75. What Squid Game Taught Me About Creative Assignments

https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts126/v4/b6/c8/31/b6c831b7-18bd-b07a-e0d7-f96c250bebe7/mza_11315822639373135274.jpg/600x600bb.jpg

Anti-Burnout For English Teachers, a podcast for inspired teaching

Danielle Hicks, English Classroom Architect

87 episodes

1 day ago

85% of teachers say their job is "unsustainable." 55% plan to leave education sooner than planned. For experienced English teachers, these stats are our daily reality Each week on the podcast, we explore the strategies and mindsets to turn these stats around, looking at our own classrooms. We'll mine ideas to help you build strong, motivated readers while protecting your energy in the process, and break down strategies and tools that make this work sustainable. Reignite your passion. Rebuild a teaching life that sustains you. Inspire the next generation - without sacrificing yourself.

Education

RSS

All content for Anti-Burnout For English Teachers, a podcast for inspired teaching is the property of Danielle Hicks, English Classroom Architect and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Education

https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/production/podcast_uploaded_nologo/37896467/37896467-1686021407127-c719935f0d4a2.jpg

75. What Squid Game Taught Me About Creative Assignments

Anti-Burnout For English Teachers, a podcast for inspired teaching

15 minutes 54 seconds

3 months ago

75. What Squid Game Taught Me About Creative Assignments

You know those creative assignments that should spark magic but end up falling totally empty…for you and for your students? I’ve been wrestling with that for a while, especially when it comes to things like “rewrite the ending” or “imagine an alternate scene.” And weirdly enough… it was a blurb about Squid Game fan rewrites that finally helped me figure it out.In this episode, I’m talking about:Why creative assignments don’t always work the way we hopeThe difference between critical remix and fandom remixWhat most student engagement is actually measuring (spoiler: not creativity)How to build real investment before you ask students to createThis one’s part teaching reflection, part mini-rant, part deep dive into what happens when we confuse caring with creativity—and why that mix-up shows up all the time in English classrooms.Check out my session on building engaging classroom communities based on fandom principles at The Joyful Reading Summit. Get your ticket here → https://dmhicks00--samanthainsecondary.thrivecart.com/the-joyful-reading-summit-2025/