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Picture books, quotes, videos, inspiration

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Picture books, quotes, videos, inspiration

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I'm speaking at the national Apple Regional Training Centre conference next week in the UK and one of the sessions I'm running is around the idea of the 'Genius Hour'.

For those who haven't come across it before, it was borne out of the idea of Google's 20% time. This is time that is set aside for employees as part of Google's drive (get it? #pun) to innovate within its ranks. Famously, such ideas as Gmail have come from a 20% time project by one of Google's employees.

Genius Hour is meant to inspire and give children the opportunity to develop and build some of the most important skills in learning around the idea of collaboration, creativity and innovation, communication and critical thinking.

In my session I will be sharing about genius hour, linking to some people who are already big international advocates such as Graham Andre and Joy Kirr (thanks to both in helping me prepare for this session).

My work sees me travel the world and I am fortunate to have seen first hand in classrooms around the world that genius hour can have on children. From the classroom of Eleni Kyritsis of Teach, Tech, Play in Melbourne and beyond, genius hour is having an impact wherever it is implemented.

Part of the process involves asking children to think critically about how their projects. It isn't just a case of thinking, what do I want to do and then going off and doing it. Each project has to have a purpose and the journey of each project should be meticulously thought about and documented. The process links well too to the idea of 'design thinking' something I first came across during my time working at Clevedon and Zoë Elder.

As part of my preparation and as a resource that I am going to share with you now, I created a number of documents using ' Paper by 53 ' - one of my favourite iOS apps.

The first one is a planning sheet:

You will most likely notice that there is some typed text here. Paper by 53 has a feature whereby you can send designs you make straight into Photoshop CC for further editing. In this case, to make the heading stand out, I sent the sketch to Photoshop so that I could add in the text that you see above. Photoshop is a premium product which I absolutely love. If you don't have it however and you want to achieve this effect if you aren't happy with your handwriting, you could save the image and do this in other image editors. I do much prefer Photoshop however for its ease of use and extended features.

I repeated the same thing with the next planning document that I made as I really wanted the questions on the proposal sheet to be very clear and to take up as little space as possible in the boxes I created for student responses:

Due to the close links to design thinking, I wanted to include a design that would showcase the various stages of the design thinking process, so I went about creating another sketchnote that would highlight the different aspects.

I am not the world's best sketch artist, it has to be said, and so with that in mind, another feature of Paper that I sometimes use is the public stream feature. This enables you to look at designs shared by others and gives you the ability to 'remix' the work of other people.

Upon looking through the stream I came across a remix made by Dutch artist ' Wouter Haine '. I loved his addition to the remix of 'Wally' from 'Where's Wally' fame and so remixed his remix into a remix of my own:

I tweeted each of these resources on Twitter and they have proved very popular, as a result I thought that I would compile them together here into one post.

He's no Wally... the 7 stages of the design thinking process.#learning #ukedchat pic.twitter.com/SJNffUiaAB

- Mark Anderson (@ICTEvangelist) September 20, 2016

I hope that you find them useful. I am really looking forward to my session next week on Genius Hour. My thanks go to Graham, Joy and Wouter in helping me with this session.

If you would like to find out more about Genius Hour, please checkout Joy's LiveBinder with a load of resources around the topic. If you're interested in finding out more about design thinking and how it can impact on your classroom then please check out the work of you in Ewan McIntosh and his company NoTosh.

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Genius hour and design thinking sketchnote resources

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I'm speaking at the national Apple Regional Training Centre conference next week in the UK and one of the sessions I'm running is around the idea of the 'Genius Hour'. For those who haven't come across it before, it was borne out of the idea of Google's 20% time.

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You know how it goes. As teachers, we have summers "off," but our summers are never quiet! Besides vacations with family, organizing our neglected homes and yards, and other responsibilities, we also think about next year's assignment.

We reflect, read, write, plan, evaluate, and shop. Our students are never far from our hearts and minds. Today's post is a recap of some summer learning brought to you by members of the Genius Hour tribe.

First, before the chat, we had received some comments on this blog where some began to share their summer learning.

Ashley Berkes shared this idea:

Last year, I used one science period each week for genius hour. This year, I'm going to alternate my times. One week, we will carve out some time during math, and focus on the mathematics of the projects. If genius hour time is during ELA, we will read and write and talk. I want students to create projects that are diverse and well-rounded, and I think changing the focus often will help foster that...The first few weeks will be general brainstorming and planning, but then continue to look at the project though a different lens each week. I'm excited to try!

