Creative Constraints and Teaching

According to The Design Council, six 8-studded Lego
blocks can be put into over 900 million different combinations.  

The core of the issue is this:  when you tell most people to 'be creative' on demand, they'll freeze. When you give them 3 crayons, 6 legos, or 17 syllables, they'll make something interesting.   They'll learn, they'll think deeply, they'll get creative.

This concept has been employed by playwrights, computer programers, architects, and CEOs.  It's worth looking at in detail. 


One feature of my work that I'm going to explore more is the concept of 'creative constraints'.  It's been a big but unspoken part of a lot of work that I do, including the six sounds project.  In the six sounds projects, participants get a short tutorial on audio editing, and then have to create a one minute story using six sounds (phone ring, engine, heart beat, match strike, splash, crickets).

It's been a popular activity for ISTE, NJAET, and classrooms around the world.  I've heard comedies, dramas, sci-fi..and quite a few camping stories.  This goal of this isn't just to teach audio editing--but the power or remix, the power of people to take the same group of items and synthesize them into new kinds of creative blends.

I've experienced this myself and used it in my teaching. However, I've only recently focused on the research behind this phenomenon--'creative constraints'

The concept of creative constraints is that creativity and innovation are fostered not by complete freedom but by limits.

In my research on creative constraints I've come across examples from poetry (Lehrer, 2011), computer engineering (Mayer), management, architecture (Sturt, 2013), and improvisational comedy (May, 2013).  It's also one of the fundamental principles of game design (see Salen and Zimmerman's seminal work The Rules of Play--the title tells the story).  Any time a concept is useful to playwrights, computer programmers, and CEOs, it should be taken note of.

When people work within restrictions, they test boundaries, challenge assumptions, and innovate with a set of resources.

One recent example of this in my work was when I was with a group of English teachers in Massachusetts.  They were struggling with teaching The Odyssey.  Kids were frustrated with the language and lost with the plot.  The textbook's emphasis on the historic background was not helping matters.   So, we brainstormed on the 'big ideas' of The Odyssey.   What ideas, language, knowledge and skills do you want kids to have from this?   We came up with the concept of a hero's exciting and serendipitous journey and the use, beauty and power of epic similes (similes and metaphor are some of the original remixes, IMHO).  We came up with the recipe for the 3-Minute Epic.

The 3-Minute Epic employs filmmaking, remix, and creative constraints to engage students in these ‘big ideas’ of epic poetry.
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In the Three-Minute Epic students must create an adventure story with a set of ‘items’—particular images, sounds, and epic similes from The Odyssey. This can be a model for working with other literature or history topics.  They can use a variety of technology--from PowerPoint, Photostory, iMovie, or Final Cut Pro.

However, sophisticated editing and technical skills are not one of our goals, so I would keep this as simple as possible (hint, PowerPoint).

For Students:

For this project you will create a three-minute digital story using existing language and media.

It should be an adventure of a 'hero'. It is up to you to determine, and eventually explain, what is adventurous and heroic about your story.

Your final project should have images, narration, and sound effects; music is optional.

In your story, you need to use the following similes from the Odyssey. ( What kinds of experiences can these descriptions apply to?):

• ...like some animal surrounded, dreading the gangs of hunters closing their cunning ring around him for the finish...
• ...like some lion of the wilderness that stalks about exulting in his strength and defying both wind and rain; his eyes glare as he prowls in quest of oxen, sheep, or deer, for he is famished, and will dare break even into a well fenced homestead...
• ...like an octopus, when you drag one from his chamber, comes up with suckers full of tiny stones...
• ...like a judge at the end of a day at court, who’s settled the countless suits of brash young claimants, rises, the day’s work done, and turns home for supper...

You need to use the following images in your story:


Boat
http://www.dragonflyranch.com/images/indexpicts/Boat-sunset.jpg


Striking a Match
http://www.bushwhacker.ca/match.jpg


You need to use the following sound effects in your story:

Beating Heart
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8tss6YIo6YvNTU5YTM1YjktYzA0OC00MmI1LTkzN2MtNTc1ZjM1YmI1NGZh/edit?usp=sharing


Chirping Crickets
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8tss6YIo6YvN2M5Nzc1MzEtYWU2Ny00YTljLTk4MWMtODQ1MzdkZDFlMmQx/edit?usp=sharing




Rules

• It must be between 2 and 3 minutes
• There has to be a story with a beginning, plot, and conclusion (extra credit for starting "In Medias Res")
• You can cross genres and mix your epic with true life, drama, modern, comedy, detective, romance, action, fantasy, horror, scifi; the setting can be contemporary, historic, fantastic, etc.
• No profanity or use of personal information
• It can have characters and a narrator, just characters, or just a narrator.
• You can add images, sound effects, and narration, but you must use the quotes and media above
• You can get pictures from the Web or use original images (e.g. a close up of a group member as the hero/villain)

Assessment

Story is between 2-3 minutes (pass/fail)

25% Plot Elements--story is entertaining and coherent with an engaging beginning, action throughout, and a clear conclusion.

