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A teacher shares what she did and what she learned when she implemented Genius Hour in her fifth-grade class.

We've all heard legends of Google employees being able to spend 20 percent of their workweek exploring topics of their choosing. Some of our favorite apps were born in this innovative venture.

Educators know a good idea when we see one (even if Google eventually ended the program). We want that vibrant creativity pulsing through our classrooms. We can visualize the end, filled with projects in which our students have connected with experts, filled journals with intelligent thinking, and explored with curiosity. How do we get from this euphoric idea to a classroom reality?

My first year of Genius Hour in my fifth-grade classroom was a huge success. I gave students one hour each week to study any subject of their choosing. They chose subjects I could not have predicted: the architecture of the Czech Republic, blade forging, gender issues in the media. They used a plethora of technology and three-dimensional models. Working alongside my students, my topic was "How to Implement Genius Hour in the Classroom." Our year was successful but also flawed, with room for improvement and refinement.

I am definitely the big-idea, hippie-style teacher, so I developed a scaffolded, organized system that helped my students yet still encouraged the creative process. We began with four weeks of exploring ideas, spent three weeks narrowing topics, and then worked most of the year learning and creating, until the last four weeks, when we polished and presented our learning.

Time

While time is difficult for teachers to give up, this is key for creativity and quality. There was the time I saw Zech playing games and wanted to redirect his attention. Instead I said, "So, what are you working on?" He proceeded to explain the type of computer coding language he was researching and how it compared to another language. His project was to compare coding languages to find the easiest for kids to use in designing video games. Even though it was part of his research, I would continue to worry when I saw him playing games.

Time is essential for creativity; however, deadlines are also a reality. To help my students take on such a large project, I set up mini-project deadlines. Every five weeks, students needed to turn in a mini-project. Every project was different, with its own possibilities, so each student chose their own mini-project: PowerPoint, 3D model, background research, QR codes, creating a logo or a video, etc. Learning how to chunk a large project is a powerful skill. I kept a "status of the class" chart in my notebook to help me track their progress.

Reflection

Teachers know the value of reflection, but getting students engaged in authentic reflection is an art. Students kept a spiral notebook for journaling. The notebook housed their brainstorming, thinking about their project, vocabulary, research notes, data, interview notes, and works cited. In reality, not all students had awesome notebooks. This is one area I will focus on this year. I will structure time to reflect.

List your mini-project ideas.

What are your Genius Hour challenges?

How are you using outside sources to add depth to your project?

What technology will you use to showcase your project?

How do you organize your vocabulary?

Our reflection also took place online. I posted questions or thinking prompts periodically:

Collaboration

Genius Hour was a socially academic part of our classroom. As the facilitator, I organized partner and group chats. Walking into this activity, you would hear 11-year-olds intelligently discussing their status, struggles, and possibilities.

Some students were more adept in some areas. One student, Aiden, was brilliant with big ideas but couldn't complete any work. Aspen, on the other hand, could run a small company. I paired them up and called Aspen a "consultant." It wasn't long before Aiden had his project moving along.

As we moved into the polishing stage, students worked together and swapped expertise. Skills like lettering titles, turning a video link into a QR code, and using keyboard shortcuts in typing were swapped throughout the classroom. This workshop environment happened authentically, but this year I will organize it by having a skill-sharing poster where students can log skills they have.

Sharing

From the first day's introduction of Genius Hour, my students knew that the final product would be shared with the world. We knew that would look different for every student. Some might start a blog, some would visit a classroom, and others would submit ideas to publications. I hosted an evening when students could showcase their projects for their peers and families. Sharing gave their year's worth of work meaning.

Genius Hour could be adapted to any grade level or student type. This year I plan on expanding it to my special education class. The vibrant creativity pulls students into the learning process and makes school a place they want to be-and that's not exclusive to one age or type of student.

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A teacher shares what she did and what she learned when she implemented Genius Hour in her fifth-grade class.

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Project-Based Learning in a Blended Classroom

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Project-Based Learning in a Blended Classroom

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Since Jonathan Bergman and Aaron Sams first experimented with the idea in their Colorado classrooms in 2004, flipped learning has exploded onto the larger educational scene. It's been one of the hottest topics in education for several years running and doesn't seem to be losing steam.

Basically, it all started when Bergman and Sams first came across a technology that makes it easy to record videos. They had a lot of students that regularly missed class and saw an opportunity to make sure that missing class didn't mean missing out on the lessons. Once students had the option of reviewing the lessons at home, the teachers quickly realized the shift opened up additional time in class for more productive, interactive activities than the lectures they'd been giving.