Laurie Banks shared, "This year we will be doing our brainstorming on Padlet. I have set up a template for my students to add their ideas for everyone to see. They may like what someone else has and choose to learn more about it. It also puts them up in front where we can discuss their thinking."

Janelle Stigall shared a Padlet of resources for her district's The Genius Hour Guidebook study.

Andrea Snow is jumping right in with her students next year:

I just am going for the gold and implementing Genius Hour with my 3/4 grade students. We will spend every Wednesday for an hour each morning. I am so excited!! We will spend the first 6 weeks figuring out our passions and then we're off to projects and professionals!!

Kindergarten teacher Theresa Reinkemeyer shares a great take on Genius Hour for her young non-readers.

I'm a kindergarten teacher in Missouri. This is my first year attempting something that sort-of resembles genius hour. I'm calling it "Wonder Workshop". At the beginning of the year, I'm going to interview my kids to see what kinds of projects they want to learn about and explore this year and make a list on our class website. Once a month, I'm going to get a handful of volunteers to come into the classroom to facilitate some off these projects with small groups of kids. I'll utilize family members, staff members, and partners in education. Each volunteer will facilitate a different project and the kids will get to choose which of the available projects they want to explore. My hope is that the volunteers will be able to help the kindergartners dig deeper by acting as "experts" and guiding the kids to research resources. After Wonder Workshop, each group of kids will help make a blog post about their experiences and projects as a way to share their learning with others.

This execution isn't as free as traditional Genius Hour, but I want to give my non-readers access to information and the support they need to explore ideas and projects (like cooking) they may not be ready to execute independently. I'm excited to see how this works. I think I've got the foundation of Genius Hour, but with a lot of extra supports to accommodate my young learners.

Our latest #geniushour Twitter chat was on August 3, 2017. The topic was using our summer learning to help us with Genius Hour in the new school year. The archive on Storify can be found here, but below is a recap of the questions with a few sample answers folks shared:
Q1 Did you have your own personal #geniushour project this summer?
Yes, many people did - writing, reading, kitchen remodels, adventures with a grandson, creating a FODMAP diet, and figuring out how to handle being a mom to three now in addition to being a full-time teacher.
Q2 What are the best ideas you've learned this summer that you'll use during the upcoming school year?

A2: #geniushour Learned about #PBL and going to implement this year at our site. Nervous, but excited and ready!

- Angela Dellacort (@angeladt805) August 4, 2017

A2: Hoping to let Ss take ownership of their learning and be leaders. Learn their passions - dabble in passion time/genius hour... #GeniusHour

- Jennifer Kibbel (@jkibbel17) August 4, 2017

A2: I have been learning about how to be a better math teacher #geniushour

- Robyn Thiessen (@RobynThiessen) August 4, 2017

Q3 What was the best book you read this summer? Do you have a tweetable takeaway to share?
You might find a few to add to your "To Read" list:
Growth Mindset, How Children Learn Math Concepts, Shift This, Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology, and Innovators Mindset

And a couple of fiction bests - Counting by 7s and The Buddha in the Attic
Q4 What #geniushour (or any) blog posts have you written or read lately that you'd like to share with others?
Other blogs we are reading:
Q5 Do you have any #geniushour changes you need to make that will improve GH during the coming year?
Here are a few tweets showing what we are learning.

A5: My hurdle to get over/change is how to help students when they get stuck without just giving them the answer they are seeking #geniushour

- Jenn Donahue (@donahue_jenn) August 4, 2017

A5: My Gr5 #ell Ss were awesome. I need to trust them more and move away from their love of grades for #geniushour https://t.co/DmOFuMpZyb

- Denise Krebs (@mrsdkrebs) August 4, 2017

A5: I am also wanting to bring back student written blogs as the way to reflect on our #geniushour projects & share with classmates!

- Gallit Zvi (@gallit_z) August 4, 2017

Question #5 could use more answers to help people like Chantal*, who is new to Genius Hour and looking for resources.

A5: I would like to start small. Any suggestions? #geniushour

- Chantal Blessing (@HayBlessing) August 4, 2017

Some of the answers that were shared to get her started:
Q6 Share one thing from tonight's chat that you will take away and/or try in #geniushour for the next school year.
Genius Hour novices and veterans alike were planning to follow the links left in the chat to learn more about Genius Hour, model wondering in the classroom, show students that all are geniuses, check out the new @Seesaw blog feature, and more.

Finally, Elizabeth Pearson and Suzie are first grade teachers looking for resources to start Genius Hour with their students. We have shared a lot of resources in this post, but what else?
*What other resources would you add for Chantal, Elizabeth, Suzie,
and all the other teachers new to Genius Hour?
Please share in the comments below.

