Advice from Willy Wonka
“There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you’ll be free, if you truly wish to be.” — Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Just imagine. For one class period, just imagine. Anywhere your little mind goes. Anything your little mind creates. Imagine… I want to take one day and just imagine. Have the thoughts flow freely through my mind. Jot down ideas or interesting thoughts. Exercise my imagination. Take it out for a spin.
Too often my imagination is held captive. Growing up, we are encouraged to leave our imagination in childhood. We need to be realistic, practical. We cannot be fanciful or pretend. What if we left it out? What if we went back to our carefree childhood and looked at the world through our imagination? What if we looked at our classes with our imagination? Makes them much more exciting doesn’t it!
I had a teacher in high school that loved for us to use our imagination. I had her for three out of my four years (Straight Talk [study skills crap], American Literature, AP Language, and Great Books). During my first year with her, we went to our imagination almost every day. My favorite memory was our Dr. Seuss reflection. We read “Oh the Places You’ll Go” and then took a walk around the outside of the school. We were supposed to let our minds run free, just use our imagination. I first pictured the world of Dr. Seuss and thought about how fun it would be to live in that world, scary but fun. Then slowly my imagination took me down my own future path. What did I want to be when I grew up? What did I want to be like? What did I want to accomplish? What did I want my house, my kids, my clothes to look like? Where did I see myself going?
It was a great exercise in looking inward and forward. I loved it. We talked about that day so much that she made sure we did it a few more times during the class. We used different written pieces, but always let our imagination roam.
I think we all need to get back to that mindset of wild childhood. A journey into the unknown. Perhaps this would help us connect with our students. And perhaps this would help our students connect with the material. How are they to truly understand U.S. history if they cannot even imagine the lives of those who came before us?
Imagination — it’s our most powerful tool in education. Let’s use it more often.
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