UPAL Project 1 - COHORT V - Group A: Nisaini, Tatiana, Bobby, and Jenn

Nisaini: GRACE

A.    I opted for the word grace. My image had this word etched out in cursive followed by a heart with a pulse visible inside.

B.    Grace is an anchor element in my life. I need grace daily to accomplish what the day affords me. Professionally and personally, attempting to exude grace is a priority and goal of mine. Grace keeps me grounded and reminds me of the conviction and purpose for my life.

3. Allow the opportunity for students to unleash and tap into their ingenuity--that we’d harness and identify their hidden strengths and talents.
4. A servant leader employs grace. By doing so, the opportunity for others creativity is able to seep through. There are so many unknown variables that are at play when serving as a leader. With that, having a gracious approach makes that work both attainable and sustainable.

Tatiana: BALANCE

A.    The law scale and the word “balance” placed at the center of my work of art has a chain attached to symbols/ images that represent faith, family, education, direction, people around the world, and various obligations/activities all interconnected.

B.    Balance represents the many hats educators wear and the chain represents how each educator might be attached to the many things at the same time achieving balance.

3. Students need to be able to express their feelings and thinking through art. May values, personal beliefs and struggles, aspirations can be revealed through art.
4. Balance is vital in a principal’s life.

Bobby:  CHANGE

A.    UPAL encourages us to foster the idea of promoting creativity in our schools. The word CHANGE is shown to move from past practices to new, creative practices. The change creates a brighter future.

B.    I chose this in order to reflect on my overall experience at UPAL.

3. Principals should understand that creativity is needed in our schools and can be a powerful tool to spark motivation.
4. I’ve learned that creativity, when fostered, nourished, and developed within our schools, produces innovative and motivated citizens.

Jenn: PRESENCE

My square represents presence.  Being present shows that you are interested, invested, and care.  I think principals need to understand that fostering creativity opens the human mind to experience endless possibilities, if guided effectively.  Without developing creativity, we would not have the advancements we have today.  School principals can themself be creative and use those creative talents to build and maintain positive school climate and culture.  Principals have more power and ability then they sometimes perceive.

PROJECT #1: Collaborative Representation of CREATIVITY

Scroll down for the project description:

PROJECT #1: Collaborative Representation of CREATIVITY

Each student is to create a visual representation of word (prompt) selected to represent his or her understanding of creativity.  In doing this individual work of art, students are to employ a visual art creative process with the goal of creating a visual work that will inspire viewers to engage with the prompt.

Additionally, individual students are to work in teams of 4 who are mindful, not only of how their individual work evolves, but of how all 4 of the works will work together to produce a group work of art with its own message about creativity.

Groups are to come up with 3 (or more) different solutions to arranging the individual squares in a ‘group whole’ work of art. Use CELL Phone to Photograph each arrangement.

Groups are to select the one arrangement that they feel best satisfies the challenge.
Text Assignment:
a) Identify your ‘square’ by describing it
b) Why did you choose the creativity prompt you did?
c) thinking about your experience today , what is 1 thing you want principals to understand about Student Creativity and how to foster, nourish, develop it?
d) Through the experience of today’s session, what have you learned about creativity for which you see a connection to the work of a school principal? Explain this in a sentence or 2 (or more).

UPAL Project 1 - COHORT VI - Group 5 "CREATE" (José, Tori, Alisha, Dane, and Jeanne)

Group ProjectTitle: “CREATE”

José (Letter C)

In a white square paper I wrote the letter “C” in the middle and paint it orange. At the down right corner I draw Darth Vader and in the opposite corner Yoda’s face. In the center of the big letter “C” the word “Power” is written The whole picture is painted in a light yellow color.

I chose to represent the conflict of power with a series of word and pictures. In the middle the word “Power” and in one corner Yoda’s face and in the other corner the “Vader” face. Yoda and Vader represent both sides of the conflict of power. Both are extremist in their ideologists. The real power, the power that creates and build, is a balance between those two extremes.

I would like my principal to know that you do not need to understand student’s creativity, just to let it flow.

Creativity is something school leaders should nurture. It is very easy to do. Just get out of the way and let your students take it wherever they want to. Sure it might be outside of your comfort zone. If you feel outside your comfort zone it means that you are not connected to your students. In return, what makes you feel like students are connecting to you? How do you know it? Maybe observing their creativity will be a good starting point.

Tori (Letter R)

My square that I created is represented with the letter “R”. Inside the letter “R” is the word “imagination”. The square is separated in half by a brain. The left side of the brain is colorful as it is the creative side of the brain. The right side of the brain is black and white because it is the more logical side, focusing on math and science. I chose the prompt “imagination” because for me, in order to be creative, I have to use my imagination. I think outside of the box and think in ways I do not typically think.

One thing I would like principals to understand about student creativity is that in order to foster and nourish it, the students need autonomy within boundaries. Set guidelines, but allow for options and student choice. Encourage thinking through the creative processes. In today’s session, I learned that making decisions requires looking through different lenses and considering all the perspectives. It also takes reflection before commitment.

Alisha (Letter E)

My square that I created is represented with the letter “E”. Inside the letter “E” is the word “play”. Around the letter “E” are activities that represent people playing such as cards, tic-tac-toe, Legos, etc. I choose the word play to represent creativity because I feel when people are engaged in creativity they are playing with ideas and themselves.