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Listen to Your Summer Tribe: Genius Hour Ideas for the Coming Year

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You know how it goes. As teachers, we have summers "off," but our summers are never quiet! Besides vacations with family, organizing our neglected homes and yards, and other responsibilities, we also think about next year's assignment. We reflect, read, write, plan, evaluate, and shop. Our students are never far from our hearts and minds.

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The Genius Hour Guidebook - A Resource Site

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Want to learn more about Genius Hour? Join us THIS TUESDAY, 12 May 2020, for the FREE Genius Hour Virtual Summit. Come to one or all sessions. Andi McNair, Gallit Zvi, Denise Krebs, A.J. Juliani,...

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The Genius Hour Guidebook - A Resource Site

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6Ps Andi Mcnair

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https://www.andimcnair.com/learning-opportunities

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The History of 20-Time:

3M started it in the 1950's with their 15% Project. The result? Post-its and masking tape. Google is credited for making the 20% Project what it is today. Google asks its employees to spend 20% of their time at Google to work on a pet project...a project that their job description doesn't cover. As a result of the 20% Project at Google, we now have Gmail, AdSense, Google News, and my favorite, the Google Teacher Academy. Using 20 Time in the workplace allows innovative ideas and projects to flourish and/or fail without the bureaucracy of committees and budgets.

What Are the Options?

20% Project: A lot of time has been spent with both success and failures to mold the 20% Project template series above. If you'd like a structured template for instituting 20-Time in your classroom, the 20% Project is for you. Check out the 20% Project writeup, the 20% Project Template Series, and the 20% Project Community. For an indepth guide on integrating 20-Time in your class- Kevin Brookhouser's 20Time Project is a must read.

Genius Hour: For those not ready for a commitment (teachers or students) try Genius Hour. Students search a different topic each week with a few informal presentations at the end of the hour.

Need One More Reason?

How about 10 Reasons? Check out AJ Juliani's post "10 Reasons to Try 20% Time in the Classroom."

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20-Time In Education Inspire. Create. Innovate.

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The History of 20-Time: 3M started it in the 1950's with their 15% Project. The result? Post-its and masking tape. Google is credited for making the 20% Project what it is today. Google asks its employees to spend 20% of their time at Google to work on a pet project...a project that their job description doesn't cover.

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Choose from a wide variety of shapes to create diagrams and charts. Free from Google.

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What is 20 Percent Time? A Conversation with A.J. Juliani | Cult of Pedagogy

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Whether they call it 20 Time or Genius Hour, more teachers are carving out regular chunks of instructional time to let students pursue their passions.

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Genius Hour Resources - A collection of links, images and videos. by Lee Araoz | This newsletter was created with Smore, an online tool for creating beautiful newsletters for for individual educators, schools and districts

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"There exists empirical evidence proving that students who are given the freedom to explore areas based on their personal interests, and who are accompanied in their learning by a supportive, understanding facilitator, not only achieve superior academic results but also develop socially and grow personally."

Renate Motschnig

It is imperative for teachers to provide opportunities for student voice and choice in the 21st-century classroom. If students have some control over what is covered, they're more likely to stay tuned in and actively engage in the learning process. Thankfully, there's a movement that promotes student choice and innovation in learning that has been sweeping the nation. This passion- driven movement, which is known as Genius Hour, or 20% Time, allows students to become innovative creators of content rather than just consumers of it

Selecting a Genius Hour topic is obviously of critical importance. However, this is not always easy for students. They don't always know or realize what they are interested in and what they want to inquire about. Thankfully, there are a number of excellent digital tools and resources that can be used to help students select a topic that will make Genius Hour one of the best projects they've ever done.

The video below by Jason Silva offers excellent brainstorming tips.
How to Find Your Passion
Students are encouraged to select one of the F our Pathways to Genius below as they begin their Genius Hour brainstorming sessions.

1. Create - You want to make/invent something new and share it.

2. Change - You want to start a movement and make a difference in the world.

3. Expert -You want to share something you are great at with the rest of the world.

4. Inquiry - You are curious about a topic and want to learn more about it.

After students choose the pathway to genius they'd like to pursue, students are directed to come up with five essential questions to drive the research process. Since Genius Hour is an interdisciplinary project in our school, students are asked to come up with one essential question in each of the following subject areas:

The remaining questions are the students' choice and do not have to reflect a particular subject area.

