About me and my family...
My name is Laura Miralda. I was born and raised in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. I am a Special Education teacher and have a Masters Degree in Learning Disabilities. I currently work in an Elementary Resource Room where I teach students with mild learning disabilities. I am married to a Special Education teacher as well. My husband and I met while voluntering for an organization that helps orphan children with severe disabilities. We have a very special son named Ian. He is the bravest person we have ever met. Many people call him the "miracle baby". Our son was born premature and had many difficulties at birth. In fact, his weight was around 2 and a half pounds. Luckily, he was able to overcome all the obstacles that came with his premature birth. When he was 6 months old, things were beginning to seem normal, but the real adventure was about to begin. Ian was diagnosed with a brain tumor and as a result, had low vision and hydrocephalus symptoms. It was believed that it was impossible to remove the tumor because of its location. However, we decided to give it a try. The tumor was removed completely and Ian survived. After four months in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Ian finally came out of the hospital. During his stay in the hospital he was infected with a terrible bacteria that left him with cerebral palsy and epilepsy. The doctors told us that 3/4 of his brain were completely damaged and he would not be able to have a normal life, if he ever made it out of the hospital. However, God had other plans for us. Ian is now almost 2 years old and is home with us. Each day has its own challenges, but we are learning to find creative ways to help our son have a normal life. Special Education has always been our passion and now that we have a son with special needs it has become a lifestyle.
CREATIVITY
Creativity is a powerful word that can take you beyond what you can ever imagine. I believe creativity is the process in which one has to think outside the box in order to be able to come up with an idea or solution to a given problem or need. Creativity nowadays is a must to be able to survive. We live in a world that requires prompt problem solving and the only way to do that is to be creative.
Other definitions from literature include:
“Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others.” – Robert E. Franken, Human Motivation
“’Creative’ refers to novel products of value, as in ‘The airplane was a creative invention.’ ‘Creative’ also refers to the person who produces the work, as in, ‘Picasso was creative.’ ‘Creativity,’ then refers both to the capacity to produce such works, as in ‘How can we foster our employees’ creativity?’ and to the activity of generating such products, as in ‘Creativity requires hard work.’” – Robert W. Weisberg, Creativity – Beyond the Myth of Genius
“Creativity is any act, idea, or product that changes an existing domain, or that transforms an existing domain into a new one… What counts is whether the novelty he or she produces is accepted for inclusion in the domain.” – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Creativity – Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
“Creativity is nothing more than seeing and acting on new relationships, thereby bringing them to life.”– Joseph V. Anderson, Weirder than fiction: the reality and myths of creativity
“Creativity is generating new ideas and concepts, or making connections between ideas where none previously existed.” – Mitchell Rigie and Keith Harmeyer, SmartStorming
“Creativity is the ability to find new solutions to a problem or new modes of expression; thus it brings into existence something new to the individual and to the culture.” – Dr. Betty Edwards, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
“I define creativity as the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity involves two processes: thinking, then producing. Innovation is the production or implementation of an idea. If you have ideas, but don’t act on them, you are imaginative but not creative.” – Linda Naiman, Creativity At Work
“Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being. Creativity requires passion and commitment. It brings to our awareness what was previously hidden and points to new life. The experience is one of heightened consciousness: ecstasy.” – Rollo May, The Courage to Create
“Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no one else has thought.” – Einstein, quoted in Creativity, Design and Business Performance
“Creativity is the ability to generate innovative ideas and manifest them from thought into reality. The process involves original thinking and then producing.” – Wikipedia
Other definitions from literature include:
“Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others.” – Robert E. Franken, Human Motivation
“’Creative’ refers to novel products of value, as in ‘The airplane was a creative invention.’ ‘Creative’ also refers to the person who produces the work, as in, ‘Picasso was creative.’ ‘Creativity,’ then refers both to the capacity to produce such works, as in ‘How can we foster our employees’ creativity?’ and to the activity of generating such products, as in ‘Creativity requires hard work.’” – Robert W. Weisberg, Creativity – Beyond the Myth of Genius
“Creativity is any act, idea, or product that changes an existing domain, or that transforms an existing domain into a new one… What counts is whether the novelty he or she produces is accepted for inclusion in the domain.” – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Creativity – Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
“Creativity is nothing more than seeing and acting on new relationships, thereby bringing them to life.”– Joseph V. Anderson, Weirder than fiction: the reality and myths of creativity
“Creativity is generating new ideas and concepts, or making connections between ideas where none previously existed.” – Mitchell Rigie and Keith Harmeyer, SmartStorming
“Creativity is the ability to find new solutions to a problem or new modes of expression; thus it brings into existence something new to the individual and to the culture.” – Dr. Betty Edwards, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
“I define creativity as the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity involves two processes: thinking, then producing. Innovation is the production or implementation of an idea. If you have ideas, but don’t act on them, you are imaginative but not creative.” – Linda Naiman, Creativity At Work
“Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being. Creativity requires passion and commitment. It brings to our awareness what was previously hidden and points to new life. The experience is one of heightened consciousness: ecstasy.” – Rollo May, The Courage to Create
“Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no one else has thought.” – Einstein, quoted in Creativity, Design and Business Performance
“Creativity is the ability to generate innovative ideas and manifest them from thought into reality. The process involves original thinking and then producing.” – Wikipedia
My philosophy of creative learning and teaching
Creativity to the classroom is like water to a swimming pool! Learning revolves around a creative process because for a student to be able to learn they have to take what they already know and transform it into something new. As a special education teacher, planning every lesson involves a creative process as well. Every day I a have to find a way to engage my students lo embrace what I am teaching even though they have a learning disability that most of the time makes them dislike anything that has to do with school. I firmly believe we are all talented and creative beings that should be given the opportunity to explore our potentials to bring out the best out of ourselves. Our responsability as teachers is to make sure that our students feel that they can do and be anyone they want to be if they set their mind to it.
Rationale for Creative Learning
Having a learning disability can be discouraging while trying to learn new things in school. School should be a place where everybody feels welcome even when they don't fit the profile that is expected. We are all different and have different needs. If you take a minute and look at your hand you will notice that each finger is different from the one next to it, yet each one has its own particular characteristics that make your hand a great tool. The same thing happens with our students in the classroom. Each and every student has a different way of thinking and is talented in one or many ways. This is exactly where creativty comes to mind. For us to be able to satisfy our students needs, we need to be part of a creative process in which we address their particular needs and encourage them to be creative as well.