Who, or what, is your imagination?

Have you ever thought to give it a name? What are its mannerisms? Does it run wild and untamed, like my Border Collie (Oggy) when he sees an open field? Does its ideas and inspiration come in short bursts, like Kodak camera flashes? Is your imagination the brooding type, overlooking horn rimmed glasses as it hovers over a leather bound notebook? Or, is your imagination a long lost friend that you always liked in the back of your mind, but just could never seem to remember the name of (or birthday) until now?

When was the last time you used your imagination? A while back, I see.

Now, when was the last time you used your imagination inside of a classroom?

Here, we will discuss the importance of creativity in the writing classroom. You will find writing examples and activities (blue), my own creative thoughts (white), additional watches and reads (yellow), and final thoughts (green).

Brekken, A. (2022, May 5). Creative writing for the classroom | Anna Brekken | tedxyouth@cherrycreek. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPAFrHE8rRY

Creative writing prompts for high school students. Immerse Education. (2024, February 15). https://www.immerse.education/study-tips/creative-writing/prompts-for-high-school-students/

Gallagher, K., & Kittle, P. (2018). 180 days: Two teachers and the quest to engage and empower adolescents. Heinemann.

Goram, L. (2023, September 27). Developing approaches to writing in the secondary English classroom. My College. https://my.chartered.college/impact_article/developing-approaches-to-writing-in-the-secondary-english-classroom/

3rd grade me has a writing test today. I wore a big navy bow in my hair because of it.

I write about a monster that swings with me through what I will later learn is called, a canopied rainforest

This monster was eerily similar to an Orangutan, albeit friendly, and almost "tore off all my limbs"

My teacher laughs as she shares that line with her hallway mate

5th grade me wears ponytails stacked with hairbows and a bookbag stuffed with an overflowing pencil box that is ready to write at a moment's notice

Freshly cracked spiral notebooks wait to be opened and flooded with a mind full of stories that I'm willing to

unleash on anyone who is willing to take the time

7th grade me has one ponytail now and less hairbows

but still a bookbag filled to the brim with black inked Bic pens and composition notebooks where my stories come out in carefully composed loopy letters

I have another writing test, but no bow today

I write about a strawberry banana smoothie in a blender with no lid, and the disaster that ensues

I fail.

9th grade me wears her hair straight, thanks to "Just for Me!"

I hear "You're not a '2' writer, that can't be right"

I write poems sometimes, mostly for church. I learn about Greek Mythology, allusion, and the importance of word choice.

Essays are okay, I suppose.

11th grade me wears her hair with a side part.

She hears from a teacher,

"you know, I used to write like you when I was your age"

This is not a compliment.

12th grade me does not write.

19 year old me sees so much color and whimsy in the children's section of the library, and I allow myself to think..

What if-

22 year old me only writes inside of my head, and the occasional half finished journal entry

26 year old me is student teaching.

She writes a story about a monster who isn't accepted by the people around him because

He just wants to bake cakes

He doesn't like scaring children

But everyone says he has to

“Talented people are strained from reaching their full potential because they can’t communicate” (Brekken, 2022)

27 year old me comes to love this story

28 year old me is proud of this story

29 year old me has ideas for a follow up

Where would we be, without creativity?