The key to crafting a good essential question is making sure it's "un-Google-able". This means the question cannot be easily answered by a quick Google search. This can be quite challenging for students at first and teachers need to plan accordingly. Some students need more assistance with this than others and a key factor for success is making sure you check in with students on a regular basis. They should not be able to begin the research process until their essential questions have been checked and revised if necessary. We encourage our students to conference with a peer before submitting their essential questions to the teacher for review.
Students are now ready to begin researching their Genius Hour topics using their essential questions to drive the process.

Do you want to learn more about Genius Hour 4.0?

Click the image below to access my Genius Hour Resources page.

Click the links below to register for my online in-service or graduate course.
Genius Hour: Passion-Based, Technology-Infused PD/In-Service Course EDCI 639-009 Genius Hour: Passion-Based, Technology-Infused Learning in the Classroom

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Genius Hour 4.0 - Four Pathways to Genius

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"There exists empirical evidence proving that students who are given the freedom to explore areas based on their personal interests, and who are accompanied in their learning by a supportive, understanding facilitator, not only achieve superior academic results but also develop socially and grow personally." Renate Motschnig It is imperative for teachers to provide opportunities...

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from Terri Eichholz

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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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The 5 Biggest Mistakes I Made with Genius Hour (and How I Fixed Them)

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This post is inspired by Ross Cooper’s latest post on the mistakes he made in doing PBL. It’s a great post. In fact, you should stop reading this now and read his post instead. Go

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http://langwitches.org/blog/2011/07/21/upgrade-your-kwl-chart-to-the-21st-century/

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Leading Children to Pursue their Passions in the Classroom: - http://psolarz.weebly.com/leading-children-to-pursue-their-passions.html Creating Passion Projects: -...

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Step-by-Step Directions for Creating Passion Projects in Our Classroom

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(1) Students create Essential Questions & get them approved by the teacher. Here is a short clip showing how I work one-on-one with students to approve their Essential Questions. (2) Submit Essential...

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My Latest BAM! Radio Show Is On "Genius Hours"

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My latest eight-minute BAM! Radio Show is on teaching "Genius Hours." Yvette Jackson, Veronica McDermott, Rebecca Mieliwocki, and Gallit Zvi join me in the discussion, and they've...

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By Gallit Zvi and Denise Krebs
Have you heard of Genius Hour? It's inquiry-based and passion-based learning all rolled into one and students love it! We are firm believers in this kind of student-centered classroom experience.

If you haven't given this learning idea a shot in your class yet, we think you should consider making this the year you launch Genius Hour.

The Genius Hour movement was born on Twitter and we continue to host a #geniushour twitter chat each month. During our August chat we discussed how one might launch Genius Hour in this new school year. We heard some great tips from Genius Hour experts in the field, and we'd like to share their wealth of experience with you here.

Preparing for a Genius Hour launch

First we asked these teachers, some of whom have several years experience in Genius Hour, questions about what happens in their classrooms before they launch Genius Hour. They talked about how they would plan for Genius Hour, as well as when (and for how long) they'd prepare their students by introducing the concept.

Justin Greene and Carli Padgett each said their students will have conversations about their passions, likes and dislikes, and what they are wondering about. Likewise Amanda Dickey plans to have whole class and individual brainstorming about student passions.

Laurie Davies, Jennifer Abbey and Cristal Edwards suggested community building is key. We totally agree. In fact, both of us always spend the first couple of months of the school year building a trusting, safe community and getting to know our students before launching Genius Hour.

We love the use of a Wonder Wall in the classroom. It is great for students to know that their wonders and questions are important and worth recording. It is also really handy for those times when kids ask great questions during a lesson but you just don't have the time to fully explore it. Instead of letting the question slip away, you can ask the student to put it on a wonder wall for exploration later on!

Getting the admin support you need

The next question we asked the group was how do you plan to get support from administration? Did they think this was something they ought to do or something that perhaps wasn't necessary?

Many agreed that it was a good idea to keep administration in the loop about what was going on in their classrooms. Carol McLaughlin said "I think it's a good idea to share what you're doing w/ admin. Invite them into the process. Let your kids share with them." We love the idea of inviting administration into the class to be a part of the Genius Hour process. Students love sharing their project ideas with them! In the past, we have had admin come in and work with students on their projects-giving encouragement, asking questions, etc. It is really magical! Most of the chat participants chimed in and agreed that their admin loved Genius Hour too!

Angela Rutschke echoed this sentiment, adding that her admin was really impressed with the inquiry skills her students were learning!

