Lynn,
I am finally attending to what I had hoped to do weeks ago. Suffice it to say that I have fallen into my usual depressed state (predictable) upon arrival, and now have to climb out. I will do this by working and maybe it will help me feel better.
First, thanks for working on the course site. It looks great and students have a bit to read there. Hopefully, I will be productive enough to get my lessons ready soon and we can get the discussion board up and running.
I absolutely love your plans for chapters 11 and 5! I have read all of what you wrote for 11 and it is just excellent. When I got to the last section, I wondered what the parameters of this course are - is it to cover a certain age-range? I couldn't find this information in the course description, so I will ask you: will we try to tackle teens and high school, or keep it to preschool and elementary?
I have only skimmed chapter 5 at this point, so I will respond to that more in depth later. It just got me revved up to work on my own chapters so that is what I did. At this point, I have my initial post for chapter 1 ready for you to look at. Feel free to make changes.
I have been thinking about the wonderful self-awareness survey and considered using it in the first assignment. However, the more I look at it, the more I realize it contains some vocabulary that they will not have encountered and it probably makes sense to use it later. I will think about this as I create the lesson for chapter 2. I also want to think about a bridge for chapters 3 and 4 because there is some good stuff there, so maybe it would fit there. Any thoughts on this?
Right now I need to attend to my current classes. Daddy as been sleeping all day and this always worries me; he is prone to depression, despite taking an antidepressant. I will check on him and get to the discussion boards. With any luck at all, I will have a lesson for chapter 2 by tonight.
Suzanne

Week 1: Sept 8
Reading Assignment:
Chapter 1: The Concept of Creativity
The Discussion Board opens on Sept. 8. (This is the opening day of this discussion board (db); please do not post to this db prior to this date.)
Important: The first assignment for this week is to email your current phone #, email address, and mailing address to me at suzpurcell@gmail.com. (Lynn, I always do this because I don’t trust that the addresses CCV has are the most current. What do you think of adding this requirement?)

Welcome to EDU 1250 – Fostering Creative Learning in Children. Lynn and I are ecstatic about being given the chance to explore this realm of education with you, one of the most important and life-affirming elements of learning. We believe this wholeheartedly, yet so many classrooms today are nearly devoid of this concept. Why is that so? We will examine this question at length this semester and find ways to bring genuine creativity into the classroom. You will have to ask yourself some hard questions over the course of this semester, but the results will be that you will better understand the concept of creativity, what it means in your own life, why children (and adults) need more of it, and how to help students tap into this amazing reservoir. We look forward to taking this journey with you!

Discussion Board by midnight Friday:
Your textbook begins with an exploration of the concept of creativity. After reading the chapter, create an introductory post in which you tell us about yourself. Include at least the following:
• Who you are and who you want to become
• What and who are important in your life
• Why you are where you are (taking this course at this point in your life)
• What creative endeavors you are currently involved in? When thinking about creativity, think of the word passion. To what activity would you assign the word Passionate?
• What is your current definition of creativity? You will be developing your own definition of “creativity” throughout the semester, so this is your opportunity to take a snapshot of your current definition. Creativity always involves change of some sort, so expect that your current definition will undergo many changes in the upcoming weeks. Just tell us where you stand on this right now.
• Give us a synopsis of your reaction to the lists on page 13. Where do you fall in this list?
Initial posts should always be at least 400 words in length, which isn’t much when you consider how much we have to talk about this semester! They should also always include at least one idea from the reading assignment (cited, of course). Submit your initial post by clicking on the title of this discussion board (above), and clicking + Thread in the upper left corner. Title your submission (your name)’s Introduction.

Discussion Board by midnight Sunday:
Respond to at least three other student’s posts.

Initial post and a minimum of 3 replies: potentially worth 10 points.

Lynn and I are always available to answer questions or listen to comments. We are here to help you have a successful semester so do not hesitate to contact us.
Enjoy!
Suzanne & Lynn