Openly Problem Solving

This week in open lab we focused on honing our skills in creative problem solving. We were given several tasks, including building a tower, a series of tasks involving logic puzzles and origami, and coming up with ways to save a gummy worm from perilous waters by getting him to a life vest. Each of these problems were solved, (or not) without any outside help. Everything depended on our own ingenuity. The tower building problem was, more specifically, to build a freestanding tower with the materials provided. We were in three groups, each with a bag of materials. The answer after we each competitively created our own towers, seemed obvious, though requiring someone stating out. We could have simply combined our materials. The thing I think I will remember best happened after that. A certain Alex Sitze said that all creative problem solving is taking your problem, and looking at it like a smart aleck. It seems similar to making a lazy person do work. They will work all day to make sure they don't have to do anything. The series of tasks on Wednesday were mostly completed, but failed due to miscommunication and a lax or irresponsible worker. The gummy worm was taken as a very enjoyable challenge to me. The teachers said that they had found five ways to save Sam (the worm). My goal was immediately six. I personally love this subject. Now and in the future there are always opportunities. Nothing works out the way it is supposed to. In any job there are always complications. Creative problem solving is how you fix it. In school it is simply taking a problem you can't solve, stepping back and looking at it from an angle that should never work. After doing that, you try anything, no matter how ridiculous. Any possible solution is still a solution. This is more in times of desperation though. When faced with a scenario that is still fresh, like a task given to you by your boss that is not being conventionally solved, there are different approaches. It requires far more thought, and all the information possible before you can even start. But it is fun. When you solve the issue, you have far more pride than solving any problem the usual way. I will miss the topic when we move on this week. Again, after we went through this week, I went to trusty google to see if what we had studied was all we could have done, and along with that, other methods to be used. I found that what we had gone through was largely true, and in one particular site, a very useful three step (broken down into six as you go deeper) system was used to help creatively problem solve. The site is http://www.creativeeducationfoundation.org/our-process/what-is-cps, and I found it very helpful. Readers, can you comment any problems you have creatively solved? How was it more beneficial than a usual methods and why did you go to creative problem solving to fix such a problem? The following is a video of one of our students saving Sam. https://doc-04-90-docs.googleusercontent.com/docs/securesc/vnfa5ltbrcm2745mfvouki4bfbpjmt2o/nb5i3ei2e9v4e45p1u2cefkqgmq0s6uq/1412294400000/12776449778694492527/13650809792572941776/0B4KcrH0tHsbFeEpDWS1sXzlnbWs?e=download&h=16653014193614665626&nonce=nrjlapufj2gj6&user=13650809792572941776&hash=ipfdbh46pv86ake87bhjs9asdm3ujt7a