Similarly, Cheryl Hopkins shared how her administration was always on board for innovative learning experiences like Genius Hour, but she also suggested bringing reasons to support your ideas. We think this is a great tip. Think about your 'why' for wanting to do Genius Hour in your room with your students and then mention those reasons to your admin when you tell them about launching Genius Hour. Then ask them to come in and join the fun!

Lindsey Matthews agrees. She advised folks to, "Plead your case and invite your admin in. The benefits are undeniable. He/she will be hooked!" So how do you plead your case? Go back to that 'why' question. Why do you want to do Genius Hour? Some of our major reasons for why Genius Hour is important are:

Renee White added that she shared the huge number of standards that Genius Hour hits. This is another great thing to spend some time looking into and adding to your list of reasons for Genius Hour.

Brainstorming Genius Hour project ideas

So after you've started your year off right - building community, working on inquiry and questioning skills, inviting administration in so that they can participate in Genius Hour too - the next step is to actually launch Genius Hour in your classroom. Which begs the question: how do you brainstorm potential Genius Hour project ideas with your class?

Renee White, as 1st grade teacher, talked about how she teaches questioning strategies first and then meets with students one-on-one or in small groups to brainstorm ideas.

Cheryl Hopkins and Lindsey Matthews both shared how their students enjoy being inspired by other Genius Hour kids in their school and around the world, so they take some time during the initial launch to check out other students' blogs. Great idea!

Nancy Erickson reminded us that a good brainstorm means all ideas go up: the good, the bad, the ugly and the outrageous are all fair game for a brainstorming board. We couldn't agree more. It is all fair game in the initial brainstorm, and then we help students narrow it down to something that really is important to them. The next step is to help them design an inquiry question that will be focused enough for them to pursue.

Although many do this brainstrom on the chalkboard or with sticky notes on a bulletin board, Lindsey Matthews reminded us that a brainstorm can also be done digitally. She creates a padlet wall for them to post their ideas.

To help focus this brainstorm, Angela Rutschke recommends the following questions:

What breaks your heart?

What can make a difference?

What's a problem you can solve?

What do you want to know more about/why?

We love these questions and have used similar ones when we have tried to encourage our students to try new projects that are more passion-based (instead of only focusing on pure inquiry-type projects). Shifting from what do you love to what breaks your heart about what you love can help students who know that they love horses, for example, but cannot think of a great project question to go with it.

More tips for new Genius Hour teachers

We ended the chat (as we often do) by asking our experienced Genius Hour teachers if they had any tips to share with newbies. Here is what they had to say:

Joanna Mackey reminded everyone that Wonderopolis has great questions to help inspire students and is a good place to start. We agree, especially with younger students.

Amanda Dickey and Renee White wisely suggested you let go of control. Even though it can be stressful and everything may not always go as planned, you will see what great things the students do. Ms. Chouinard-Jahant said, "Plan well, but be open for a little chaos. Trust students. They really embrace Genius Hour and love the opportunity for choice." We think you will find, as Cristal Edwards did, that "students can and will surpass expectations."

Cheryl Hopkins suggests having patience and being willing to admit you don't know. You will learn from and with the students. We agree! The "teacher as lifelong learner" will contribute to success in Genius Hour.

Wendy Heffler gives the advice for teachers to be a facilitator during Genius Hour.

Haage says, "Don't give up. It may be hard for students to grasp the concept, but keep at it." Yes, indeed. If students don't get it at first, please keep trying. They need more help and practice in this way of learning, which unfortunately is so foreign for too many of our students.

Angela Rutschke had lots of suggestions in one short tweet:

Be brave

Jump in

Get a buddy

Good driving questions are the engine

Check in often with groups

Try a short project for the first Genius Hour

Jennifer Abbey tells new Genius Hour teachers to go for it, as there is nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

Two practical bits of advice from Leah Chancellor:

Check in with students regularly

Help them keep organized

Finally, we loved this inspirational advice Lindsey Matthews gave:
Here are some more resources shared during the chat:
We want to add one more thought

Enthusiasm is probably one of the best ways to get our students on board. Obviously students will love the autonomy, purpose, and other wonderful parts of Genius Hour, but in our experience students are most responsive to teacher enthusiasm.

Why not do a little Genius Hour project of your own and share it with your class? Show them your excitement for this, and we think it will be contagious. If you are pumped about it, they will likely feed off your energy. So have fun and share with your students.

