Matthews and Foster (2009) wrote about the difficulties measuring creativity.  Does this mean giving kids freedom to be creative means they cannot be reliably marked?  Here’s a venue to be creative and your pieces won’t be marked but will be valued.

A poem from the point of view of a bright, troubled student I taught with little success.  

Creating Makes Me Feel Free

Who told you to tell me what to write?

Mr Teacher Guide or “the you” who is always right,

I’ll tell you once,

And you can count that twice,

Carry on like that,

And soon I won’t be so nice.

Restrain me at your own pace,

But don’t expect me to take part in your race,

Why do we have to run it anyway?

To achieve,

Or,

To make you worth what they pay?

Time for for you to leave your cage,

And I’ll step aside from all my rage,

Guide me, to help me find,

Ways to prosper,

And a me that’ll bring piece of mind.

If only you’d listen, you would know…

Creating makes me feel free,

Free from the burden you place on me,

Or is creating finding?

The real me that is hiding,

And tossing aside,

The part of me,

From all that’s harmful on the outside,

If the creating is me,

I want the freedom,

To be,

Constantly overpowering the one,

That the outside world has brought on,

And I will ultimately be,

The one that I would like to be.

Please post any of your expressions on what freedom in the classroom means to you:)

Now, go check out “Freedom to Blog”.  It’s a great place to release your thoughts about the need for freedom in the classroom!