An example of creativity that I have had to go through is working with kids. Every day they come in in a different mood and wanting different things both emotionally and physically for their day. I run a summer sports camp for little kids as well as coach cheerleading to older high school girls. Both jobs make it so I have to adjust to the kids needs for the day. When the kids are hyper and very active I have to adapt the daily schedule to fit them. If we had a calm, relaxing day of just doing drills and practice, I may have to think creatively so that that day they will do more energy burning activities like conditioning and running their routine. Then there are days they come in and don’t want to do a single thing (just as I come in some days not wanting to be there), these days when we are on opposite schedules of needs I have to change my plan or theirs in order to keep everyone happy. Thinking on your feet is a key tool when you are a coach. This chapter talks about adapting and finding a new way to see the situation at hand. A lot of what I do every day is different than the day before and thinking outside the box when a situation arises.
Your response just reminded me when I was in the teaching academy in high school. Every Monday we would have to go to our assigned class, which were fifth graders, and teach them lesson. I can definitely relate to having to deal with kids with many moods. Their emotions changed like the weather. My team member and I had to be very creative, because we would lose their attention very easily. One time the class got really out of hand, and it took a lot of effort to come up with different lesson plans. I am not the most creative person, and being in the academy helped me decide I did not want to go into that profession.
ReplyDeleteWorking with people in general can be very challenging, but kids can be even more of a challenge. I liked how you shared about the different emotions people feel. Some days the kids want to be there and other days they don’t. It shows how important creativity is for daily, sometimes mundane activities. Every day I wake up, walk the dog, eat breakfast, then go to work, and it got old really fast. So now I do different walks with the dog, or eat breakfast before the walk, something to change my boring pattern. Repetition is good but can be very boring, I think creativity is the only thing that keeps us sane.
ReplyDeleteI completely know what you have to go through. I have been a nanny for three years now for two boys, and there is a huge amount of creativity that goes into that job. They were just out for spring break and I had the task of coming up with new activities each day of the week... The boys are attached to their video games so trying to come up with ideas that would interest them and get them out of the house was hard. Again, until after reading this chapter, I would have not realized that this was considered creative... I just thought of it as part of the job, but after this spring break, I'd have to agree that I got pretty creative to keep them away from their video games. Great post!
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Hey.....I completely understand what your are talking about. Even though I don't work with kids I do sometimes have to babysit my younger cousins and it does get challenging. I have to try to think up activities that will keep their attention and will also keep them out of trouble. But with kids they don't stick to one thing too long and sometimes when they don't have the best attitude its hard to get them to do anything. With kids you constantly have to think out of the box and due things that will keep them going so that they are not just sitting around watching television or playing video games.
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