And voila: a movement began.

A 2014 survey from the Flipped Learning network found that 78% of teachers said they'd flipped a lesson, and 96% of those that tried it said they'd recommend it.

What is a flipped classroom?

Once a new idea becomes a buzzword, pinning down the definition can become a tad more challenging. The flipped learning network has developed what they hope will be seen as the definitive definition:

"Flipped Learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter."

That gets the idea across, but it's a bit of a mouthful. The gist, in somewhat simpler terms, is that it's about moving the more passive elements of learning (watching a lecture, reading a chapter, etc.) outside of the classroom, so that more class time is available for interactive, hands-on learning.

Most people hear "flipped learning" and picture kids watching videos at home, but proponents of it suggest that it doesn't have to be exclusively about videos. Teachers are encouraged to give students options - some students will still learn better by reading a textbook chapter, but others will benefit from videos, audio files, or any other type of material you can find or create that covers a given topic.

The Benefits of Flipping Your Classroom

For a veteran teacher, flipping the classroom means completely re-thinking how to do the job you've done a certain way for years. And it comes with some extra work. That being the case, why would any teacher bother?

1. Flipped learning keeps students more engaged.

The flipped classroom model addresses how students learn best. We all know how hard it can be to stay focused during a long lecture, even if it's on a subject we're especially interested in. Discussions and hands-on activities tend to keep students' interest. While you work with students directly as they explore the concepts they're learning in class, you can provide immediate feedback that helps them improve their learning as they go.

2. Teachers provide more personalized attention.

Students don't all learn at the same pace and in the same ways. That's always been a complicating factor in teaching. The question of how to meet thirty or more unique students at their own levels is one that keeps teachers up at night.

The flipped classroom model gives teachers more opportunities to work directly with students. They can therefore clearly see when an individual student is having trouble with a concept and work with them directly to get through it. The increased interaction with students in the classroom will help teachers gain a clearer idea of the different learning styles of their students, so they can tailor their instruction to the needs of each one.

3. Students can work at their own pace.

A student sitting in a lecture, diligently taking notes will almost certainly miss one thing the professor says while writing down another. And that's still a vast improvement over the student whose mind wanders so they don't catch much of anything.

If they're watching a video at home instead, they have the power to pause the lecture while they write something down, and rewind and re-watch a particular part they didn't fully understand the first time. If they feel they could really use a second viewing to better understand the concept, they have that option. They have more power over the way and process by which they study and learn.

Examples of Flipped Classrooms

As in most things, there's no one right way to flip a classroom or lesson. But knowing how other teachers have done it can help give you ideas about what will work best for you.

The Backwards Classroom

Stacy Roshan's classroom is probably the closest to what most people think of as a "flipped classroom" of those on our list, although she's referred to it as the " backwards classroom " herself. She flipped her classroom largely to help reduce the anxiety she saw students experience in her AP Calculus class whenever she'd introduce complicated new concepts.

For homework, her students watch videos she's recorded in advance that cover the concepts explored in each chapter of her textbook. They spend their time in class doing the types of math problems that students have traditionally done as homework. If they have difficulty working through a problem, the teacher's right there for them to ask for help.

She does have to spend a lot of time creating those videos, but is happy enough with the results of using a flipped model that she's been at it for over four years now and is taking the time to experiment with new ways to make it better, like including embedded quizzes in the videos that students watch at home.

The Faux Flipped Classroom

One of the common criticisms leveled at flipped learning is that it depends on a certain amount of privilege: what about all the students who don't have a computer at home to watch videos on? Tracey Gillies addresses this concern with what she calls the "faux flipped" classroom.

Students who don't have a computer at home can watch the assigned video in class. Gillies' classroom is full of students each doing their own thing - watching a video, working out problems, taking quizzes, or posting or commenting on an online discussion board to get input from other students. Each of them is able to work on an assignment for as long as they need in order to master it, and then move on.

And Gillies is there to work with anyone who needs her help, at whatever point in the process they are at.

An Evolved Flipped Classroom

Shelley Wright embraced the flipped classroom back in 2011 and wrote a post about her experiences with flipped learning so far. But she followed it up a year later with a new post about how her flipped classroom had turned into something else - not a reversion back to the traditional way, but a more evolved version of the student-centered classroom she was seeking by flipping her lessons.

As students in her classroom became better at taking the lead on finding valuable resources and pursuing learning their own way, she shifted her focus to helping them with the process of learning how to learn better on their own rather than teaching about the subjects directly.

Her lesson to other teachers interested in flipped learning seems to boil down to: don't think it's all about the videos, they can be a part of it or not. It's about shifting from passive learning to active learning, in whatever way works for you and your students.

