Hello, My name is Karen Bell and I am the administrative associate of the Creativity Workshop: Creative Writing, Drawing, Storytelling and Memoir, taught by master teachers Shelley Berc and Alejandro Fogel. I wanted to give you information on our exciting summer workshops in Europe that are designed to stimulate and develop teachers' creativity and the creativity of their students as a way to inspire and nurture learning. Whether you are an administrator or a teacher in areas as diverse as math or art or science or history or english, the Creativity Workshop can help you design new ways of learning. Join the hundreds of international educators who have taken this workshop since 1993 and developed their creative processes through using memoir, creative writing, storytelling, visual arts, collage, and photography. Here is the summer 2004 calendar of our Workshop dates and locations and below it you will find a more detailed description of what the workshops cover as well as testimonials from educators who have taken them. You will find even more information on our website at http://www.creativity-course.biz or call me at (212) 922-1555. Regards, Karen Bell Administrative Associate Calendar of Creativity Workshops in Europe 2004 Tuition + accommodations packages available from $1,450. You can reserve your space now with a $50 deposit. Save $100 if you register before January 15, 2004. Istanbul June 7 - 17 Island of Crete June 18 - 28 Florence June 30 - July 10 Provence July 12 - 22 Barcelona July 25 - August 4 Prague August 6 - 16 Turkish Coast August 18 - 28 Berlin September 2 - 12 Dublin September 14 - 24 The workshop teaches a series of tools which teachers can implement to help their students and themselves develop their creative, collaborative, artistic and writing skills, as well as self confidence and respect for their peers. To this end, the workshop concentrates its exercises on the following areas: 1. Getting over the fear of creativity and writers block in specific and gaining self-confidence in one's ideas. We do exercises which help students get over 'blocks' which make them afraid to express themselves, say the wrong things, paint a bad picture, take a stupid photograph, write a foggy paragraph. The workshop works against self-censorship in the early stages of creation so that critical analytical skills can come into play later and more forcefully. To this end, we uses techniques of free form drawing and writing, as well as visualization and meditation exercises. 2.Collaboration and sharing The creativity workshop believes that by sharing work in intimate groups, students (at times without their teacher) can learn to develop and feel secure in their academic endeavors. Such work also helps individuals learn self confidence and respectful listening towards others. The Creativity Workshop involves several modules in which collaborations, ranging from 2 person teams to a whole class is explored. 3. Map making Every creative and analytical project has a process or 'way'. To this end, the Creativity Workshop teaches teachers how to make journey maps or scrolls with their students of the process and progress of their work. The maps, which are a visual and written representation of the on-going work in the classroom, help the student see where they are in their projects and where they can go with them. 4. Free form writing and automatic drawing Teachers learn how to use these techniques with their students in order to help them find innate ideas and develop them. The workshop also teaches imaginative editing techniques. 5. Day books We teach methods of keeping a day book of sketches, writing, collage, and newspaper articles and using the book to do fifteen minutes a day of free form writing and drawing. We teach teachers how to guide students into how to read and use these books to create projects. 6. Storytelling Storytelling, be it visual or literary, is vital to how we perceive and share our perceptions of the world. We do several exercises with telling stories with found objects and also by interviewing each other and then 'becoming' the other person. These exercises also teach listening skills, which greatly enhance our abilities to express ourselves and learn. 7. Changing perceptions How we see is important to what we see. We teach a variety of exercises aimed at altering perceptions physically (through cameras, cut out shapes, kaleidoscopes, telescopes, microscopes) and emotionally (through fairy tales, memoir writing or inter-generational interviews), which assist students in broadening their sense of the world they live in. 8. Using your environment We teach participants how to use their natural surroundings to generate ideas. Exercises to be done in local cafes, libraries, cafeterias, woods and mountains show that inspiration can come from the most usual and surprising of places. 