UPDATE: No VoiceThread for this week. I’ll add a couple questions to next week’s Vthread.

UPDATE #2: Here are the photos of the first round of the chair project. I will give you a print of your chair tomorrow.

1) We viewed the chair transformation project. Each student was asked to talk about their chair’s “Amazingness.” For next week, the chair is to be completely reconfigured as an opposite in every way of the first chair. One suggestion for this was to think of an “Evil Twin” taking over, and remaking the chair.

2) We watched a short clip on creativity training in dolphins, and then a bio on Jim Denevan, a highly created individual involved in making giant scale, ephemeral drawings, and collaborative food projects.

3) We listened to an excerpt from Shakti Gawain’s book on creativity. There was a list of questions about personal creativity, and if any negative self-talk occurs during this week’s project, try her technique for dealing with “The Inner Critic.”

4) We used the “Visit Ancient Egypt” exercise, in order to solve, or make progress on an immediate and pressing problem.

5) First individually, and then in pairs, we did a classic brainstorming exercise called, “Crossing a Chasm.” The goal of brainstorming is to get into a flow state, in which you develop a vast number of alternative solutions to a problem. This necessitates a temporary switching off of the analytical / logical part of the brain.

6) And we watched Ken Robinson’s lecture, “Do School’s Kill Creativity,” which summarizes part of his book, “The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything.”