25% Mix--narration and media elements complement each other; audio is clear and read with appropriate tone

20% Required Elements--all required media and quotes are used appropriately to tell a story; similes compare different things

20% New Elements--new images, sound effects and music advance the story

10% Hero and Adventure--each member of the group can explain why the main character is a hero and why the story is an adventure (odyssey, epic, etc.)

References on Creative Contraints

Lenrer, J. (2013) Need to create: Get a constraint. From Wired Magazine Online, retrieved November 23, 20013 from http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/11/need-to-create-get-a-constraint/


May, M. (2013). How intelligent restraints drive creativity. From Harvard Business Review Blog Network, retrieved November 24, 2013 from http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/01/how-intelligent-constraints-dr/


Meyer, M. A. (2006). Creativity loves constraints. From Business Week Online, retrieved November 29, 2013 from http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-02-12/creativity-loves-constraints


Sturt, D. (2013). Creativity: How constraints drive genius. From Forbes Online, retrieved November 24, 2013 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2013/07/12/creativity-how-constraints-drive-genius/

When the Lit Hits the Fan (Guest Post for the School Library Journal)

This week I was honored to be a guest blogger for the School Library Journal on the topic of fanfiction in education, thanks to the great Peter Gutierrez, who I've been cyber-stalking since I met him at NCTE a few years ago.  Here's the beginning of the entry:

Starting around 2001, friends began to tell me about their children’s fascination with fanfiction—writing, reading, and critiquing it. By the time the fourth person told me how much fanfiction had helped her daughter grow as a confident writer I had already started exploring its role in student writing. Over the last eight years I have used fanfiction in my work as a teacher educator. It is a formal part of a graduate course on “Technology in the English Language Arts” that I teach, and it has worked its way into other work I do as well. In that graduate class, I share my research and encourage teachers to consider using fanfiction in their own teaching. Though the specifics of the project changes, there are a few general stages that we work through.

full post here...When the Lit Hits the Fan, SLJ

Teaching with Foley

Foley is the art of making sound effects with ordinary objects.  It can be used to both support traditional literacies and expand the communication tools of students.   It can augment and expand traditional literacy in readers' theater and dramatic interpretations.  It can also teach executive function skills such as coordinating in a group and waiting for cues.  Foley can also be a tool to teach 21st century skills--transforming ordinary objects into completely different meanings (e.g. cups become galloping horses) teaches kids a lot about capitalizing on the characteristic of a medium (e.g. you only hear the cups) as well as the power of effects and manipulation. 

I have done Foley work with 2nd graders to stimulate their speaking and writing as well as with 10th graders to help them produce and analyze a scene for Shakespeare.  

Here's a video on Foley art from the LA Times:

Here are some Foley ideas from Remixing Shakespeare:

Here are Foley ideas that work well with literacy projects:

• Horses galloping: plastic cups on a desk
• Army Marching: Boots on wood, repeated and looped
• Shovels: Spoons in sand or pebbles
• Pick ax: Pipes or metal spoons
• Applause: 2-3 People clapping, repeated and looped
• Knocking on door: Knocking on desk or wood
• Time bomb ticking: Clock
• Airplane engine: Fan starting and running
• Helicopter: Opening and closing an umbrella very fast
• Bones breaking: cracking celery or carrots
• Surgery (or anything squishy): Manipulating Jello
• Knight moving in armor: A set of keys moving
• Walking or running in leaves or forest: crunching potato chips with hands (use latex gloves to avoid greasy hands
• Walking in snow: patting corn starch
• Dinosaur, monster, or large animal eating: Chewing Watermelon
• Elevator door closing: closing a desk draw or filing cabinet
• Boiling water: Blowing bubbles with a straw in water

Another idea that works is to demonstrate a few Foley techniques and then give the students some of these objects and have them decide what they sound like.

