I used the Creative fluency in my assignment this term, in my Intro Japanese 9 Class. This was one of the projects where students were allowed a large amount of freedom and creativity, which I am grateful for. Personally, I had a lot of fun with this assignment.  

The process: 

Identify: What is the assignment criteria? 

This project is to make and decorate a folder for our class materials with our names on it. The project had to include large, easy to read names, four things that describe you, and be presented in a way which indicates that effort has been put into the assignment. As for what specifically would be on the cover, that was up to each student and what they liked. We were encouraged to create backgrounds and borders.  

Inspire: What were some good examples shown or found?  

The teacher showed us a few examples from previous classes, pointing out some parts that were desirable such as large letters and neat borders. I worked together with my peers and collaborated by sharing some ideas we each had for our own. With teacher permission, I was allowed to scroll Safari or Pinterest for inspiration and references. I found that I really liked one of the starry borders and I also found one of the letter fonts to be cool. 

Interpolate: Building on from those ideas, what are you going to make? 

I thought about the starry border, and I wanted to add clouds and a moon to compliment the night sky feel. The large letters would be in black and in a font where it would give the impression of brush strokes. I wanted to include some of my favorite things such as the night sky, figure skating, and music.   

Imagine: What is the finished project going to look like?  

Since the skates and headphones illustration used to indicate music was not the most colorful, I wanted to color in the rest of the background to make up for it. I decide to put clouds on both top corners, to really complete the starry night look. I added the moon and border in, as well as a candle light in the bottom center. I like scented candles, and I thought it would be a good addition to the colder vibes.   

Inspect: Does it match the criteria given? 

Yes, the assignment I created met the criteria given at the start. I decorated a folder with my name and four things that describe me. I enjoy working during late evenings rather than early mornings, so my drawings and background reflected that. I also like skating and listening to music in my free time. I like having scented candles in my room. I added a fully colored background with a border, which exceeded the assignment requirements. 

 

 

 

So for Q1, one of my classes was English 9 Honours. My teacher suggested a writing contest from the local Coquitlam library. Because it was for Halloween, it was a scary story in less than 500 words. I submitted a story for fun, and was surprised when it actually won first place, with a given prize of $50.

Here is a section of my short story:

I froze when I recognized the liquid to be blood. I stood there for a moment, then panic took over and I ran back down the hall. The lights kept flickering as doors whizzed pass me on either side. My heart was jumping into my throat, and I was beginning to feel uncoordinated, stumbling and tripping over my own trembling legs. Racing down the endless hallways without thinking, I could only hope to find the exit of the hospital.

This is something I did for fun, a few weeks before Halloween. My goal was to just submit it for fun, perhaps I might win a prize. I was not aiming for first or second prize, just merely writing the story was enjoyable for me. I’m proud that it got first place, and I was featured on an edition of the Tri-Cities news. I also like how much I took joy in writing it, to let my imagination spill on paper.  A challenge was getting started and actually writing the story, once I started, it was easy to keep going. The beginning was slow because I wanted to choose a good storyline. If I were to do it again, I would be more descriptive, and increase my word count.

Because the prompt was so throught-provoking, I ended up writing four stories and submitting all of them. Here is a part of another story:

All hope I had before was now dying fast. The fast-paced steps echo a few floors below, not quite sounding human. It dawned on me that this building would be a mausoleum, with me as the corpse it would be housing.

I did the only thing I could do. I ran.

Even though this one did not make it to the podium, I still enjoyed writing it and coming up with the story. Something does not have to amount to a physical reward as long as you take joy from it. If you like doing this activity, that is payment in itself.