Genius hour
Description:
Genius hour is classroom time dedicated to students learning about something that they are really interested about. This project gives students the opportunity to choose something they are truly passionate about and explore their creativity. Students start with an essential question and begin working on their project from there. Genius hour projects can be either research or skilled based, depending on the students interests and passions. Once students have researched, practiced, or studied their topic for an extended period of time, they share their learning with their peers or classmates. Genius hour is an amazing project that helps your students explore their talents. Some student project examples include:
Genius hour is classroom time dedicated to students learning about something that they are really interested about. This project gives students the opportunity to choose something they are truly passionate about and explore their creativity. Students start with an essential question and begin working on their project from there. Genius hour projects can be either research or skilled based, depending on the students interests and passions. Once students have researched, practiced, or studied their topic for an extended period of time, they share their learning with their peers or classmates. Genius hour is an amazing project that helps your students explore their talents. Some student project examples include:
- How to write and compose a song?
- How to write in Japanese?
- How to throw a better curve ball in baseball?
- How to survive in the Canadian wild? How to build a fire?
- How to play the ukulele?
Collaboration:
Genius Hour is something that both Matt and I are very passionate about as we have witnessed our students do many amazing things during there time on this project. Last year we created a Genius Hour mentorship program between our two classrooms. At the time, Matt was teaching grade 8 at Deshaye and I was a 6/7 teacher at St. Kateri. We thought it would be an amazing experience to create a mentorship program between our two classrooms. As many of Matt's students were very knowledgeable and experienced in Genius Hour, we thought it would be very beneficial to connect his students with mine. We tried to pair our students up that would benefit both of the students. As were paired up our students, we considered things such as interests, similarity of topics, and ability level in the classroom. We connected for three months through various forms of digital tools. The main ways we connected were:
- Kidblog: Our students were able to write blog posts about their Genius Hour projects on Kidblog. They could look at each other's blog posts and ask questions, make suggestions, and plan for the future. There were many meaningful and beneficial connections made through Kidblog.
- Flipgrid: Our students were able to connect through Flipgrid. Students would record a Flipgrid video about their project, progress, or anything related to their project. The mentor was able to watch the video and response through video and text.
- Skype: Our students were able to connect through Skype in a couple different ways. Our students could chat live and discuss various aspects of the project. They were also able to connect via Skype video. This feature was very beneficial as students could share their screens and see each other's projects.
Benefits:
- Genius Hour encourages creativity in our students. This is very important as the traditional school model leaves very little room for creativity and encourages conformity to a specific standard. With Genius Hour, students are empowered to utilize their creative side, and will want to share and explore this with you and the rest of your students. They can further develop this important skill, as this is what is needed in the 21st century workforce.
- Genius Hour also promotes and develops critical thinking skills. As they are responsible for creating and guiding the entire project, they will inevitably encounter problems and challenges. Often, the teacher won't even know the solution to the problem and they will need to work hard to fix it. Again, the traditional teaching model limits critical thinking and has a very set course for how things should be completed. Genius Hour is the opposite of this and develops these important critical thinking skills.
- Students feel a true feeling of ownership and really take charge of their learning. They are able to create an authentic piece of learning and share this with the class. They can do something that they are very passionate about. They also recognize skills and abilities they might not have already realized.