Today, my English teacher (preparing us for the AP exam next year) gave us a lecture. He said that most of us lacked originality in our work- that we only do work for the grade. He later proceeded to tell us how in high school and college, he did well enough, never missed a party if he could help it, and enjoyed life, but he still ended up fine. I have to admit: he is a really good teacher and passionate/ knowledgeable about English.
I used to spend time on making my projects creative. They still are, but not as much. Now, my classes are harder and take up more time. To manage it, I have to spend less time on creative tasks. Also, I usually turn down fun opportunities/ hobbies in order to study/ do well in school. That’s life sometimes…
What do you think? Does school stifle creativity? Is it better to work away in school or “live life to the fullest”?
I think I would rather have fun instead of spending time on homework that will most likely be meaningless to me in a few years, but then again, I want to have the best chance at getting into my dream college…
So much can go wrong in life that isn’t worth it to spend all your time working, hoping for a larger payoff later. However, throwing caution to the wind to do what you want is even worse, since you never have a chance to succeed if you never try. You have to try to strike a balance- Work hard, but you shouldn’t feel obligated to fill your schedule with every AP or honors option if it ends up swallowing all of your time.
I have a story for this! :o
So, my school has a required English class for incoming freshmen- English 9/American History. It’s combined…
Hybridizing (more like bastardizing) the curriculums of each, there’s not usually much creative freedom involved. Recently, though, we did an ‘I Come From’ poem project.
The other English class I’m taking is pretty intense, but the teacher is my favorite. He’s gotten me to approach poems in a whole new way, makes awesome prompts, and helped me almost enter a contest (I chickened out :(). He’s prolly my idea of a good, creativity-inspiring teacher.
The English 9 class is headed by two teachers I’m noot such a fan of. They’ll often make suggestions that completely throw off the tone of/change the meaning of creative work, and deduct points unless the modifications are made.
I wrote my poem, and it was great (I thought)! I tried to put some rhythm into it ('cuz we could volunteer to read them aloud poetry slam style, which I did) and I cut into some things I see as real character flaws about myself. It got some real praise after the reading (I was super nervous, though), but the teacher pulled me aside afterwards.
She said it didn’t describe what I came from
I gave her this look and explained I’d written more about myself into that poem than I’d told anybody at that school- or any school
She was like ‘taking points off unless you cut some of the metaphor’
I ended up just losing the points for solidarity; I’d keep the poem I read. Creative expression means more to me than good grades, and moments where I figure myself out are farther and fewer between than my As.
I’ll wear my goshdarn A- with pride!
TL;DR I think we should put creative expression over good grades, since it’s much harder to find who we are than ace any exam. I’ve got a feeling the points you /might/ lose for not fitting your teacher’s mold won’t discourage many people who matter.
Most English projects I’ve found are graded very subjectively. I’ve found that my sense of creativity and humor is hit and miss with certain people finding my hilarious and others thinking I’m not.
As such, I try to follow the rubric to guarentee my good grade.
Me, too. I’ve been taking less risks with homework. I try to follow the instructions closely to ensure a good grade although it may turn out boring.
I have this EXACT same problem in my English class. It infuriates me to the bone. I try to make my essays, projects, poems, etc unique and creative; I try to put MYSELF into my assignments. However, my English teacher fights me with every single one of my assignments. I end up writing 2-3 different essays for each essay we are assigned, trying to make an essay that will get me a good grade while also being a reflection of myself. The end result is a generic, badly written essay that conforms to my teacher’s standards and the rubric he provides and has no reflection of myself. I hate it.
College isn’t different, and I’d imagine if your eventual boss asks you to write up a report, they want you to follow the assignment, not get all creative with it. School is the job and whatever else you do on your own time is the creative bit. (Insert standard plug for extracurricular contests like Scholastic Art & Writing here.)
Your core academic classes should all require creativity to some extent. (A lot of times they don’t—for example, math classes often emphasize memorizing formulas rather than trying to understand where they come from—but it’s not that they shouldn’t or couldn’t.) Creativity is not the same as self-expression!