Module 3: Discussion Post: Does Creativity Thrive in Your Classroom?

I, Dr. Brenda Heslip, invite you to explore my website as I guide you on a journey to design a project that helps each 12th-grade learner do well throughout their educational tenure.

21st-Century Digital Tools for Twelfth-Grade Students

 After reviewing the 21st-Century Digital Tools document in the Module 1 learning resources, I also found valuable information in this module's discussion post that helped shape my project ideas. That is why explaining three strategies I might use to implement creative fluency in my classroom, using the following three strategies, shall encompass:

  1.  The first strategy shall include direct engagement as the first step in the evaluation, starting a dialogue to actively involve twelfth-grade students,

  2.  The second strategy shall encompass outlining the 21st-century fluency project by defining the phase as a fundamental element to help twelfth-grade students overcome challenges, and

  3.  The third strategy shall encompass designing solution fluency to outline the 5 I’s (i.e., identify, inspire, interpolate, imagine, inspect) as a distinct stage of creativity.

Integrating Information Literacy and Creativity Fluencies

Integrate information literacy (i.e., filtering and sourcing data) and creativity fluencies (i.e., producing and synthesizing) to prepare twelfth-grade students to become innovative problem-solvers. According to Basham and Lowrey (2026), reinforcing the importance of the 21st-century technological modernization of the 1990s, in accordance with adopting a Universal Design for Learning (UDL), encourages the educational system to consider a new approach to designing better learning environments for all students.

Thus, 21st-century educators are overwhelmed by the belief that they must teach creativity. The 5 I’s (i.e., identify, inspire, interpolate, imagine, inspect) of creative fluency summarize the systematic design for teaching creativity, which is grounded in a detailed process rather than a significant, mysterious talent. This will provide twelfth-grade students with a step-by-step, reliable approach to translating conceptual ideas into reality. The 5 I’s will be useful tools for identifying the core problem that inspires twelfth-grade students, using visuals, remote memories, and sounds to recognize diverse patterns that will literally connect the dots to support twelfth-grade students by inspiring them to use their imagination to inspect, synthesize, and cultivate an initial creative drive. Thus, focusing on the process of teaching creativity fluency to reinforce the 5 I’s makes it realistic and manageable.

Creative Fluency:

Implementing the 21st-Century Unit Plan for Twelfth-Grade Students

Educators must consider the importance of creative fluency when implementing the 21st-century unit plan for twelfth-grade students to develop one similar to the one I will continue to develop for my course project. For example, approaches that integrate creativity fluencies (i.e., producing and synthesizing) with information literacy (i.e., sourcing and filtering data) will help twelfth-grade students succeed, thereby enabling positive social change. What is more, it is critical to support twelfth-grade students in developing their creativity by encouraging them to devise solutions to problems. This would help guide this cohort in a thought process that encourages them to draw inspiration from their peers using a variety of sources.

Teaching is Reaching

“Define” the component of the solution fluency to bridge the gap between twelfth-grade students

The 21st-Century Fluency Project will “Define” the component of the solution fluency to bridge the gap between twelfth-grade students who encounter obstacles (Crockett et al., 2011). Moreover, teaching twelfth-grade students to use both digital and nondigital resources and practices in their solutions. The Global Digital Citizens at our school are twelfth-grade students who act ethically and legally while using online platforms to create their digital footprints (International Society for Technology in Education, n.d.; Kivunja, 2015). As educators, it is important to provide diverse opportunities for twelfth-grade students, encouraging them to use their thoughts and imagination to discover and create activities while working with their peers. It would be quite educational for this cohort to know that creativity is not just a lost art but something that needs further development.

Brainstorming Sessions using 6 Ds

I will evaluate and integrate prompt-brainstorming sessions into my lesson plans to design a logical curriculum that supports the crafting and implementation of essential open-ended questions for twelfth-grade students through freewriting (Higginbotham, 2018). Therefore, evaluating strategies to implement the 6 Ds (Define, Discover, Dream, Design, Deliver, and Debrief) of solution fluency will assess current practices to implement solution fluency, in addition to teaching twelfth-grade students about the importance of the following essential questions (Higginbotham, 2018). Essential questions will be used to open doors for student understanding and to assess current teaching practices to support teaching twelfth-grade students using alternative strategies in the classroom (McTighe & Wiggins, 2013). This discussion post further explains how each strategy supports evolving practice that meets the developmental needs of each twelfth-grade student, drawing on information gathered and creativity fluency resources. The following question, "Does Creativity Thrive in Your Classroom?" helped me recognize that creative fluency is the capability to develop an elevated capacity to help diverse twelfth-grade students employ relevant ideas before making abrupt self-modifications. These questions help twelfth-grade students distinguish ideal thought generation from analytical, coherent judgment. Posting my thoughts using a specific, creative digital tool or technology resources presents me with opportunities to view the project through visual representations and multimedia approaches.

References

Basham, J. D., & Lowrey, K. A. (2026). (Re) Considering universal design for learning. Journal of Special Education Technology, 41(2), 199–212. doi: 10.1177/01626434251361443. https://doi.org/10.1177/01626434251361443

Crockett, L., Jukes, I., & Churches, A. (2011). Literacy is not enough: 21st–century fluencies for the digital age.  Corwin. Chapter 4, “Solution Fluency” (pp. 23–32). Chapter 11, “21st-Century Fluency Lessons” (pp. 99–128).

Garrard, K. A., & Cairns, R. (2026). Having their say beyond the classroom: Engaging student curriculum perspectives through digital methods. The Curriculum Journal, 37, 374–389. https://doi.org/10.1002/curj.70006

Higginbotham, T. (2018). Essential questions. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/lcYsi81PADU?si=bYRw1fJKxsy_dOQY.

International Society for Technology in Education. (n.d.). ISTE standards: For students. [Multimedia]. ISTE. https://iste.org/standards/students

Kivunja, C. (2015). The efficacy of social media technologies in academia: A pedagogical bliss or digital fad? International Journal of Higher Education, 4(4), 33–44. doi:10.5430/ijhe.v4n4p33

McTighe, J., & Wiggins, G. (2013). Essential questions: Opening doors to student understanding. ASCD. http://dr-hatfield.com/learning_environments/documents/Essential%20Questions.pdf