WHAT IT IS:

As a strategy to develop creativity and ideation, a Dream Diary incorporates journaling, reflection, and brainstorming into a brief daily writing routine.

HOW IT WORKS:

To leverage Dream Diaries in the classroom, consider a period of time where students are tasked with daily journaling about their dreams. This can be a challenging task because not all students will recall dreams every day, and some students will not want to record or share particular dreams. Allow for these possibilities with some alternatives.

• Instruct students to keep their Dream Diary next to their beds and to write a detailed summary of their dreams immediately after waking up (for most people dream recall fades substantially over time).
• If a student does not recall or is unwilling to record a dream, that student may (1) ask a family member or friend about a dream and record that one or (2) write about a dream from the past.

Once back in class, have students reflect further about their dreams. Consider such tasks as

1. identifying characters or possible symbols in their dreams and what these might represent,
2. problem-solve a situation and how to better resolve it,
3. identify a particularly prominent emotion or sensation from the dream and write further about it, and
4. make connections between dream content and real life (any of those areas above or others).