Portals

       I  also like to think of bridges that connect prior experiences to new beginnings. For me, thinking about the imaginative process has provided a bridge, a deepening appreciation of alternative paths to reach students though creativity in instructional planning.

    The site is roughly structured around themes presented in the book "Sparks of Genius, The 13 Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People" by Robert and Michelle Root-Bernstein. To extend and share my learning, I have provided sample activities inspired by integrative tools ordered in their text: Observing and Imaging, Patterning and Analogizing, Abstracting, Modeling and Dimensional Thinking, Embodied Thinking and Empathizing, Playing and Transforming, and Synthesizing. This website is just a starting line for the adventures that await you. As you advance and transform your professional practice, these creative tools will inform your steps. 

    I chose to link Poetry to Physics in my quest to expand and connect students to their daily experience of Physics. While this is one path to encourage creativity, and many renowned Physicists have chosen poetry as a communication tool, there are may other potentials for artistic expression and enhanced understanding.

    Universal Design For Instruction is a theme that resonates well with this approach to bridge academic disciplines, enlivening and individualizing student learning. The use of poetry and other art forms reaches into the diverse contexts of student experience, enriching and expanding the learning process for each student. This website also includes a set of  resources to support and guide any teacher who is looking for a creative, challenging, and exciting adventure in the classroom. The investment in your personal growth will pay great dividends for your students as you employ available digital technologies to enhance the beauty and lasting value of  their learning experience.

    The site is interactive, complete with a blog for the community of learners that will frequent this site. For the sake of our students, we must first model how growth and transformation occurs in a community of learners. I invite your active feedback and participation as you share your journey cross new bridges and enter new portals into vast and unexplored venues.

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James Kerr

Physics Teacher

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