Guest Scholar Post: Fostering Creativity and Entrepreneurial Spirit

Fostering Creativity and Entrepreneurial Spirit

By Nick, a 6th grade scholar

     The 5th core value of John Adams Academy is Fostering Creativity and Entrepreneurial Spirit.  Creativity is "the ability to use the imagination to develop new and original ideas or things", and entrepreneurial spirit is "the energy, drive and underlying motivation to get those things done".  It usually involves 'thinking outside the box'.  This means that John Adams Academy encourages their scholars to be creative in their lives and work, putting forth their best effort, and helping them have a trying spirit to achieve success and get the happiness that comes from work, effort, contribution and results.

     There are many ways to be creative and have an entrepreneurial spirit.  young people spend a lot of their time at school.  Classes in school can provide the opportunity to develop ideas and try them out. Such as Art, where art pieces are made, and Science where experiments are designed and tested. And in Math, where creativity is needed to solve problems.  JAA enhances this by having mentoring coursework, which helps us think of the future and prepare for it by inspiring us for particular jobs.

     It is important to be creative and have and entrepreneurial spirit because this makes for personal and community progress and enjoyment in life.  Jean Piaget said, "The principle goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done-men who are creative, inventive and discoverers."  This quote means that the whole point of education is to learn to be creative, and to not be a follower but a leader, and to be successful in discovering new ideas.  Walt Disney was a great example of this core value.  He wanted to benefit the world and used his creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to start a company to bring joy to people all over the world.  Walt Disney is my hero because he never gave up but kept on trying.  Walt Disney said "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."  To me, this means being creative and curious leads to success.

     I use this core value extensively.  I have thought a lot about my future and decided the kinds of things I want to do.  I have notebooks where I write my ideas down and keep drawings of my plans.  My dream job is to be an architect with my own company and start a boarding school following the educational model of John Adams Academy.  This is only one idea though.  I am always thinking of new ideas and planning for my future.  My personal motto is that anything is possible and it just starts with one little thought, which I can turn into a reality.  I am so glad this is one of my school core values.

Nick won first place in our "JAA, the place to be"  contest, with this written account of his favorite of the 9 Core Values.  Nick is a 6th grade scholar at John Adams Academy.

Guest Scholar Post: Student Empowered Learning

Student Empowered Learning

By: Wyatt, a  6th grade scholar

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink"

~unknown

                                                                                                  

     Student empowered learning means that teachers can give you the tools, but it is up to YOU to learn.  To me this means getting good grades.  I do this by listening to the teacher and studying for my test.

     An example of student empowered learning is when I study for pre-algebra.  The teacher teaches me the lesson, but it's my choice and responsibility to learn and study the lesson.  Another example is when my Mom is lecturing me.  Words are coming out of her mouth, but it's my choice to listen to them.  My Mom is smart, so it behooves me to listen to what she has to say.

     It is important to WANT to learn so that you have knowledge in your brain.  If you don't want to learn, I think you are dumb.  Education is power.  People who don't get an education don't have good opportunities.  I want good opportunities so I can make good money and have a good life.

     Another reason Student Empowered Learning is important is because you can learn EVERYWHERE, if you want to.  You can read things, you can watch documentaries and movies, you can listen to your Mom lecture, you can even learn on You Tube.  Sometimes I watch TED talks in You Tube.  This is how I learned about right brain and left brain, after listening to a doctor who survived a stroke talk about what happened to her.

     The point is that you have a choice to make whenever someone talks to you, to listen or not to listen.    You have a choice to use your education to make the best of it.  We are lucky to have free school in America.  If you don't do your best you are basically wasting freedom.  No one can make you want to be an empowered student, but I want to be one.

Wyatt won 2nd place in our "JAA Place To Be Contest". The scholars chose their favorite 9 Core Value . They could produce a video, write a story or create an art piece. We will be featuring the winners within the next week.  So check back often!

How to Get More out of What You Read

Why do we read the classics? Have you ever asked yourself that? As a classical leadership education, we require of our scholars to read classics.  The original document of many of the great works. Oliver DeMille, the author of "A Thomas Jefferson Education" answered this question on his blog. http://oliverdemille.com/2013/03/read/.  His argument is that in order for people to be critical thinkers, you need to read the classics. 

DeMille says, "Too many classrooms and schools today teach students what to think rather than how to think, and even many professional and graduate schools focus on when to think.

Teaching students how to think (deeply, broadly, creatively, innovatively, etc.) seems to be a lost art in too much of our modern educational system."

The article recommends a book by David Grant, entitled 'Joseph spider and the fallacy farm."  This is out of print as of now, but I for one would really like to find this book! Are we getting out of our reading what we need to? Are we reading the right books? These are questions we will have to ask our selves.
We love to hear your comments.

Jane Dildine
Director of Community Relations

Modeling What We Teach: Studying the Classics

 

Modeling What We Teach: Studying the Classics

One of the things I love about John Adams Academy is the opportunity and emphasis on parent education. A fundamental part of a classical leadership education is parental/family involvement in a scholar's education. We must be prepared to have discussions and engage in Socratic dialogue around the dinner table, in the car, and in any teaching opportunity that arises. We cannot do this effectively if we are not familiar with the works our scholar is currently studying. Additionally, as parents, we have the role of Mentor to our child. If we wish to mentor them well, we need to be acquainted with great works of literature, art, music, and the big ideas of those who have gone before us (history, math, science, philosophy, economics, etc). 

In a recent parent/community education class (the school offers an ongoing seminar called Inspiring Greatness), the theme was "Face to Face with Greatness: Learning from the Classics". I have always been a voracious reader and a huge fan of classical literature, but I will admit that I have often read it more for my own pleasure rather than to understand the ideas and themes that the author was trying to put forth. As Linda Forman talked about our need throughout life to study the classics, I considered that I expect my children to do more than just read them for pleasure. It is wonderful to have a pleasurable experience, but to truly study literature or another classical work, we must labor to understand, to uncover, and to apply. 

Linda challenged us to make it a personal challenge to come face to face with great minds throughout history who inspire us. She asked us to make a list of 10 authors whom we would most like to resemble and then, one at a time, to study and pore over everything they wrote, created, and did. The goal is to come to understand who they were as individuals and what they believed and taught about the world. I immediately began making my list in my Commonplace Book. Here are the names I chose that night, (leaving myself the opportunity to chose the last two later).

1. Louisa May Alcott
2. C. S. Lewis
3. Victor Hugo
4. Charlotte Bronte
5. Leo Tolstoy
6. Charles Dickens
7. Thomas Jefferson
8. Joseph Smith, Jr. 

I have read all of these beloved authors before (although not everything they have written), and I know that they have the power to change and shape me. I came home that night and jumped back into Little Women, a novel that I have read at least a dozen times throughout my life. I felt empowered by a self-chosen course of study and anxious to get going! So many of the school's Nine Core Values were at work here: Scholar Empowered Learning, An Emphasis on Classics and Mentors, and Modeling What We Teach. I want my children to learn at the feet of the greatest thinkers the world has ever known, and I must continue to actively strive for that in my own life as well. Although I nearly always have a classic or two on my bedside table, having a specific plan of study changes my perspective. 

Who is on your list? I would love to hear-- and perhaps add them to my own!

-- 

Michal Thomas