Creativity, one of the “4Cs”, can seem like an aspirational, yet elusive skill to teach students, and its importance for teaching in the content areas is often underestimated. Looking to professional artists to understand what they do, how they think, and their processes—no matter what their passion is—can help educators develop a deeper understanding of creativity and how it can support their teaching. How do artists express their creativity? What is creativity? How has creativity led to advances in my content area? What can we learn from the arts about how to access our own creativity? In this course, teachers will explore creativity and how the creative process works, as they develop their own creative thinking and strategies to nurture their students’ creativity to support learning. Through an exploration of Joy2Learn artists, teachers will learn how to promote creativity in their classrooms, and deepen their understanding of creativity as a skill that can be developed and used across all of the disciplines. By the end of the course, teachers will appreciate how professional artists think and practice, and recognize that creative thinking as a mindset and habit that everyone can develop—and how vitally important creativity is for living and working in the 21st century.

Through this course, educators will learn:

1. Studying Joy2Learn professional artists—musicians, dancers, actors, painters, sculptors—can help students and teachers gain an understanding the creative process and apply it to support their own learning.
2. Creativity is a habit and a language that is accessible to everyone; it is not what you do, but how you do it.
3. Creativity helps teachers put passion and joy in learning; when teachers connect to their own creativity, they can model this vital way of thinking for their students.
4. Learning from artists and the creative process in the arts can help unlock creative thinking across the disciplines.

As a final project, teachers will create a creative classroom activity or project inspired by Joy2Learn videos and what they learn about creativity.

• 30 hours
• 4–5 hours per session
• 6 sessions
• Expectations: Complete activities and participate in discussions each week, with a culminating project to implement after the course is over.

1. What is Creativity and Why Does it Matter?
2. Thinking Creatively
3. Creativity is for Everyone
4. Creativity Across the Disciplines
5. Can You Teach to the Standards and Promote Creativity? Yes!
6. Infusing Creativity in My Classroom