The Tools of Flipped Learning

A comprehensive list of every possible tool educators could use to flip a classroom would require a book (and probably still miss some), but we wanted to address a few resources that are common in flipped classrooms.

Of course, familiar tools like YouTube, Evernote, Google Drive, and blogging platforms can play a role as well, but here are a few more specifically suited to flipped learning.

To create videos for students to watch at home, you'll need easy-to-use screencasting software. Camtasia isn't the only one on the market; you can find a list of some of the other screencasting tools you can use here (including some free ones). We're highlighting Camtasia, because the company has optimized the tool for flipped classrooms.

Using Camtasia is fairly intuitive for new users. It allows you to record either your screen, or yourself. And, in one of the features that most sets it apart, it allows you to add interactive elements to your video. You can include quizzes throughout a video to test students' comprehension of what they've just seen, and you can include links out to any additional materials you want them to read or view. It does cost $75 if you're buying the Mac version, and $179 for the PC version, so it's a bit of an investment. But there are volume discounts that may help out if enough teachers in one institution are interested in exploring the flipped classroom.

Part of the appeal of flipped classrooms is that all that extra class time provides more opportunities for collaboration amongst students. Wikispaces is a great tool for encouraging and enabling that collaboration. It's free, unless your school is interested in purchasing a more secure version of the product.

The free version provides a lot of useful features though. You can give students assignments through the wiki, for both individual and group projects. You can load content for them to review and comment on, start discussions (or let them do so), and track how engaged different students are with the content you've assigned. It's plenty useful for non-flipped classrooms as well, but can help students collaborate and interact more both within and outside of the classroom, so lends itself especially well to the challenges of flipped learning.

EdModo is one of the most commonly used education tools in the world and can even claim the title of largest K-12 social network. It enables a lot of the same kind of tasks that Wikispaces does: loading content and assignments for your students to access, and allowing students to share discussions and comments, for instance. But it adds a much larger social element since you can interact with other students and educators beyond your own classroom. That means you can tap into the content and lessons beyond those you've developed and students can seek out insights beyond those their own classmates have.

The tool also provides analytics that help you spot who needs help with what so you can make your class time more productive. And students can access everything loaded to Edmodo on mobile devices as well as desktops, so they can do their learning wherever works best for them.

Like WikiSpaces and Edmodo, Moodle has the functionality to serve as the platform for a flipped classroom. Teachers can load resources, including any relevant ones they find shared by other teachers in Moodle, to create the assignments and curriculum for each class.

Conveniently, an educator from Northwest Regional ESD created a course on how to flip a class using Moodle within Moodle itself. So you can learn about some of the best practices and processes, while also seeing an example of what a course in Moodle looks like at the same time. You can load all the content related to each module, divide it according to topics, and include a variety of content formats.

The last resource on our list is less about providing or organizing content and assignments for your students, and more about actively soliciting their feedback. If the goal of a flipped classroom is to make the learning experience more student-centered, then it makes sense to regularly check in with them.

You can use Poll Everywhere both for occasional quizzes to see how students are doing throughout a class period and to solicit input from the class on which concepts to focus on and how to address them. If you have three ideas for activities students can do together to explore a particular concept, make them choices students can vote on. You can group the students according to their preferences, or focus on the winning option for activities that involve the whole class.

Additional Helpful Resources

As you've noticed by now, this is a big subject. You can find a lot more to learn and say about flipped learning than we've covered here. If you want more information before trying the flipped classroom out, here are some helpful places to start:

In Conclusion

The flipped classroom may not be for everyone. It involves some extra upfront work and just might not mesh with the teaching style of every educator out there. But enough of the teachers that have tried it are having success that you may find it worthwhile to experiment with flipping a lesson or two to see what happens. You might just become a convert.
Editor's note: This article is a revision and combination of several older Edudemic articles, updated and re-analyzed to reflect the latest innovations.

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The Teacher's Guide To Flipped Classrooms

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Since Jonathan Bergman and Aaron Sams first experimented with the idea in their Colorado classrooms in 2004, flipped learning has exploded onto the larger educational scene. It's been one of the hottest topics in education for several years running and doesn't seem to be losing steam.

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Education Week - Education Futures: Emerging Trends in K-12

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By Amy Michalowski, Dean of The Virtual High School

Cooperative and collaborative learning are not new concepts in the field of education - they have been studied for decades and have been used as classroom practices for much longer than that. Although experts in the field might differentiate between the two, I'd suggest that the subtle differences are not all that important. What IS important is that the value proposition of each is similar: to create conditions where students gain interpersonal and cognitive skills necessary for work and life. Development of interpersonal and cognitive skills necessary to partner with others is a critical priority of education.