9. Time In our busy, multi-tasking world we seldom feel we have enough time to create. We teach participants how to 'stretch time' and use 15-minute blocks to do satisfying creative work on an on-going basis. 10. Self-Nurturing Teachers spend each day encouraging and supporting their students. At times, teachers forget to nurture themselves! The Creativity Workshop teaches the importance of self-nurturing and curiosity and not always knowing the 'right' answer. 10. Completing an advance degree If you are teaching and completing an advanced degree, you should talk to your advisor and to your Study Abroad office or ask one of your professors if you can use the Creativity Workshop for an Independent Study course. In this way, your university can give you credit for it or if you qualify you can receive 3 credits from the University of Iowa. The Creativity Workshop was taught as a regular course at the University of Iowa for many years, offering 3 credits and open to graduate and undergraduate students through the International Writing Program. The workshop is 36 contact hours. What educators and students say about the workshop: The new millennium needs bold, creative men and women who can turn their dreams into reality... Shelley Berc and Alejandro Fogel show how you can do this through their challenging and inspiring creativity workshops...even a simple first contact will prove what these two talented teachers can do for your own gifts. Dr. Kirpal Singh, Writer, Professor, Singapore Management University, Singapore One of the qualities of a meaningful experience is that it grows in depth and positive regard as time goes on. That is how I feel about this workshop. Daniel Lamken, Teacher, American School of Prague, Czech Republic When I got home after your workshop in Prague, so many people said to me: "How was your workshop? You look so alive, so happy, so fresh!" That's exactly how I feel. I realize that there will be blocks at times, but I feel a freedom that I have NEVER felt before. The two of you, your gentle, kind manner, your way of making everyone feel so comfortable...you have a real gift to share with others. I only wish that more people could experience what you have to offer. Not only are you artists, but you give of yourselves in a way that is incredibly beautiful. Thank you for touching my soul, and helping me see butterflies, birds, flowers, colors; for helping me soar and feel like singing and writing and dancing. Dianne Stuckey, Teacher, American School of Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates I cannot tell you how inspiring your workshop was on a number of levels! I continue to draw inspiration from those few days! Deborah B. Reeve, Ed.D., Deputy Executive Director, National Association of Elementary School Principals, Washington, DC This seasoned teacher left the workshop with a sizable bag of useful ideas to motivate her students to write more and better, a sketchbook full of essays for herself and a bunch of sweet and fun memories. I give this course an A. Nicole Fandel, Teacher of French, Concord Academy, Acton, MA I produced as much poetry in ten days in Chania as I did in a month in a conventional poetry workshop in another European setting. The primary difference was the ease of creation and the fun I experienced in the Creativity Workshop, and I also saved time and money. Shelley and Alejandro?s emphasis 'In process' works. Sally Naylor; Poet and English Teacher, Baylor School, Chattanooga TN This is my third workshop coming up and I can't wait! Shelley and Alejandro ever so gently are able to get us fellow travelers into a discovery mode that submerges us deeply into the experience of our very own creativity. They are magicians! Carroll Blue, Writer and Professor, School of Communications, San Diego State University Crossing paths with Shelley, Alejandro, and most of those attending the workshop in Florence will remain etched in my psyche as one of the most wonderful, rejuvenating, nurturing, enlightening, relaxing, growth-inducing, experiences of my life. I use their exercises effectively in my own classes, even though I teach hard core science. Mohey Mowafy, PhD, RD, CNS, CEDS, Professor and Director of Clinical Dietetics, Department of HPER, Northern Michigan University I taught a creative writing class yesterday afternoon and felt a new confidence after the summer's Creativity Workshop. I was much more in control and more confident of what I was doing and saying. My students seem more excited about their work using your exercises. I feel that in several months time I shall still be doing and saying things that echo what we covered in your wonderful workshop. Noel Shepherd, Creative Writing Teacher, grades 5 and 6, Washington International School ERASE: to be erased from this .list: Reply: ERASE ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.ScreenSite.org