This document discusses fostering creative thinking through classroom activities. It provides examples of talks and research that emphasize the importance of creativity in education. Activities are suggested to help students think creatively, such as having them draw their classroom from different perspectives, create stories from pictures, and explore alternative meanings and contexts for phrases. The conclusion emphasizes that creativity involves thinking without limitations.

1. Are We Facing a Creativity Crisis?
Fostering Creative Thinking
through Classroom Activities.
Eduardo Santos

2. Why Creative Thinking?

3. Creativity is thinking outside the box.

4. Unworkshop
• What would you like to discuss in this
workshop?
• What aspects/concepts of creativity would
you like to know more about?

6. Stefan Sagmeister TED Talk Oct 2009
“Every seven years, designer Stefan
Sagmeister closes his New York studio
for a yearlong sabbatical to rejuvenate
and refresh their creative outlook. He
explains the often overlooked value of
time off and shows the innovative
projects inspired by his time in Bali.”

8. Sir Ken Robinson TED Talk June 2006
• “Creativity is as important in education as
literacy and we should treat it with the same
status.”
• “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll
never come up with anything original.”

9. http://zhaolearning.com

11. Dr. Robert Fisher
We all have the capacity for creative thinking:
 generating and extending ideas,
 suggesting hypotheses,
 applying imagination,
 looking for alternative innovative outcomes
in any activity.
Fisher R. (in press), ‘Expanding Minds: Developing Creativity in Young
Learners ', CATS: The IATEFL Young Learners SIG journal. Spring 2006

20. Open your eyes!
• Ss see things in different ways. Ask your ss to
draw their classroom. What can they see?
• Compare drawings.
• How similar/different are they?

29. Context & Meaning
Create the context & meaning for one of the
following lines:
• “The door is open.”
• “I feel tired.”
• “What are you looking at?”

30. Mosaic
 A friend is coming to Paris for the first time and has
no idea where to go/what to do.
 What’s YOUR Paris like?
 Idea from Ceri Jones:
‘Unleashing the Power of Images’

32. Mosaic
Mosaic Maker:
http://bighugelabs.com/mosaic.php
ELT Pics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eltpics/

33. Photo Stories.
• What’s the story behind this image?
• Ask SS to bring their own pictures to the
classroom and come up with short stories or
anecdotes.
• Encourage them to be creative and to explore
different possibilities.

36. Happiness Project

42. Exploring texts
• Read the text and guess from / to
• Think about other possibilities.
• Analyze different possibilities according to...

45. Conclusion?
Creativity is not about
thinking outside the box,
it’s about thinking
there IS no box.

46. Thank You!
@eltbakery eltbakery@gmail.com