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PB=Pauline Briones

HS=Helaina Storie

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It will spark curiosity and love for learning
You are differentiating by letting them choose based off their interest
It is Project Based Learning
Collaboration when doing it in groups
Projects can be full of technology

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Another Resource (HS)

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Genius Hour is a time given during the school day to allow students to follow their passions and learn about topics that interest them. My gifted 3rd-5th graders participate in this project, and present their learning when they are ready. This page is devoted to sharing some of the resources I've collected over the past two years with anyone else who is interested in starting a classroom Genius Hour.

*You can download all of my current Genius Hour resources (except for the free digital ones below) in a bundle on Teachers Pay Teachers for $5 . Or, you can still download them separately (for free) by clicking on the links below.

My most recent Genius Hour post (July, 2017): The 6 P's of Genius Hour

My posts on Genius Hour so far (in chronological order from earliest to most recent):
The Twenty Percent Project 100 Minutes of Genius Genius Hour Update, Part I Genius Hour Update, Part II Genius Hour Update, Part III Genius Hour 2013, Part I Genius Hour 2013, Part II Next Year Will Be Even Better Blast off to Genius Hour! Genius Hour - Don't Forget to Reflect! Genius Hour - Show What You Know! Some Genius Tweaks to Our Genius Hour Interactive Genius Hour Presentations You Don't Have to Be a Genius Genius Hour Tune-Up 5 Genius Hour Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Genius Hour Digital Resources What to Do When Genius Hour Sucks
Resources You May Want to Download:
Suggested Genius Hour Mission Sequence Genius Hour Mission Log Genius Hour Mission Planner Genius Hour Challenge Cards (Levels 3-5, including QR codes) Genius Hour Challenge Cards (Levels 1&2, including QR codes)
Genius Hour Villains Poster (This poster is for free. For a $2 packet of 6 (Not) Wanted posters of Genius Hour Villains, visit my TPT store!)

Genius Hour Bookmarks (with QR codes leading to sites for ideas for projects) - updated on 1/1/14 due to problems with previous set!

Genius Hour Flyer (with Aurasma link to the Trailer)

Genius Hour Trailer (video to get students excited)

What Are My S.K.I.L.L.Z.?(for students to volunteer their expertise)

Genius Hour Planning Sheet (traditional - see Genius Hour Mission Planner above for new version)

Genius Hour Reflection (traditional - see Genius Hour Mission Log above for new version)

Websites Your Students May Want to Use for Finding Projects:
Academy of Achievement: Academy Careers Academy of Achievement: My Role Model Wonderopolis The Tinkering Studio
Other Blogs/Resources:

Your Top Genius Hour Questions Answered*
Daniel Pink, "The Genius Hour: How 60 minutes a week can electrify your job"
Dare to Care (search for "Genius Hour", and you will find many posts)

Designing 20% Time in Education*

Embrace Change in the New Year with Genius Hour*
Genius Hour Manifesto Genius Hour Wiki How Google's 20% Time Fosters Innovation
Introducing Genius Hour *
Joy's LiveBinder Inquiry Cycle Mike Stein's LiveBinder Passion Project Examples from Paul Solarz Picture Books for Genius Hour Wonder Project Andi McNairan's "A Meaningful Mess"
*good for "newbies" to Genius Hour

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Genius Hour is a time given during the school day to allow students to follow their passions and learn about topics that interest them. My gifted 3rd-5th graders participate in this project, and present their learning when they are ready. This page is devoted to sharing some of the resources I've collected over the past...

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1.  Do Genius hour project in place of an assessment
2.  Create a day and or time each week to devote to genius time
3. Connect it to a particular learning objective

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How steps and tips
When
Where

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1. Why do cats like Catnip? Because they like to SNIIIIIIIF it.

2. Does wearing a coat really keep you from catching a cold ?

3. Why is my computer slow sometimes ?

4. How does the internet work ?

5. What is the greenhouse effect ?

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Google's engineers are given 20% of their time  to  work on a project of their choice.

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I did some research on how to set up a 20% project and dove right in. Was it smart? Probably not. Dumbest thing I've ever done? Not by a long shot. Could this fail? Absolutely. Will it? I won't let it happen.

