Reflection: Creativity & Motivation In the Classroom

In a recent class lecture my classmates and I discussed what motivated us to play video games.  We then connected those characteristics to the classroom environment.  What motivated us to play video games included: Challenging, satisfying to beat personal score, collaboration, optimally challenging, stimulating, & personal interest.  The list goes on.  The professor was trying to draw a connection that the characteristics that motivate us to play video games should be what we incorporate into the classroom.  Her classroom lecture reminded me of Jane McGonigal’s short clip.  Jane, similar to my classroom professor is trying to take the feelings people get from video games and connect them to real life.  She wants to be able to take the feelings people get from video games and apply them to real life work.  I do think there is room for this in schools, and I think it is important to find ways to motivate the students the way they are motivated to play video games.  I also enjoyed Ken Robinson’s video.  I agree with his idea that we should nurture the student’s creativity. I also thought his idea of how we are educating children for a future that is unknown to us is interesting.  Similar to Ken Robinson, I also feel we should be educating the student’s whole being and embracing our children for who they are.  Throughout school, I have always struggled to do well.  Classes such as art and music were always a place I was able to express my creativity. Those were the classes I looked forward to going to, because I was able to express my self in different ways, as well as use skills I had that I might not be able to use in other classes such as Math or Science.  I strongly feel skills such as creativity need to be embraced just as much as the importance of knowledge.