Teaching at Genius Level

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Repurposing in the Kitchen

This week in CEP810 I was introduced to the TPACK model and got my hands dirty in the kitchen.  It was a situation in which we had to repurpose tools to achieve an outcome.  Here’s my experience:

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Mission: Divergent Thinking

Throughout this activity, I thought frequently of this excerpt from this TEDTalk, given by Ken Robinson because I could feel myself challenged to think divergently.

I wonder how most teachers would fair in this “cod example.”  Certainly there’s a need for divergent-thinking teachers as classroom situations are often less than ideal. Teachers regularly face this kind of square-peg-in-a-round-hole scenario.

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If We Can’t, They Won’t

More resources and technology could potentially add value to the classroom, don’t get me wrong.  (Please don’t read this as “teachers should just use what they’ve got and be grateful.”)  But, no matter the resources, ideal circumstances will never exist – that’s just life.  And it’s why divergent thinking is crucial for teachers.  We must “repurpose” everything, as Punya Mishra, co-creator of the TPACK model, would say.  

I’d say that one of the best ways to teach divergent thinking is to have divergent thinking teachers. People who think divergently – who explore, create and share, according to Mishra – inspire this in others.  I gained inspiration from watching a colleague make-do in the kitchen this week.  Her tools weren’t the same, but seeing her think divergently to repurpose her tools, helped support my own repurposing once I started.

Too often we play by the rule, “Do as I say, not as I do.”  Too often we want students to think in wildly creative ways, without being will to do so ourselves.

This week I’m feeling reenergized to dive in, to repurpose what I have, and to teach at genius level.