Creativity comes in a variety of forms. There are no limitations to creativity. It’s all about expressing yourself in unique ways, whether it is through visual art, writing stories, photography, dance, etc. Here at John Dewey we are surrounded by creative students that use different forms of art to share their feelings with others.
Even though creativity thrives individually, can everyone collaborate effectively to create a work that reflects both people’s feelings? Well, in our school, teachers find several ways of teaching students to share their creative thoughts with others. This results in successful projects filled with creativity and meaning.
One example of successful collaborations at our school is from Ms. Cifferelli’s English class, where the ninth graders write novels. Now, they are working with Ms. Escalera’s photography class to create covers for their book. This showcases how creativity merges, as the Photography students must visualize and interpret the novelists’ descriptions to bring their ideas to life. This sometimes can be troublesome for the artist creating the covers just because some of the novelists ask for things that can be hard to accomplish.
Teachers decide to start projects that require them to be in collaboration with other students that they might have never met or talked to just for the students to experience and learn how it will be once they start jobs. “Well as I told my students, it’s weirdly the most applicable to the real world project that we are gonna do… it’s as if working with a client and working with someone that you’re paying to work on something and so like hopefully the artist also gets something from it cause if you’re going to be an artist professionally you have to work with someone who’s like you need to be able to listen to what they want and like deliver it.” said Ms. Cifferelli, an English teacher.
Sometimes, the idea of collaboration with an art class surges from the teacher’s interest and background. One of the reasons why Ms. Ciferelli decided to incorporate art in her class because she grew up surrounded by art as her father was an artist himself, so besides being an English teacher she shares the same interest as her father when it comes to arts. She believes that art should be incorporated in other subjects outside of an art classroom, students need to learn the beauty of arts and even though they might not become artists they should still learn how to appreciate and incorporate art in their lives.
From collaborating with others we gain knowledge and experience which will be beneficial for us in the future. These are more of a personal project as the only ones who get a copy of these novels are the authors and the teacher.
Covers for the books have been really successful so far and just like teachers enjoy seeing their students work on projects that are beneficial to them, so do students enjoy learning and experience in different aspects.
Collaboration sparks creativity, allowing ideas to grow in ways they never would alone. By working with others, we gain invaluable experience and create something truly meaningful. Embracing teamwork and creativity today can lead to endless possibilities for the future.