Leave your Tone after the Beep

Quickstart

This is an activity to teach tone.  It connects to teaching writers how to use tone with different audiences and different purposes.

For this activity, you will leave a short voice mail message (see items 1-18 below or make your own following the rules).

The rules are--you are trying to set up a meeting at 9am on Friday with Michael and/or Jennifer Shelby (fictitious couple). You must create a scenario and leave a message with an appropriate tone. Use the comments feature on the VoiceThread video below. Your message should be shorter than 20 seconds or less than 75 words. You have to keep it clean and no 'real' personal information.

You are required to leave an audio message, but feel free to add other comments in text. You cannot leave a message that has been left already (so please listen to all that are there). Here's the link to the full project.

Overview


Tone is a difficult concept to teach students even though it is one of the most fundamental aspects of our written and spoken communication. This activity will help students accurately characterize tone as readers and listeners as well as effectively use tone as writers and speakers. One reason tone is difficult to teach is because often students are formally introduced to tone when they are reading a challenging text and getting pushed for comprehension and fluency. This activity introduces tone in a way that connects the concept of tone to everyday situations and invests the students as readers, writers, and speakers of different tones. It can be done as a stand-alone activity or before or during the study of tone in a poem, short story, or novel.

Activity: Reading

All of the messages below are voice mails left for Jennifer and Michael Shelby. All of the messages request the same thing--a meeting for 9pm on Friday.
1) From a boss who wants to see an employee who is chronically late. Michael, We need to meet. I’ll expect you in my office at 9am sharp on Friday morning.

2) From a friend who wants to apologize. Oh, Jennifer. I really need to talk to you. I hope you’ll listen to me. Can we meet? Friday? Around 9 in the morning? I’ll bring the coffee.

3) From a teacher who wants to see the parent of a student who seems troubled lately. Hello, Ms. Shelby. This is Mr. Ross, Johnny’s homeroom teacher. I was hoping we could meet. Your son is doing OK in class, but I was concerned about his mood lately and wanted to talk to you about it. Let me know if we can meet. Is 9am on Friday good for you? You can contact me on my cell 311 555-2368.

4) From an aluminum siding salesman who wants to show a homeowner your product. Hello, Mr Shelby, I’m Ralph Bellabue from Armorall Siding. I’ve got a great new product—perfect for your house, and we’re running a sale this month. I’ll be in your neighborhood, and I’d love to stop by and give you some information that I think you’ll find valuable. Let me know if 9am on Friday is a good time for you. You can contact me at 311 555-2368.


Think about these questions-- How would you describe the tone? How does the tone relate to the purpose and audience? * What words, phrases and punctuation convey the tone? How would you say each of the messages?

Activity: Creating a Message

You too want to set up a meeting at Friday at 9 am with "Jennifer" or "Michael," the fictional couple who we are communicating to. Again, The facts of this message will be the same—meeting, Friday, 9 am—but you must change your tone based on the situation. For this activity you will be leaving a voice mail. You do not have to give all of the information about the meeting on the recording….only enough to set up the meeting. You can make up details such as names and places. Just keep the message to less than 20 seconds/or 75 words. Think of the words, phrases, punctuation when you write and then the vocal inflections when you speak. This all creates your tone. Create a message for a 9 am Friday meeting based on these scenarios:
5) You are a very wealthy adult who wants to surprise your mother and father (Jennifer and Michael) with the gift of a brand new car.

6) You are a police detective who needs to interview a suspect in a major crime.

7) You are a person who crashed into a parked car and now you have to call the owner (this is the right thing to do, and there were witnesses).

9)You are a lawyer with some bad news for your client that you cannot say over the phone.

10) You are a doctor with some great medical news for your patient that you cannot say over the phone.

Creative BONUS

How would…
11) A person in distress leave the message

12) A lonely person leave the message

13) A bitter person leave the message

14) A surprised person leave the message

15) An optimistic person leave the message

16) A person who was infatuated leave the message

17) An abrupt person leave the message

18) An Apprehensive Person leave the message

Again, feel free to make up details such as names, events, and places…but keeping the message under 20 seconds or less than 75 words.

• Write it


• Record it (we are using Voicethread please use the comment feature to record your "voice mail") Note--many students can use help with vocabulary to subtly and accurately describe tone and emotions. You might want to discuss and define words that describe emotions and then have them create messages based on them. Several good lists of emotions can be found at Wikipedia