For those with an interest in the language of education, the distinction between the two practices is primarily in the ownership of the learning process, although there are some who believe that cooperation and collaboration are essentially the same practice because they "overlap in their typical characteristics (i.e. shared knowledge and authority, socially co-constructed knowledge through peer interactions) and long-term goals which help students learn by working together on substantive issues".

When specified, the major differences between cooperation and collaboration are with the role of the instructor in the process and the degree to which the community develops valued and shared vision. Cooperative activities are "typical" classroom activities, such as jigsaw, think-pair-share, peer-review, lab groups, or projects where students create a single, unique product that is shared with the class. Students work individually and together and are accountable to the group for the overall success of the activity. Work is structured, with clear expectations and tasks for students. A truly collaborative activity involves more open-ended assignments where students work together to solve a problem or make meaning together. There isn't as much structure presented to the students during the beginning of the activity, leaving the students to work out the "how" of their project along with the "what."

Cooperative activities are more often utilized in the secondary classroom because the teacher assists in organizing and supervising work, whereas truly collaborative activities require students own the process of learning more independently. It is a nuanced difference, which is why many use the term collaboration to describe both types of activities.

Regardless of terminology, we should all agree that as students progress through education they should be presented with frequent and meaningful opportunities to work with and learn from each other. There are many benefits to learning in groups - the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University outlines many benefits of group exercises on their website. The list includes development and reinforcement of skills that transcend individual and group exercises, such as: time management, project planning and task management, effective communication, and sharing or receiving feedback on performance. In addition, there are a variety of skills that are specific to collaboration, including: delegation of responsibilities, sharing and respecting diverse perspectives, leveraging knowledge and skills of others, risk-taking, establishing group identity, and developing a personal voice and perspective ("What are benefits of group work?").

Let's face it: working in groups can be hard. Group activities can be especially challenging in an online classroom where students may live in different states or countries. Thanks to the work of education leaders and groups like Education Superhighway, improvements in access to infrastructure, devices, and software have made it easier for students to connect with peers around the world. Challenges to group efforts do still exist, however, including many "typical" issues such as absence, inequity of effort, or poor product.

When these roadblocks present themselves, teachers may be tempted to switch to an individualized version of an activity or move away from group activities in the future. When I was teaching in my online classroom in the early 2000s there were times I was tempted to do so myself. Abandoning collaboration because it isn't easy sends our students the wrong message. They learn that it might be better to go it alone rather than work together, and the opportunity to build those crucial life-skills might be lost. Partnership for 21st Century Learning published a research brief entitled " What We Know about Collaboration" that contains valuable information and highlights examples of success. This report affirms the value of collaboration as a critical skill to develop in our students.

Instead of tossing in the towel, here are some ideas to reflect upon, regardless of whether you are a teacher in an online or face-to-face classroom. This list is not exhaustive and certainly doesn't guarantee a successful group exercise, but the items highlighted below are the result of feedback from our students, teachers, and curriculum staff that have worked in cohort-based online classrooms for the past 20 years. They are the benchmarks used by our curriculum team as we discuss online group experiences and are an excellent starting point for any educator interested in enhancing the quality of cooperative or collaborative activities in their classroom.

How important have I made community in my classroom?

Have we gotten to know each other?

Have we established classroom norms and/or a social contract?

Are meaningful, content-rich discussions regular occurrences?

Do students work with each other frequently, or is "group work" saved for rare occasions/big projects only?

Is the activity created in a manner that will lead to success?

Do students understand what needs to be accomplished?

Are directions and outcomes accessible to all students?

Are roles and expectations outlined and/or assigned?

Do students have adequate time to get to establish closer working relationships and achieve the goals of the activities?

How am I available to support individuals and groups?

Are students incentivized to fully participate in the group?

How is group activity assessed? Do students earn credit for quality participation?

Are elements of the project interdependent enough that a single group grade should be applied?

Is the work contextualized so that students understand the value of the learning?

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Cooperative and Collaborative Learning: Student Partnership in Online Classrooms

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Cooperative and collaborative learning are not new concepts in the field of education - they have been studied for decades and have been used as classroom practices for much longer than that. Although experts in the field might differentiate between the two, I'd suggest that the subtle differences are not all that important.

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Constructionism & Constructivism

Constructivism and Constructionism were born out of the research and life-long work of Seymour Papert, who was a student of the work of Jean Piaget. "Constructivism is a theory of learning based on experience and observation. Through experience, and reflecting on these experiences, individuals construct their knowledge and understanding of the world (Hamir, S. et al 2015)."

