Creative control in the classroom

Is it just me, or does creativity have but a fading pulse of life left in the modern classroom? From my observations, it seems that most new teachers give creativty an honest shot, putting countless hours into the planning of their lessons and a great deal of thought into unique and new ways of presenting information. However, as the grind of each school year wears on each teacher, they become more and more prone to the mindless redundancy of worksheets, essays, and multiple choice tests. As educators, it's easy to preach in favor of creativity and idealistic environments that foster the imagination, however, it is not as easy to practice what is being preached. Most good teachers never lose their creative edge. They draw upon the very roots of why they became an educator in the first place - for the students and for the future. Unless we want the future to become the sterile black and white world we fear, we need to remember expression. We need to remember perspective. And we need to remember how we thought of the world when we were children. Too often the artist is forgotten in our world - and when I say artist, I mean more than a painter or someone who draws. I mean the writers, the architects, the visionaries, the sculptors, and the innovators. Our society seems to punish those who pursue their creative passion - as if we are to weed them out and exterminate them. Yet, without the artists of the world, nothing would function. Everything would become two-dimensional and stale. We would be nothing more than a collection of mindless bodies given mundane tasks to carry out - square pegs that fit into square holes...used until we could be used no more and then discarded and shut down. Because many of our society's artists are forced to be a part of the machine somehow, we choose education. We choose to be teachers, and even in this choice, the path is marred with challenges and systems of protocol which try to dictate the way in which we carry out our day. It's imperative that we never forget our creative side. Teachers seem to be the only hope for the children of tomorrow, and without expression, perspective, and creativity, teachers will be unable to move and inspire the next generation. So, for all of you fellow teachers out there, when you go home to create your next lesson plan or your next unit, remember this. I know it's easy to sit back, have a beer, turn on a baseball game, and let the worksheets dictate the rest, but don't give in. It's tough to conjure up the energy to create more lesson plans after a long day in the classroom, but it's worth it. Put yourself in your student's shoes and ask yourself if you wish you had a teacher who did that for you. Don't sell yourself short - afterall, you're not a teacher for yourself, you're a teacher for your students.