Creativity & Motivation

By Gianna Suppa
College of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
February 4, 2011

Creativity by definition is the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new, a product, a solution, a work of art, etc that has some kind of value. I would agree with this definition, because I feel creativity encompasses multiple aspects, it could be as simple as creating a drawing to inventing a new technology. I believe that if you are using your mind actively and you have a final product, creativity has occurred.

I feel that am I very creative, as a child I was always creating art projects, cutting, and color and as an adult and a future teacher I find that my creativity has grown. One place that I feel my creativity shines is my lesson plans. I am always trying to come up with creative and fun ways for students to learn specific things such as creating final products on their own. Some examples of these products are projects, skits, videos, songs, poems, etc.

Often my creativity motivates me to plan for certain lessons and create these projects that I would like to do with my students one day. I am also often motivated by my interest; if I have an assignment due about education or Italian I am often more motivated to start it early rather than if it is an assignment for an english or math class. I am also often motivated to learn by a professor, if he or she is also enthusiastic and makes what we are learning relevant I am usually motivated and excited to get started. Sometimes motivating someone to learn is also not the easiest thing, I do have to admit that often times I am motivated to do something because of a deadline. If I know something is due tomorrow or the day after normally I am motivated to get it done as soon as possible.

I believe that motivation and creativity are linked; if you are given the opportunity to be creative on an assignment often times you will be more motivated and interested in what you are doing.