Through this experience, principals should understand that creativity is not something that is learned. It is something that students needs to experience through collaborative activities in order for the students to improve their creativity.

As a school leader, this activity has helped me see that I need to encourage my staff to instill creativity in their students by having them step out of their comfort zone in their own classrooms.

Dane (Letter A)

My square represents the letter “A”.  Inside the letter “A” is the creative prompt “vision”.  I used an eye to show a literal representation of vision.  I used a gear as an eyeball with another gear to represent thinking outside the box.  Using your vision to create something unique. Reflecting upon my experience today, principals today need understand the purpose and need for creativity in school.  They need to empower teachers to engage students in creative outlets and activities that have a purpose.

Through this experience, I learned that creativity can be a collaborative process.  It is important to have a clear vision by all. I

n a school, the leader needs to set clear expectations and explain ideas to the staff. Teachers need to understand what is expected of them.  They need to know what the common goal is so the school can work together for the best outcome.

Jeanne (Letter T and E)

My square represented the letter “T” in the word create.  Within the square is the word innovation. Reflecting on the word, the purpose of innovation is the transformation of ideas in the creation of something new. 

With this class activity I reflected on how we have been reforming schools for 65 years from more to better;  this is represented in the horizontal part of the letter T. Our great hope is that new school innovations (doing it differently) will build collaboration, autonomy, and a powerful creative expression in classroom instruction. In summary, the E symbolizes the energy needed to transform ideas into a political platform with vision and imagination for the new era of school reform.

UPAL Project 1 - COHORT VI - Group 4: Ryan, Ramon, Matt, Kalomo, and Walter

Ryan Creange: PROGRESS

The square that I have represents continuing to move forward in the face of adversity.  Progress displays the continual movement in a positive direction.

Why did you choose the creativity prompt you did?

I chose progress for the creativity and symbolism that it represents.  As a school leader it is important to keep your faculty and staff moving in a positive path.

Thinking about your experience today, what is 1 thing you want principals to understand about Student Creativity and how to foster, nourish, develop it?

Creativity is important because it fosters thinking.  The power of thought fosters learning and sense of self-worth.  Through self-worth, a positive, empathetic, and nurturing culture can be established.

Through the experience of today’s session, what have you learned about creativity for which you see a connection to the work of a school principal? Explain this in a sentence or 2 (or more).

I learned that the process of working together, coming to an agreement, and being able to compromise, are all very important aspects to building a strong working environment where learning and sharing can take place.

Ramon: AUTONOMY
My square represented Autonomy. Autonomy is an important factor within a successful framework. Within my square I represented an image of a megaphone which would represent the individuals within your structure having a voice and say in the organization of the framework.

As a school leader it is important to embrace the creativity of our students in order to allow for student achievement and growth. Creativity and Autonomy will also allow leaders to identify those variously talented students.

Matt: ABSTRACT

The square I created was a combination of the word “abstract” and the word “progress.” The initial word I chose was “abstract” because I feel like when being creative it is important to think outside of the box. Every creative process should attempt to create something new. In order to achieve the idea of something new an artist needs to begin thinking outside of preconceived notions they may have about the artwork. 

Thinking about your experience today, what is 1 thing you want principals to understand about Student Creativity and how to foster, nourish, develop it?

One thing I want principals to understand about student creativity and how to foster, nourish, develop it is that a student’s mind is precious. Creativity is a perishable skill and due to that it can be honed or subdued. Principals need to understand that creativity should be incorporated into every classroom on a regular basis. The more often students utilize their creative skills the better the skills will become. Principals that subscribe to this mode of thinking need to realize that creativity and artwork is a process not a singular moment of brilliance. Principals need to realize that creativity is lengthy process of theory, experimentation, rethinking theory, more experimentation, trial and error, and finally a product. If principals do not understand this they will be stunting the creative process in students and staff.

Kalomo: INGENUITY / ADVOCACY

The framework establishes a vision of excellence for school leadership that is aligned with high expectations. Furthermore, the model focuses on success for all students and the emerging needs of students in the 21st century. The framework includes four domains: Ingenuity, Progress, Abstract, and Advocacy. Each member of the team selected two domains. Ingenuity underlines the prowess and cleverness when school leaders solve problems. Advocacy position school leaders to subscribe to the needs of their stakeholders.

Student creativity is a space that yields ideas to results. As principals, we can provide students with a framework such as Bloom's Taxonomy to gather an in-depth understanding of their thoughts.  

Through the experience of today’s session, what have you learned about creativity for which you see a connection to the work of a school principal? Explain this in a sentence or 2 (or more).

Today's experience of creativity demonstrates how principals delegate task and tackle goals aggressively. Principals establish a framework with the leadership team to assign areas of improvement to team members.

Walter: Observation

Several images were captured and the team agreed on the single three dimensional image.  After several arrangements team members were perplexed while exercising judgments on each arrangement.  Two of seven arrangements were agreed upon by the team but the final synopsis of the arrangement has been attached.  The team concluded the role of a principal is three dimensional, therefore the paper arrangement should represent a three dimensional model of words

Process:  Theory, thinking outside the box in the eye of the beholder (open for interpretation).

Thought process was revived from the ASCA Model for School Counselors. Each team member came up with one word each then added a different word to compliment a three dimensional view.  Individual images were arranged to represent the abstract showing words abstract on the top held up by advocacy and ingenuity; which represents the functions of a school leader.