This year I started doing Genius Hour in my classroom. Every Friday we spend an hour working on projects that my kids have chosen to work on. They are allowed the freedom to create, discover, explore anything that they are passionate about. At first this was a bit scary to me and I have to admit that I put off starting for a while as I tried to wrap my head around what this would look like in my class and how to facilitate everyone working on something different. It hasn't been without its challenges, but I am learning that this one idea has brought so much to my classroom, more than I could even have imagined.
Part of what I wanted to see was students being inspired in a way that they would want to take work home. I find that so many of the students that I have had in past years seem to do nothing much besides play video games, watch tv, and play on the computer. They send me messages on my blog when they are on holidays begging for ideas of what they can do as they are bored! Since we started, I have had kids going to each others' houses to work on their Genius Hour, and even one student who admitted that he likes to work on his instead of play video games. I love hearing this!
Part of what I wanted to see was students being inspired in a way that they would want to take work home. I find that so many of the students that I have had in past years seem to do nothing much besides play video games, watch tv, and play on the computer. They send me messages on my blog when they are on holidays begging for ideas of what they can do as they are bored! Since we started, I have had kids going to each others' houses to work on their Genius Hour, and even one student who admitted that he likes to work on his instead of play video games. I love hearing this!
Some of the Genius Hour projects have been so creative! We had one group of girls that decorated and sold cookies to raise money for Children's Hospital. They researched the charity and then made a presentation to present to the principal to receive permission. They then raised $134. This same group of girls also did a presentation/ song/ skit about bullying and are now working on sewing designs onto t-shirts using skills we learned during art before Christmas. We had another group of girls that learned the entire Gangham Style dance and then the background of this and then taught the class part of the dance properly. We had a barbie fashion show, stuff exploding, Christmas scenes and gingerbread houses, homemade lipgloss, cardboard hockey net and sticks, basketball hoop with ball return, etc. Another girl made up a quiz and then polled adults using the results to see how with the times they were, she graphed the results and made a poster. One group of kids were inpsired by Caine's Arcade and made some arcade games out of cardboard, they then used those on inside days in the classroom. Some boys learned how to make cupcakes and cookies and provided samples and made a video. We have one group making models of the CN Tower, Big Ben and the Eiffel Towerout of popsicle sticks. There are even little people made of plasticine in the elevator of the CN Tower. We have a group of boys making a movie and learning how to edit it. Another group is making a soccer scene out of plasticine and popsicle sticks. They want to make stands and players and everything. For all of these projects the kids have been so excited to share their learning with their classmates. I cannot get the kids this excited about presenting; they are passionate, confident, and inspiring as they share/ present/ show what they have learned. It is truly amazing.
Some other benefits I have noticed is students working with different groups of students. They don't just work with their best friends. Sometimes they choose to work alone, sometimes they work in mixed groups, sometimes they work in groups of the same gender. I have noticed that students who want to have a group are quickly absorbed into one and that students have been inclusive and thoughtful to the feelings of others so that no one is left out who wants a group. I have noticed that students are engaged in what they are learning and cannot wait for Fridays. They tell each other how they did something, they teach each other, they discuss their learning, and it doesn't even seem like work to them.
Some other benefits I have noticed is students working with different groups of students. They don't just work with their best friends. Sometimes they choose to work alone, sometimes they work in mixed groups, sometimes they work in groups of the same gender. I have noticed that students who want to have a group are quickly absorbed into one and that students have been inclusive and thoughtful to the feelings of others so that no one is left out who wants a group. I have noticed that students are engaged in what they are learning and cannot wait for Fridays. They tell each other how they did something, they teach each other, they discuss their learning, and it doesn't even seem like work to them.
The positives of this concept far outweigh the negatives. That being said, Genius Hour has had it's negatives. I was terrified to start it, I didn't know how I would possibly facilitate so many groups doing so many different things. When they are on-task it is no problem, and overall most groups ARE on task. But every now and again they are not, and it means that they wandering around the room. Usually this is a result of poor planning on their part: they need to do something at home, they don't have a topic that will extend for 3 hours (3 weeks), they want to see what another group is doing. Another negative was the day that we had to rearrange our genius hour time due to a presentation and ended up with it ending 10 minutes before the bell. This did not result in enough time to clean up and I had paint on the floor, plates with paint still on them shoved into a cupboard, I wanted to scream! But overall, it has been an amazing experience. My kids share their learning with other students in other classes and their comments are always the same, "How come we don't get to do something like this?"
Everyone should try some form of this; I am so glad I did! My kidlets are loving it! We had to postpone it one day because I was sick and there was no sub, so they just had various teachers filling in and they didn't want to do it; the kids were SO disappointed! To me that speaks wonders of how much they love Genius Hour.
Some suggestions I have for others starting Genius Hour are:
1. Allow students lots of time to brainstorm what they are passionate about and really discuss why they want to learn/ discover/ explore these things so that they can fully develop their answer to WHY?
2. Share a lot of videos, pictures, etc to help inspire students to think outside the box and start thinking about all the different possibilities.
3. Don't stress out if it gets noisy; learning is not always quiet.
4. Allow them time to present their Genius Hour projects to their classmates because they will be proud.
5. Don't be afraid to start, things will work themselves out as you go.
6. Take note of the moments where lightbulbs go off, where students speak confidently, where you see excitement in their smies. These are the moments we live for!
Everyone should try some form of this; I am so glad I did! My kidlets are loving it! We had to postpone it one day because I was sick and there was no sub, so they just had various teachers filling in and they didn't want to do it; the kids were SO disappointed! To me that speaks wonders of how much they love Genius Hour.
Some suggestions I have for others starting Genius Hour are:
1. Allow students lots of time to brainstorm what they are passionate about and really discuss why they want to learn/ discover/ explore these things so that they can fully develop their answer to WHY?
2. Share a lot of videos, pictures, etc to help inspire students to think outside the box and start thinking about all the different possibilities.
3. Don't stress out if it gets noisy; learning is not always quiet.
4. Allow them time to present their Genius Hour projects to their classmates because they will be proud.
5. Don't be afraid to start, things will work themselves out as you go.
6. Take note of the moments where lightbulbs go off, where students speak confidently, where you see excitement in their smies. These are the moments we live for!