This week, we’re exploring the topic of creativity throughout the Teacher2Teacher community in celebration of our Engag(ed) Exchange Philadelphia event on Thursday, October 29.

Engag(ed) Exchange is a unique event series that brings teachers together. The goal is to forge meaningful connections, exchange ideas and learn from leaders in the field while discovering untapped inspiration and creativity. We’re partnering with the Philadelphia Museum of Art to bring you this free event on Thursday from 5:00-8:30 pm EST.

Why the focus on creativity? Event emcee Ann Leaness, teacher at Philadelphia’s Science Leadership Academy, notes the critical intersection between creativity and the classroom while writing about an unconventional materials challenge she gave her students:

“I am not going to lie, it was not easy. There were moments when I was talking to myself saying, ‘What was I thinking?’ I persevered because I believe that giving kids space to have fun and create helps their brains grow. It opens their minds, helping them see things in new ways. When you hear your student say, ‘I am really proud of myself right now,’ you know that you are doing something right. When students from another class ask, ‘When are we going to do something like this?’ you know you have created a space where kids are interested in learning, in creating.”

Key highlights of the Philadelphia event include:

• An Idea Exchange Wall, where we’ll collectively answer the prompt, “How do you create an environment that promotes creativity?” Responses will build off of previous responses and create a collaborative dialogue to inspire action beyond the event.
• A live poetry performance featuring Matt Kay, founder of the Philadelphia Youth Poetry Movement, and several of his students.
• Building the Future: Discovering the Possible through Creativity: Led by social entrepreneur Alex Gilliam, this conversation will center around the macro perspective on how creativity improves learning and how creative thinking is critical to innovation, new ideas and the enhancement of the broader community.
• Art in Action: Putting Creativity to Practice: Featuring Philadelphia-based artist Ben Volta and Georgia Guthrie, director of The Hackery, this fireside chat will highlight tangible examples of leveraging creative principles to support learning in the classroom and how they can be applied to yield collaborative discovery and innovation in the real world.
• A choice between three hands-on, creative activities to engage with and take inspiration from for your own classroom and community.

If you live or work in the Philadelphia area, we hope to see you there! And whether or not you’re able to attend, join in and help shape the conversation by adding your ideas, sharing your writing and discussing best practices around the intersection of creativity and teaching. Use the hashtag #EngagedExchange — we’ll be sharing your posts on Twitter @teacher2teacher.

Learn more about and register for the event here.