Creativity and Playfulness in the Language Classroom
Date: Friday, November 24th, 2017 – 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Event Speaker: Malu Sciamarelli
Malu Sciamarelli came to Tottori from Brazil to explore with us about how teachers can offer activities that: provide role modeling of playfulness; support and value creative thinking; lead to active engagement; and help develop the critical skills for children to learn a language through play.
Malu began her presentation stating that creativity is very important and that little to no learning can take place without creativity and play. She said that creativity and playfulness starts with parents, teachers and community members. Malu believes that when we learn through play, we are not afraid and we feel a willingness to share with others. Students need time and permission to take risks and discover new things and Malu showed us some strategies to achieve this type of atmosphere in our language classrooms. She introduced us to several activities that promote creativity and playfulness in the classroom. Some examples of such activities are her “Internet String,” “Hoop Glider” and “Holiday Bag” activities. You can learn more about these activities by visiting her personal website at www.malusciamarelli.weebly.com or reading her chapters in the Teaching English books published by The British Council.
Malu shared some wonderful ways for teachers and students to work together and benefit from creative writing too. Playfulness can help foster a desire for lifelong learning in our students as well as an ability to adapt. It provides the base for our students to be able to explore better opportunities to create and develop their future in a global age. 
We thank the Literature in Language Teaching (LiLT) SIG, the Teaching Young Learners (TYL) SIG, and Pilgrims English Language Courses for helping sponsor Malu’s trip to Japan and we would love to welcome her back to Tottori again in the future.