We hope some of these tips will help you launch a successful Genius Hour in your classroom this year!
► You can participate in the #geniushour chat on Twitter the 1st Thursday of each month at 6 pm Pacific/9 pm Eastern. All you need is a Twitter account. For more participation options, try a tool like Tweetchat. If you need more help, here's an educator-friendly guide.
Feature illustration: Lesley Buckner

___________

Teachers Gallit Zvi and Denise Krebs are the authors of The Genius Hour Guidebook, brought to you by MiddleWeb and Routledge Eye on Education. Receive a 20% discount at the publisher's website by using this code at checkout: MWEB1. Find lots more articles and free resources at the GHG book website.

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Make This the Year You Launch Genius Hour

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For teachers who've thought about launching a Genius Hour program, Gallit Zvi and Denise Krebs have organized a wealth of tips and resources to get you started.

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The 6 P's of Genius Hour Help Wanted Wall Joy Kirr's LiveBinder Learning From Experts Why Genius Hour is a Priority Flipgrid and Genius Hour Passion Projects: A Win-Win Engage Their Minds...

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Not only does project based learning motivate students because it is an authentic use of technology, it facilitates active learning, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. Projects begin with a driving question-an open-ended question that sets the stage for the project by creating interest and curiosity. Writing an effective driving question is surprisingly challenging. You want the question to be intriguing and irresistible to students, which makes it very different from the typical questions they encounter on tests.

A Driving Force

Like many educators, I call the "mission statement" of a project a driving question. It captures the heart of the project by providing purpose using clear and compelling language. With so many different flavors of project based learning (including problem based learning, challenge based learning, student centered learning, exploration, student driven inquiry, and authentic learning), it's not surprising that we have a variety of other terms for a question or statement that is the project's driving force. These terms include essential question, challenge, prime question, WILD HOG question, focus question, and smart question. I'll stick with driving question, but do know that sometimes the driving question is not interrogative. It might be a statement, but I'll still refer to is as a question.

Driving questions pose simply stated real world dilemmas. They pose predicaments that students find interesting and actually want to answer. The question drives students to discuss, inquire, and investigate the topic. It should push them toward a production or solution. In the process of investigating the question and sharing their answers, students learn important content and skills.

Make a Dent

Steve Jobs had the mantra, "Let's make a dent in the universe." He was on a mission to change the world. His dent in the universe is almost as big as the dent his company has put in my pocketbook (brief pause for chuckles). I think the best projects set out to make a dent. The dent might be big or small, but at least the project has made a difference in the universe.

Projects can make a difference by...

educating others

solving a problem

calling people to action

building something useful

planning an event

raising money for a purpose

recognizing or inspiring others

designing a better way to do something

If a student can ask Google, Cortana, or Siri a question and get the answer, then that question would not be a good driving question. Its answer is readily available. Answering it again as a project won't make a dent in the universe. It would be work that keeps a student busy but has little value in itself (also known as busy work).

Chicken or Egg

Which comes first, the driving question or the learning goals? I think it depends. The most successful projects feed off of students' passions. Don't be afraid to tap into them. Take what they are interested in and find a way to connect that interest to learning standards.

In my first year of teaching, my fifth graders were obsessed with SpongeBob Squarepants. They would enter the classroom each morning talking about the cartoon and its characters. They would mention SpongeBob any chance they got during class. If they were passing notes, it was probably about SpongeBob. I saw my students' eyes light up when they found out my dad's name is Gary (the name of SpongeBob's pet snail). Instead of embracing their passion for the topic, I banned SpongeBob from my classroom because I thought it was distracting. I really wish I hadn't done that. I lost rapport with my students, and just imagine if I could have funneled that energy and enthusiasm into a project... Driving questions might have been:

What adventures would SpongeBob have during the Great Depression?

You are in charge of Nickelodeon. Propose episodes of SpongeBob that teach kids about finding common denominators.

How can we use SpongeBob to persuade our parents to protect Earth's resources and environment?

So, to develop a driving question, you can use students' interest as a starting point and then creatively connect learning standards. Alternatively, driving questions are often developed by first looking at learning standards. Some of them will most likely coalesce into a possible project. Considering where your standards are used in the real world may help you connect them with a problem, dilemma, or question you can use to drive a project.

Some of the learning aims my school had for students in math were working with decimals and graphing data. I also wanted them to learn about spreadsheets. These goals lead to the question, "How would you use $1,000,000 to help our community?" For the project, students had to account for every penny, categorize expenses in a spreadsheet, and construct pie charts. Language arts standards were also addressed because the end product required good writing and speaking skills.

So, you can start with a topic or you start with learning standards to develop a driving question. In the end, the driving question should require students to learn skills and content in order to answer an interesting question.