Making

According to constructionist models, students learn best by making tangible objects through authentic, real life learning opportunities that allow for a guided, collaborative process which incorporates peer feedback.

Experience

Constructionist theory stresses the importance of tools, media, and context in human development, and the processes by which individuals come to make sense of their experience and envision a better world through technology fluency and integration (Ackermann, 2001). Constructivist and constructionist principles, through their emphasis on active educational opportunities, have led to the development of the maker culture and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) focused approaches to student learning and engagement (Hamir, S. et al 2015).

Sharing

In constructionist educational settings, a fundamental significance is placed on the development of positive technological fluency in students and the promotion of learning through designing and sharing within collaborative environments (Papert, 1996).

Maker Movement

The maker movement is holistically tied to constructionism and constructivist theory. The creation of objects whether they be building a computer using Raspberry Pi, creating a video through the use of stop motion animation and green screen technology, or the development of programs using elements of coding in programs such as Scratch, all have at their core in constructionism.

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Constructionism & Constructivism Constructivism and Constructionism were born out of the research and life-long work of Seymour Papert, who was a student of the work of Jean Piaget. "Constructivism is a theory of learning based on experience and observation. Through experience, and reflecting on these experiences, individuals construct their knowledge and understanding of the world (Hamir, S.

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What the Heck Is Inquiry-Based Learning?

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Teachers use inquiry-based learning to combat the “dunno” -- a chronic problem in student engagement. Check out these four steps for creating inquiry-based curriculum.

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Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

In Project Based Learning, teachers make learning come alive for students.

Students work on a project over an extended period of time - from a week up to a semester - that engages them in solving a real-world problem or answering a complex question. They demonstrate their knowledge and skills by creating a public product or presentation for a real audience.

As a result, students develop deep content knowledge as well as critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication skills. Project Based Learning unleashes a contagious, creative energy among students and teachers.

And in case you were looking for a more formal definition...

Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge.

Watch Project Based Learning in Action

These 7-10 minute videos show the Gold Standard PBL model in action, capturing the nuts and bolts of a PBL unit from beginning to end.

This project features teacher Rayhan Ahmed at Leaders High School in Brooklyn, NY, with his 11th grade chemistry class.

This project features Kimberly Head-Trotter of McKissack Middle School, in Nashville, TN, with her 6th grade ELA/History class.

This project features teacher Cheryl Bautista of Katherine Smith Elementary School, San Jose, CA and her third graders.

How does PBL differ from "doing a project"?

PBL is becoming widely used in schools and other educational settings, with different varieties being practiced. However, there are key characteristics that differentiate "doing a project" from engaging in rigorous Project Based Learning.

We find it helpful to distinguish a "dessert project" - a short, intellectually-light project served up after the teacher covers the content of a unit in the usual way - from a "main course" project, in which the project is the unit. In Project Based Learning, the project is the vehicle for teaching the important knowledge and skills student need to learn. The project contains and frames curriculum and instruction.

In contrast to dessert projects, PBL requires critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and various forms of communication. To answer a driving question and create high-quality work, students need to do much more than remember information. They need to use higher-order thinking skills and learn to work as a team.
Learn more about "dessert" projects vs PBL
The gold standard for high-quality PBL

To help ensure your students are getting the main course and are engaging in quality Project Based Learning, PBLWorks promotes a research-informed model for "Gold Standard PBL."

The Gold Standard PBL model encompasses two useful guides for educators:

1) Seven Essential Project Design Elements provide a framework for developing high quality projects for your classroom, and

2) Seven Project Based Teaching Practices help teachers, schools, and organizations improve, calibrate, and assess their practice.

The Gold Standard PBL model aligns with the High Quality PBL Framework. This framework describes what students should be doing, learning, and experiencing in a good project. Learn more at HQPBL.org.

Yes, we provide PBL training for educators!

PBLWorks offers a variety of workshops, courses and services for teachers, school and district leaders, and instructional coaches to get started and advance their practice with Project Based Learning.
Learn more

This project features teacher Rayhan Ahmed at Leaders High School in Brooklyn, NY, with his 11th grade chemistry class.

This project features Kimberly Head-Trotter of McKissack Middle School, in Nashville, TN, with her 6th grade ELA/History class.

This project features teacher Cheryl Bautista of Katherine Smith Elementary School, San Jose, CA and her third graders.

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Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects. Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

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What is Genius Hour? - Introduction to Genius Hour in the Classroom