About an hour ago, I saw one of the most discombobulated classroom and saw pure joy. I had sent the students on a journey that they actually wanted to be on. Think about it this way... Students show up to school, sit in their desks, and listen (some of the time) to what you think they need to hear and learn to be proficient and making cool designs on a bubble sheet. What if they could show up to school, even for one period per day, and learn about something that they are truly passionate about. What if they come to you excited about something that they have discovered, or learned, based on a plethora of research articles, studies, images, and data? Isn't that school? Isn't that education?
Here's how I set it up in my room:
To start the day off, we took a quiz using Socrative. Please read a previous post to gain a true understanding of my love for that app. The class pulled out their devices, answered 5 questions related to factoring polynomials, and all but 5 of my 38 students scored at least a 4 out of 5. This is a major start in the right direction.

Once they finished with that, we introduced the 20% time. Students filled in the form here and got to work. Wouldn't you know it, there were students who had similar questions?! With that said, these students (some of whom didn't necessarily have much in common prior to the project starting) wound up partnering up and working on the research together. Students were allowed to work in groups of up to 4 as long as they could justify why they wanted to be in a group. Yes, I had a lot of students who were paired up with their friends (are we supposed to separate friends?).

What happened next is the fun stuff. I looked through all of the responses and brought up groups with some questionable entries. After all, I wanted to know that they were truly passionate about learning this topic. We ironed out the areas of concern and the students got right back to work. Once I had checked in on each of the groups, I looked up. Students were huddled in groups, hovering over their devices and collaborating on something that they loved to talk about. They were hungry to feed the curiosity. It was incredible.

Some of my favorites:
How can a nutritionist can help teens?
How do architects design blueprints?
How can I perfect my jumpshot?
What is the difference between the Marines and the Air Force?
What different types of photography are there?
What does it take to become a NICU nurse?
Why is the meaning of music changing every year?
This could have completely bombed. It could have been a giant waste of time. Who knows, it still might. The first couple of responses were "photography" and "phones". We pulled back for a second, I went into further detail on what a Google 20% project looks like, and had the students resubmit their responses. If there were any sketchy ones, it was easy to monitor the responses in real time and address them as necessary.
Things that I would do differently the next time around:
It was a little bit frustrating for me to ask the question "What do you want to learn?" and expect incredible responses immediately. To avoid the one-word responses that weren't questions, I would give the class an example of a good question that they cannot use. Something along the lines of "How has the light bulb evolved over the course of history?" would be a good start. It's boring enough to where the vast majority of the class wouldn't be interested in it and interesting enough to drive the point home. Another quick fix that I would do is to have each student submit their own response prior to telling them about groups. What I encountered was that students were grouping together to find out what the group wanted. Instead, I'd have each student submit their own idea and form groups based on common interests. There were some, albeit few, cases where "groups" couldn't decide on a project. Therefore, they were broken up and asked to find something that they, individually, are passionate about.

Going forward, I know that this is not going to be the Yellow Brick Road. However, it isn't going to be the same single-lane highway that drifts aimlessly off into oblivion. My students are ready to take on the 20% time as a way to prove that school is more than just teachers standing in front of the class and delivering the content from a textbook. I am learning, slowly but surely, that authentic learning happens when the ones who are learning are the ones who own it. I'm learning. So are my students.

Happy Fishing.

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I did some research on how to set up a 20% project and dove right in. Was it smart? Probably not. Dumbest thing I've ever done? Not by a long shot. Could this fail? Absolutely. Will it? I won't let it happen. About an hour ago, I saw one of the most discombobulated classroom and saw pure joy.

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Livebinder of Genius Hour resources (HS)

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Livebinder of Genius Hour resources (HS)

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Great Genius Hour and 20% Time resources including grade level success stories, why you would want to do Genius hour, how 20% time works, how to get started, how to work through issues, and how to communicate with parents about the projects.

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for form on  project proposal http://creativeclassroomtools.blogspot.com/2014/03/genius-hour.html?m=1
http://www.geniushour.com/what-is-genius-hour/

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A way for students to explore their passion and get excited about learning.

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Its going to be noisy

Be sure to have clear expectations

Take the students to library to teach research skills

Conference often

Provide a rubic

Consider starting project early in year (PB)

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Introduce concept
Create a timeline
Set short goals
1st generate ideas
Select topic
Exploring topic
Student Conference time
Create Product
Present to class
Reflect

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Research

Inquiry

Innovation

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Use tools for creation

Videos

Presentations

Podcast

Cartoons

Websites (PB)

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Wonderopolis
National Geographic
Twitter
Animal Planet
Brain pop
https://kids.usa.gov/
http://www.si.edu/Kids
https://diy.org/

Bad ideas you liars