Who Writes the Question?

It's likely the teacher will be the one writing the driving question. A good driving question is challenging to construct, even for an experienced professional educator. The teacher will know best how to form a question that incorporates learning standards. To involve students, the teacher could get input from them about the potential driving question.

Driving questions written by students are certainly valuable (and an essential part of Genius Hour or 20% Time), but they can be very difficult to integrate into a prescribed curriculum. Don't worry, even if the teacher develops the driving question, students still have the opportunity to ask loads of their own questions (see the Branching Questions section below).

Types of Questions

There's an art to developing driving questions, because there isn't a specific formula you must follow. Though, you can find some examples and structures to help you out. Below are some types of driving questions. Maybe some of these will be the spark that inspires you write your next driving question.

📐 Solve a Problem: There's a real-world predicament with multiple solutions.

How can we stop phantom traffic jams?

How can we beautify the vacant lot across the street for $200?

What's the best way to stop the flu at our school?

Design a better lunch menu for our school.

Design a safe and sturdy bridge to replace one in our city.

🎓 Educational: The purpose of the project is to teach others.

How can we teach second graders about helpful insects.

Create a campaign to teach senior citizens how to use an iPad.

What do the students at our school need to know about being respectful?

👍 Convince Others: Students persuade a specified audience to do something or change their opinions.

Create a public service announcement (PSA) that persuades teens to drink more water.

Drive yourself to define a question and then Prove It to your classmates.

Convince grocery shoppers to return their shopping carts.

How can we convince our principal that we should have a party in December?

🌏 Broad Theme: The project tackles big ideas.

What does it mean to read?

How does conflict lead to change?

How does math influence art?

How do writers persuade others?

How are good and evil depicted in different cultures?

💬 Opinion: Students need to consider all sides of an issue in order to form and justify their opinions.

Should pets be allowed to attend class?

Why has a woman never been a U.S. president?

What makes a good astronaut?

🚥 Divergent: Students make predictions about alternative timelines and scenarios.

What if Rosa Parks gave up her seat?

What if the world ran out of oil tomorrow?

How might your city change if the climate became an average of 10°F warmer?

What if the USA switched to the metric system?

🚀 Scenario-Based: Students take on a fictional role with a mission to accomplish.

You're a NASA engineer, and you are in charge of building a moon base. What are the ten most important things to include and why?

Imagine that you are King George. What would you have done differently to keep American part of England?

You are the CEO of a company that is designing a new social media app. Present a business plan to your investors that explains how your company will make money.

You've been hired to revamp your local shopping mall. Come up with a plan to increase business.

How would you spend $1,000,000 to help your community?

🚧 Scaffolded Around Framing Words: BIE has a tool to help you develop driving questions called a Tubric. It provides possible framing words, actions, audience, and purpose. If you'd rather not take the time to construct a tube, you could use Rhoni McFarlane's Developing Inquiry Questions chart, Amy Mayer's Scaffold for Writing a Driving Question, or TeachThought's PBL Cheat Sheet.

How can I create a campaign to reduce bullying in my school? (from Rhoni McFarlane)

How can we find a solution to reduce the litter in our school permanently? (also from Rhoni McFarlane)

How can we as first graders create geocaching sites to promote physical fitness in our neighborhood? (from Washington Discovery Academy)

Refining the Question

Driving questions are rarely perfect after the first draft. There are usually ways you can make them better. Talking a driving question over with colleagues, asking on social media, and putting it past your students can help you get insight into how well the question will drive a project.

A driving question shouldn't sound like a question students would find on a test. Instead of "Describe what organisms need to survive," the question could be "What if we had a chicken house at our school?" And, "Why did the American colonists declare war with England?" could be reworked into, "How could you have convinced American colonists to support independence using today's technology?" Making your question appealing to students is probably the most difficult part of crafting a question. Keep in mind, a question that is captivating to you might not be to your students.

Below is a checklist to help you refine your question. You might not be able to check off all the items, but the more the merrier!

‼️ The question is appealing to students.
🗜 The question is concise.
💦 The question has no easy answer.
😍 The question taps into students' interests and passions.
💤 The question does not sound like a test question.
💗 The question leads to more questions.
🔀 There is more than one answer to the question.
🔰 The topic is personal or local.
🏡 Students can relate to the question in their daily lives.
🤔 Students will have choices for end products.
💬 There is an authentic audience for the project.
🕵️‍♀️ The question requires serious investigation.
ℹ️ Students will learn important skills and content.
💥 The project will somehow make a difference in the world.

