|
|||||
 | |||||
|
Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 9/26/07 |
|
|
In
the News Archive - Year:
February 23, 2005 Elementary students show how they hone their By Kelley Bruss
That may not be a revolutionary idea, but it should earn points for creativity — and that was a key word for the day Tuesday at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Five of the Six Radical Einsteins, an elementary Destination ImagiNation team, attended one of Lloyd Noppe's human development courses to show the university students how they hone their creative thinking skills.
The class, Development of Creative and Critical Thinking, covers humans at all stages of development.
Fortunately for everyone whose age is in double-digits, Noppe said there's always time to learn new ways to look at problems.
"I don't think we should ever rule out the possibility of improving your creative and critical thinking," he said.
The delightful thing about being a human is that "growth doesn't end until you die."
Still, the elementary students demonstrated Tuesday that it doesn't hurt to get a jump start on the creative development process.
They showed the college students how they prepare for Destination ImagiNation's creative problem-solving competition.
MacKenzie Carlson, Phoebe Dantoin, Raymond Haines, Troy LeCaire, Ben Olejniczak and Haley Woods are an independent team with representatives from Webster Elementary and Aldo Leopold Community schools. Their adult managers are Barb and Bob LeCaire and Tim Olejniczak.
Everyone but Dantoin was at Tuesday's demonstration.
For the record, they enjoyed being on display as classroom examples.
"It's fun," Carlson said. "We like teaching other people about our experiences."
The elementary students tackled a sample instant challenge at the beginning of class.
In competition, an instant challenge might require students to do a mechanical project, develop a skit or think on their feet in some other way.
In class, the team members had one minute to examine an item that had been hidden in a brown paper bag. Then, for two minutes, they called out ideas for how the item could be used.
Their object was a plastic spindle for stacking CDs.
But in these kids' minds it became a Ferris wheel for ants, a funnel cake maker, a toilet paper holder, a Jell-O mold and even a hat.
"It can pick mud out of the bottom of your shoes," Woods suggested.
After the younger students did their thing, the college students had a chance to try an instant challenge.
Working with paper, dry spaghetti, tape and other odds and ends, they built bridges to carry marbles across a one-foot span.
Ben Olejniczak was impressed with what he saw when the older students gave a first stab at creative teamwork.
"Some of the groups did better than us when we did it," he said.
Watching them work through problems was encouraging, too, Woods said.
"It was good seeing them struggle the same way we do," she said.
The younger students also demonstrated how they create a skit with 10 minutes preparation. They drew slips of paper for a person, place and thing that had to be incorporated into their skit. Their draws: an airline pilot, a dentist's office and a wedding cake.
The UW-Green Bay students listened as the younger students developed their ideas then pulled off the two-minute skit.
Afterward, Andrew Gorski, a junior from Shawano majoring in social work, noted how a concept developed after one team member suggested an idea.
"A lot of people added to it and then they went with it," he said.
One UW-Green Bay student asked the children how they respond when something does not go according to plan in practice or in competition.
"It makes us think harder and come up with new ideas," Carlson said.
| |
