One of the strategies that I have read about teachers using to empower and teach students be independent learners is Genius Hour. I have read blog posts about teachers who were implementing this in their classrooms. To be honest I was skeptical at first, the thought of allowing students to choose what they want to learn seemed crazy to me. However, as I continued to teach I saw the genius to it. Allowing students to choose what and how they are going to learn is very empowering to students. After years of playing with the idea and trying to figure out how I would implement genius hour into my curriculum I found time this last year. Allowing the students to work on a project all their own was scary and yet the kids grabbed onto the idea and were able to accomplish so much more than I thought they would. I look forward to other opportunities to try genius hour and ways to get students involved in and responsible for their own learning. Here is a quick sound bite with a student (not from my classroom) talking about her genius hour project.
AudioBoom: https://audioboom.com/boos/2946630-genius-hour
I love genius hour. This is something that my school does as well. She did a great job with her project!
ReplyDeleteYou do genius hour school wide? How did you implement that? Did you meet resistance from administration? I did it with an "ask forgiveness later" attitude and I was scared as to what my administration would say, although they were supportive. I just wonder how you would do that school-wide?
DeleteI've never heard of genius hour. What a great idea and I'm all about letting students think for themselves and creating from their own minds!!
ReplyDeleteI was truly impressed with the projects that students were able to create and produce. I will definitely do it differently next time, but I learned a lot!
DeleteI've never heard of genius hour either but this post inspired me to look it up and see what it is all about. This would be great to allow students to explore whatever they find interesting in the broad field of STEM. Something to consider!
ReplyDeleteI would suggest throwing yourself in and just doing it. I have read about it for a couple of years now and finally just did it and although it wasn't perfect, the kids did great and I learned a lot. I don't think I would have learned as much as I did had I not made myself just do it!
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