Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) is the second largest school district in Tennessee. With 159 schools, 79,651 students, and 126 languages spoken, the student population is incredibly diverse, not only culturally but also socio-economically. MNPS shifted to virtual learning in late March 2020 on the heels of devastating tornadoes that ripped…

Storytelling is a part of who people are as humans. Melvil Dewey himself saw the need to catalog folktales and stories from the oral tradition in the 390s, a section dedicated to social customs. Stories form a part of the very fabric of who people are and give insight into the past as much, if not more so, than the histories. Teachers can leverage…

With the influx of technology, school library programs started to adapt traditional services by embracing new innovative resources. However, even with online research databases and cloud computing, most school libraries still occupy a fixed physical space in the school, a destination for students and teachers when they need help with reading or…

Young scholars readily encounter creative characters in both literature and in life who stimulate questioning, problem solving, communicating, and pursuing interests and personal growth. By fueling students' creativity, school librarians demonstrate respect for the unique individuals they are now and honor them for the people they are…

Creativity is about openness and connection, it signals the chance to get ideas, share ideas, and try new things or put together old things in new ways. Libraries have always had the potential to source and support creative activities. Public library events and opportunities bring together people, ideas, and stuff (whether fabric, paint, wood,…

Author Lori Flint, has a PhD in educational psychology/ gifted and creative education and is a board member for the North Carolina Association for the Gifted and Talented. She advocates for students of all ages and abilities, especially the underdogs. She begins this article with a discussion of the origins of creativity in the world of education…

Educators know that creativity and innovation involve questioning and the capacity to frame topics as problems to be solved. They know that we are living in a time of a new generation of standards, including the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). In the U.S., compliance with these standards requires that educators encourage students to ask…

A connection between creativity and curiosity may seem self evident, and, indeed, psychologists and philosophers have long held that creativity and curiosity are related. It seems logical enough. One can imagine that the typical individual is satisfied by the usual solution to a problem or the usual way to conceptualize a situation, but the…

Education has long been a central issue for creativity research, and the integration of creativity and education has remained a goal and controversy. In spite of over sixty years of trying to bring creativity into education, education is often criticized for not teaching creative thinking, while also criticized from other quarters for not meeting…

In this article author Theresa Anderson asserts that even if little agreement has been reached about how to go about doing so, nurturing the creativity of students is increasingly recognized as important for their learning and for their overall participation in the dynamic future worlds they will inhabit as adults. They will need to be creative,…

Assessment can be defined as any method through which one gathers data or information about something. Assessing may incorporate measurement and testing, but it also includes evaluation and appreciation of creative products, processes, and performances. It encompasses finding out much more information than test results alone can give. Creative…

Proud Readers Own What's Learned (PROWL) was developed out of the need to find an engaging, creative process for readers to express what they have read and, frankly, to let teachers see that the students actually read the books. In other more prescriptive reading programs students can go through the motions and actually pass tests without having…

A makerspace is a physical place in the library where informal, collaborative learning can happen through hands-on creation, using any combination of technology, industrial arts, and fine arts that is not readily available for home use. The underlying goal of a makerspace is to encourage innovation and creativity through the use of technology-to…

As teachers strive to make sense of and implement knowledge of creativity that is available from the research community, school librarians are called upon to help turn rhetoric into reality. Developing the creativity habit is far more meaningful and effective if the classroom activity is representative of the real-world problem-solving process.…

Picture a professor of library and information science working in her office on the fourth floor of the university library. She is away from student traffic and relatively isolated from other faculty on campus. Nevertheless, the professor has much to be proud of as she uses computer technology to reach, teach, and interact with enrolled students…