75. What Squid Game Taught Me About Creative Assignments

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

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/