Washington Post’s “Bring Your Brain” by Vickie Elmer on March 18, 2009 discussed how using the brainwriting technique for “15 or 20 minutes of concentration… could unearth ideas for you or your organization.” I understand brainstorming. I love mind mapping tools, but brainwriting?
When brainwriting, each person sits in silence with a different colored pen to think and write on a key question. They silently pass along and share the ideas.
I just don’t think I’m up to expanding my creativity skills to include brainwriting. First of all, I wouldn’t be brainwriting. I would think about which colored pen should be used for specific themes. I’d fuss over the type of pen, thinking that it should be a gel-ink pen rather than marker, felt pen, or rollerball pen. I’d also fidget in my chair, looking around the group to see at what others were doing.
Case in point, during my 2nd grade classroom’s reading sessions that lasted for only 15 to 20 minutes, I’d hold my book up, hiding my face from my teacher. Rather than read, I looked out the window. I looked at my friends; anything to avoid reading that seemed boring to me. My teacher was so concerned about my reading progress that during the parent-teacher conference, my teacher tells my mother that I may need to be a special education reading sessions. Knowing that wasn’t the problem, mother was annoyed, since she knew that I wasn’t applying myself. I got over this bad habit, but I sense that I do the same thing, if forced to brainwrite with others. I don’t think brainwriting’s for me.
Similar Posts:
