creativity – Page 5

The Power of Learning and Combining Skills

As educators, we can choose to ignore this truth or embrace it.

One choice will further alienate our students, leaving them only wanting more from school. The other choice, to embrace, will bring dramatic change and new life to schools.

It’s up to us.

Robert Greene, Mastery

The Eclectic Educator is a free resource for everyone passionate about education and creativity. If you enjoy the content and want to support the newsletter, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps keep the insights and inspiration coming!

Now and Then…

recording studio with ultra violet florescent — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

“In November, a man will eat his heart, if in any month.” —Henry David Thoreau, 1852

Happy Friday! It’s been a busy week around here with all the things happening: school visits, doctoral work, and the joys of a new puppy at home. I hope your November is off to a great start and that you are heading into the holiday season with hope and love. I know we all have so many things on our plates this time of year and I hope those things bring you joy.

Speaking of things, here’s 10 of them!

10 Things Worth Sharing

Y’all, there’s a new Beatles song. Yes, you read that correctly. A new Beatles song. With all four Beatles. The story of how this came about and the crazy technology used to make it happen is something to share with your students.
Some thoughts from John Spencer on the truths of creativity.
Seth Godin on the community orchestra and why contributing to our community is so important (and fulfilling).
Boston Dynamics turned its robot dog Spot into a tour guide with ChatGPT (no, this stuff isn’t going away).
Do we need to reinvent the seasons?
Music: I’ve had the latest from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds on repeat for at least a week. 90s kids, here’s your chance to keep those Oasis feels going.
Why do we read/listen to/perform Shakespeare? Maybe so we can all be as awesome as Dame Judi Dench (or even SirPatStew)
I’m reading about the Medici Effect and thinking about connecting other industries with education to create some great innovative leaps.
Also, have you heard of blue lobsters? They’re extremely rare. Almost as rare as a great idea to solve some of our greatest struggles in education. Maybe we need a little moonshot thinking to find our blue lobsters…
I’ve just spent two days with the fine folks at Eminence Independent Schools. Yes, it was a blast. It was my first trip there, even though I’ve known and worked with several current and former staff members over the past decade. It is a magical place (heck, I even got in a round of Pac-Man before walking out the door!), and much of that magic has been driven by the “Yes… and…” philosophy. I wonder how we might take advantage of that thinking in all our schools…

The Last Daft Punk Ever

Daft Punk retired, their helmets, bathed in the vibrant hues of a sunset, rest on a white sand beach, waves gently lapping nearby, filled with a bittersweet serenity and peace, Watercolor, painted with soft brushes and a pastel color palette

Yes, I love Daft Punk. I don’t care what you think of me.

Earlier this week, the duo (in retirement) the 10th-anniversary edition of Random Access Memories, their last studio album. The anniversary album includes 35 minutes of previously unreleased music.

Among the tracks is a demo of Infinity Repeating, featuring Julian Casablancas and The Voidz, which a recent interview w/ Casablancas on Daft Punk’s YouTube channel called “the last Daft Punk song, ever”.

All good things must come to an end. I kept hoping Daft Punk would return. I guess not.

Friday Assorted Links

Title: "Az 1848-49-iki magyar szabadságharcz története [With illustrations.]"

Author(s): Gracza, György [person]

British Library shelfmark: "Digital Store 9315.h.13"

Page: 272 (scanned page number - not necessarily the actual page number in the publication)

Place of publication: Budapest

Date of publication: 1894

Type of resource: Monograph

Language(s): Hungarian

Physical description: 2 köt (4°) — Source: British Library on Flickr

– The 11 Most Beautiful Post Offices Around the World

– I’m a Student. You Have No Idea How Much We’re Using ChatGPT

– I’m halfway through Cory Doctorow’s latest novel, Red Team Blues. It’s pretty great.

– These glacier photos are breathtaking

– Matt Damon on brainstorming and collaboration

– The Hero’s Journey, according to Joseph Campbell

The 1-Bit Great Wave

I’m sure you’re familiar with Hokusai’s “Great Wave” or have at least seen this image:

I’ll go ahead and say that this print is one of the more famous art pieces in the world. It’s part of a series of 36 views of Mt. Fuji.

If you’re looking for ideas for student projects, a good starting point is having them recreate public-domain works in their own ways using whatever materials they choose.

For example: let’s say they wanted to use old software to create a 1-bit version (black and white) of this image. It might look something like this:

A very cool project from @hypertalking. He’s briefly recapped his process here and could inspire you or your students to get creative in unexpected ways.

Sing A Note

Do you remember the old Sesame Street song that encouraged all of us to sing a song?

C’mon, if you’re the same vintage as me, you know what I’m talking about. This one?

Ah, a stroll down memory lane. On that note…

What if you didn’t sing a song but just had to sing one note? I imagine it would go something like this…

Louie Zong asked his viewers to send in a single singing note and received over 200 responses! He then organized and assembled these notes, keeping them as true to their original form as possible, and added some beats, creating an entirely new song from their community’s voices.

What might this look like at your school?

Midjourney Recreates Ancient Battles

From the “This is wicked cool” department, here are some examples of Midjourney’s take on ancient battles.

I marvel at MidJourney's ability to produce art of historical battles. It's time for another AI thread you never asked for.

Famous Historical Battles

The Fall of Constantinople pic.twitter.com/M3RDOPpNZF
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) May 7, 2023

The Siege of Antioch pic.twitter.com/xS5NYcHuap
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) May 7, 2023

The Battle of Hastings pic.twitter.com/yfwYfsN9jf
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) May 7, 2023

I continue to be blown away by the power of AI tools. At the same time, I completely understand many of the concerns about AI replacing working writers, artists, and other creators.

There is a way forward, and I think it lies in using AI as a support tool. The possibilities for students to use AI as a support to their work are many, but we must be judicious in its usage.

Just for the Sake of Being Creative

Sometimes, you just have to do things to flex that creative muscle.

“Do things that light your soul on fire and that help you fall in love with your life every single day. I had no clue when I started making content that I was going to be met with so much love in a place that is notorious for being unloving: the internet. do not filter yourself do not make yourself a version of you that you think is more palatable, digestible, lovable… don’t filter the humanity and the personality out of yourself. we already have that version of you. it’s everywhere. it is everywhere. we don’t want that version of you. we want you to make content that makes you happy, that fills a creative void in your life. Do things for creative sake just because you love doing them. Don’t try and monetize everything. Don’t make every hobby a side hustle, don’t make every hobby a job, just do things because you love them and watch your life just like change. you are suddenly doing things because they make you happy, and that’s a really, really powerful thing.”
Elyse Meyers

Long Live the Public Domain

This is a preview of my Friday “10 Things” newsletter. Friday editions are free for everyone.

Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends.

It’s the first week of January which means here in the US, the public domain was just infused with all sorts of new (old) content. Included this year are the later Sherlock Holmes publications (YES!) and Metropolis, an early film of art deco dystopia.

Millions of documents, images, and other media now live in the public domain, making them freely available to anyone. We can use those works as inspiration for creating our own, standing on the shoulders of giants, and bringing our own creative ideas into the never-ending mix.

As such, here are some things on content, creation, and the public domain that I thought were pretty awesome.