Keep a Dream Diary for Creative Inspiration

(Students love to Talk About Their Dreams)

Dream Interpretation

Last night Ginsberg was reading Beat Poetry to a disinterested porcelain cat who wished only to be known as Bono while Tom Waits (who’d been drinking again) was smashing my dinner plates into the sink 😉

Introduction:

Think Pair Share – Do you dream in black and white or color? Do you dream in full movies or do you see flashes of images? Do you remember your dreams all day or only for a fleeting period when you wake up? Share a memorable dream you have had with your partner.

Possible Discussion:

There are many theories on dreaming. Some say dreams give you a deep insight into your current thinking. Some say your dreams are you working through your waking life’s problems. Some say dreams are simply the different parts of your brain entertaining itself and interacting randomly throughout the night during your long resting period. In the end, dreams are interesting and can be a great source of creative inspiration. And sometimes… the dreamscape can be just plain silly.

Most people only remember their dreams for a very short time after they wake up. This means it is best to keep a pen and paper by your bed to record your dreams as soon as you wake.

Initial Task: You are to keep a pen and paper by your bed this week. Each time you wake, record the dreams you remember in point form. You can expand the notes out later. The initial part of the task is to get the ideas down before they fade away.

Experiment – (Only if you want to give it a go) Some of the Surrealist painters used to eat cheese before going to be to ‘enhance’ / make their dreams weirder. Try eating some cheese before bed to see if it changes the nature of your dreams.

Sharing Session:

– Sit in circles of 5 students and have them read their ‘favorite’ or ‘most interesting’ dream to the group.
– What do you think the dream is trying to tell you?
– What do you think this dream might mean?
– How is the dream related to anything happening in your life at the moment?
– Could this dream just be your mind keeping itself entertained during the night?

A Little Teacher Joke Before the Sharing Session+:

“Now people, there are some dreams you really don’t need to share with your teacher. Maybe you should share them with a parent or friends… or maybe you should just keep them to yourself & never speak of them again” hehehehe

Taking It Further:

• Create an artwork based on your dream
• Write some poetry based on your dream.