Once
again, I am hitting a topic that may not directly be a tech tool, but that will
more than likely incorporate technology somewhere along the way. I thought this
would be a good post to leave you with for the year to give you time to think
about implementation next year.
I first heard about Genius Hour last year when I was teaching 5th grade and I was intrigued by the idea. As the definition above states, Genius Hour is adapted from Google's 20% time idea. Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin highlighted the idea in their 2004 IPO letter: "We encourage our employees, in addition to their regular projects, to spend 20% of their time working on what they think will most benefit Google," they wrote. "This empowers them to be more creative and innovative. (Side note: Gmail was created during a 20% time project!) During Genius Hour, students have a chance to pursue their passions and creativity and innovation are encouraged. Each student develops a big question focused on a topic he/she would like to explore further. They take the time to research about their topic and then plan a project that will be shared. The research will incorporate information from all kinds of different sources and technology can even be used to connect students to experts on the topic. Projects students create can be shared within the class, school, or through technology, the world!
My students last year completed Genius Hour projects, and it was amazing to see how engaged they were. Student choice was a huge motivator and they couldn't wait until Genius Hour time. I know...the biggest roadblock that comes to mind is, "I don't have enough time as it is-how am I going to give students an hour a week to pursue their passions. I get it. However, it isn't as hard as you might think and is something that can be incorporated into elementary, middle and high school environments. It just takes some rethinking on how you use your time in the classroom.
There are many articles and resources out there about Genius Hour that can say it much better than I can. I encourage you to think about how you might be able to incorporate Genius Hour into your classroom. Your students will thank you!
Here are a few links to get you started:
On
Twitter, search #geniushour
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