three things I think. Number one would be to allow yourself time to reflect and make mistakes that take risks. I know a lot of teachers can be fearful of that, and rightfully so. They have an observation and they do a big dog and pony show for their administrator. But there’s a part where we have to inside, take some risks and then be open and vulnerable to the failure. Trying something new in their classroom, I think is a great way to also bring back some fun in the classroom for yourself and experiencing something else. Number two, I would say be curious yourself. What makes me, the teacher, curious? What makes me creative? What makes me a critical thinker so that I’m taking care of myself and my well being. Do some research.

Katie Trowbridge [00:27:39]:
What do you want to I mean.

Katie Trowbridge [00:27:41]:
Like, I do things like I crochet. I do paint by numbers. I know, Cindy, you do paint by.

Katie Trowbridge [00:27:45]:
Number as, like, what’s going to feed.

Katie Trowbridge [00:27:47]:
My soul so that I can then feed the soul of my students. And taking that time to reflect personally and professionally on you, I would say is incredibly important. And the last thing I would say is join a community. There has to be someone out there.

Katie Trowbridge [00:28:03]:
Which we know through the Creative Thinking Network. Here’s what I believe.

Katie Trowbridge [00:28:07]:
I believe that there is great power when teachers work together, when they collaborate and they don’t compete. And I feel like that’s what this world needs right now, is for educators to come together, help each other out, support each other through all this, come up with new ideas, share those ideas. And then I really believe that there’s.

Katie Trowbridge [00:28:26]:
This great joy, this great movement that.

Katie Trowbridge [00:28:30]:
Can happen if we join together. So, like a Creative Thinking Network, having someone in your office that’s your BFF kind of thing that you go to, I was very honored to have several of those in my district that I knew I could go and talk to. So I think that those are my three major tips.

Matthew Worwood [00:28:47]:
Well, Katie, it has been an absolute pleasure having you on the show, and I’m looking forward to one day going to your website where you can buy a whole bunch of goodies and seeing a parachute as one of the things that you can purchase. As we reference in our intro to season seven, the Fueling, Creativity and Education podcast is in a sponsorship relationship with curiosity to create. And we’re really, really excited because I think in this discussion, you’ve highlighted all of the reasons why Cindy and I are so committed to this podcast and sharing all of the wonderful things that I think our guests have shared over the last couple of years of us doing that. So I’m looking forward to furthering our relationship.

Cyndi Burnett [00:29:29]:
So we would love it if you came to Creativethinkingnetwork.com and tried out our new online platform a professional network of educators for teachers who love new ideas. And we have a special offer for you. You can get one month free or 20% off the whole membership, which is $100 for the year. And that code is fueling 2023. My name is Dr. Cindy Burnett.

Matthew Worwood [00:29:53]:
And my name is Dr. Matthew Werwood.

Cyndi Burnett [00:29:56]:
This episode was produced by Creativity and Education in partnership with Warwoodclassroom.com. Our editor is Sina Yusefzade.

In what ways can creativity be infused into mathematics education, especially for students who may not naturally gravitate toward math?

In this episode of the Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast, Matthew Worwood and Cyndi Burnett are joined by special guest Katie Trowbridge. Katie is a highly experienced educator and the President and CEO of Curiosity to Create, a nonprofit organization dedicated to incorporating creative and critical thinking strategies into education.

Throughout the episode, Katie emphasizes the importance of putting things into context and reflecting on the impact of teaching strategies. She discusses the need for teachers to help students make connections and highlights the power of deep reflections to demonstrate these connections. 

The episode explores the vital role of creativity and critical thinking in education and the importance of teachers modeling the process of learning from failure and mistakes. Katie emphasizes the need to build a community around creative and critical thinking, involving both educators and parents. Critical thinking is particularly essential in today’s world, where students often seek answers without engaging in deeper analysis.

Finally, the episode encourages teachers to take risks and try new approaches in the classroom, allowing for reflection, mistakes, and growth. Katie highlights the significance of creative metacognition, which involves both critical and creative thinking, in developing knowledge and understanding of creativity. 

Guest Bio

Katie Trowbridge has over two decades of experience as a teacher and mentor. She is President and CEO of Curiosity 2 CREATE, a nonprofit organization focused on helping educators incorporate creative and critical thinking strategies into their existing curricula and build creative classroom environments. Katie has won several Teacher of Excellence and Outstanding Educator awards, has a Master’s in Teaching and a Master’s in Education Administration, and is pursuing her ED.D at Northeastern University in Boston. 

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Podcast Sponsor

We are thrilled to partner with Curiosity 2 Create as our sponsor, a company that shares our commitment to fostering creativity in education. Curiosity 2 Create empowers educators through professional development and community support, helping them integrate interactive, creative thinking approaches into their classrooms. By moving beyond traditional lecture-based methods, they help teachers create dynamic learning environments that enhance student engagement, improve academic performance, and support teacher retention. With a focus on collaborative learning and exploration, Curiosity 2 Create is transforming classrooms into spaces where students thrive through continuous engagement and growth.

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