Week 9 Journal

This week we learned about creativity in children. It is very important to foster creativity in children because it enables them to think abstractly and to come up with unique solutions to problems. Music is a great way to help students think creatively. Making up noises and sounds is done through creative thinking. Using books and having the children make up their own sounds helps them grow creatively. The children are able to use sounds they think would be used, as opposed to being told what noise to make. Such as a child being able to say that a bird can go "caw caw" instead of the teacher telling them that it goes "chirp chirp".

Student-centered teaching is greatly enhanced through an activity such as this. That is because the students get to help shape the activity. They decide what noises to make and possibly what instruments to use. This makes it more about them than if the teacher were just lecturing them.

Week 8 Journal

Creativity is a very important skill to encourage in children. It helps them to think of new and interesting ways to solve different problems. If children are able to think creatively they will be able to better understand certain concepts better. For example, children who are creative tend to do better at algebra than those that aren't. Also, creative people tend to do well in the world. They are able to solve problems that others might not be able to.

Music can help children be creative in many ways. Getting to experiment with different instruments and voice ranges enables them to think about different ways of doings things. Singing different songs helps to get the children to create different stories.

For my multicultural project I intend to use Germany as my country. I figure since my grandmother came over from Germany this will be a good way to find something out about my heritage.