The premise of genius hour is you give your students 1 hour a week to learn anything they want to. This option allows students to pick the content they want to study while still hitting curriculum expectations. I came across it not too long ago and was very interested in learning more. I'm doing a trial with one or my classes currently and the students seem to be enjoying the concept. It took a while to get them buying in but once a few students got involved the rest seemed to follow.
There is a large community of educators online already with a wealth of information to aid you. Taking on new frameworks and ideas in the classroom is always challenging but you can learn a lot from educators who are currently engaging in genius hour.
Students will present their topic to the class at the end of the year and will build up ideas as the year goes on. It offers students an opportunity of differentiation within the classroom. Throughout history in education, we were taught to believe that education is a teacher in front of the class lecturing. Genius hour allows students an opportunity to learn by doing the research in something they are truly interested in.
http://www.geniushour.com/
Dave
Hi Dave,
ReplyDeleteGreat post here and great idea! I really like the notion of Genius Hour (maybe on the first Friday of each month). Students would know that it is approaching and could prepare questions that are somewhat related to the current teaching unit that you are in. It opens the door to a full class discussion for 1 hour that allows for deeper thinking and an exchange of ideas between students. This is in line with the concept of "Philosophical Thinking" proposed by Mayo in are academic readings where she implores teachers to create more opportunities to actively engage with one another and question various constructs.
Thanks for the idea!
Paul