10+ Creative Thinking Ideas

1. Brainstorming More ideas/wilder the better, no eval, combo to improve
(How to study better? How to raise test scores? What are bet teaching techniques)
2. Reverse Brainstorming
(How to study worse? How to lower test scores? What are worst teaching techniques)
3. Creative Writing and Story Telling
(Object obituaries, Tell a tall tale, cartoons, jokes/quips, story starters, wrap arounds, forced responses, newsletters, object talking, etc., Golub, 1994)
4. Idea-Spurring Questions, Checklists, or Cards (e.g., Osborn's SCAMPER method): How do we: substitute, combine, adapt, modify/max-min put to other uses, elim, rev/rearrange
5. Six hats (wear different color hats for different types of thinking)
6. Free Writing/Wet Inking
(write without lifting pen for 3-5 minutes on, e.g., Best teacher ever had)
7. Checkerboarding, Attribute Listing, Morphological Synthesis
(Analyze or combine 2 key variables/components in grid/matrix; e.g., CT &CR)
8. Analogies, Metaphorical Thinking, Synectics, or Forced Associations
(This school is like a ____; An good presenter is like a ____? IU hoops is like ____?)
9. Semantic Webbing/Chaining/Linking/Mapping of Ideas, Free Association Activities
(What is a greenhouse effect? What is a good curric? What is effective teaching?)
10. Simulations and Role Plays
(Computer sims, act out plays or literature, simulated games or performance)
11. Other techniques
• The Second Best Answer, What else, > 1 Right Answer (What else applies)
• Elaboration/Explanation (Another reason is)
• Diaries, Personal Journals (When in the field, I want to jot down…)
• Just Suppose/What If Exercises (What if we had cooperative exams?)
• Creative Dramatics/Improvisation (imagine hearing, seeing, feeling)

Creativity Definition

Creativity Definition: Young (1985): Creativity "is the skill of bringing about something new and valuable…Creative people do more than break away from old patterns. They do more than find alternatives. They diverge from familiar patterns, but then they converge on new solutions. They break laws to remake them. They make hard decisions about what to include and what to eliminate. Creative people innovate. They aim toward newness. This can be considered in several senses:"

In Short:
'‘Being creative is seeing the same thing as everyone else, but thinking of something different’