Outcomes

Since you've probably attached a few learning standards to the project, you'll want to make sure that those are addressed. Learning goals don't have to be part of your driving question. In fact, mentioning them in your driving question will complicate it. Instead, the place to communicate learning outcomes is in your assessment instrument. Whether you use a checklist, rating scale, or rubric, you'll want to create it alongside your driving question. The criteria you put in your assessment will guide students toward the content and skills you want them to learn. You might even want to get their input before you finalize the project's assessment.

Be sure that your assessment gives students lots of leeway in how they investigate and share their projects. Every project should turn out differently. As Chris Lehmann says, "If you assign a project and you get back 30 of the exact same thing, that's not a project, that's a recipe."

You can create rubrics and checklists with help from:

💡 Great Idea: Teacher Kristy Louden writes about how she delays giving a final grade until after students have read her feedback and conferenced with her.

Branching Questions

A good driving question will lead to more questions. Students will generate these sub questions and their answers are important for the project. These sub questions branch off of the driving questions and each other. They are specific and can guide student research.

Let's take the driving question, "What if we had a chicken house at our school?" Students might brainstorm branching questions like:

What do chickens eat?

How often do they eat?

How large of a house do they need?

Does the house need to have different rooms?

Do chickens fight with each other?

How many eggs will they lay?

Branching questions get students thinking about what they need to know to answer the driving question. Using a mind mapping app like Popplet can help students capture their brainstormed branching questions. Students can then group their questions based on similarities, by the kinds of resources that can help them answer, or for the purpose of assigning sub questions to different group members. Below is a Popplet map with branching questions organized by sub topics.

Free mind mapping apps you might consider...

And, of course, paper or whiteboards can be used to brainstorm branching questions.

Big Deal

A driving question guides a project, which can take days, weeks, or months to complete. It's a big deal. You want to make sure your question is a good one. How do you know if a question will push students toward a quality project? Do the project yourself! If you do your own project ahead of time, you might encounter some bumps in the road that you didn't anticipate, giving you a chance to refine your question or modify your assessment instrument. If you do your project alongside students, you can model thinking skills and perseverance. By doing your own project, you're showing your students that the driving question is such a big deal, even you want to answer it.

Since your question is such a big deal, treat it like one! Make up rhymes, chants, poems, or songs. An app like Songify for iOS or Android can turn your spoken words into a catchy tune.

Plaster your driving question at the front of your classroom, post it in the hallway, put it on your website, and include it in your class newsletter. Heck, you can make stickers, banners, t-shirts, mugs, slippers, and water bottles with the driving question.

You can use your favorite design app to make a graphic or poster of your driving question. As a time saver, there are websites that can instantly make your driving question visual. Some good ones are Recite, Quozio, QuotesCover, and Canva.

You Know Better Than Anyone

As the leader of your classroom, you are in the best position to know what will work with your students. You know a lot about their interests and abilities. You know the amount of time you have, the resources available, your curriculum, and the learning standards. Considering all this and concocting a meaningful question that will spur students to investigate and learn is no easy task. But, since a driving question can make or break a project, it's very much worth the effort.

Phillip Schlechty says that teachers need to ask themselves, "What is it that I am trying to get others to do, and what reasons might they have for doing such things?" Answering a well-crafted driving question can be a terrific reason for learning!

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Crafting Questions That Drive Projects - Learning in Hand with Tony Vincent

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Not only does project based learning motivate students because it is an authentic use of technology, it facilitates active learning, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. Projects begin with a driving question-an open-ended question that sets the stage for the project by creating interes

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55: Your Top 10 Genius Hour Questions Answered

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Genius Hour has exploded in classrooms over the last few years, and teachers who want to try it have a lot of questions. In this episode I ask A.J. Juliani, creator of the Genius Hour Master Course, the top 10 questions teachers have about Genius Hour, and he gives me some great answers.

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Our latest #geniushour chat was on Thursday, April 7, 2016. The topic was Genius Hour in the Primary Classroom, grades K-3. We enjoyed the leadership of two primary teachers who rock Genius Hour with their students: Robyn Thiessen, grade 3 teacher from British Columbia, and Renee White, first grade teacher from North Carolina.

Other teachers were involved in the chat, many of them primary teachers already doing Genius Hour or wanting to participate in Genius Hour with their young students. Look no further to find some super passionate teachers to follow: @kstef2, @slwinegar, @CherylTeaches, @Michelle4EDU, @mel10597, @MsShute, @BieberJessicaL, @jcd118, @StacieGreening, @kimmykcollins, @paperiepam, @bceshayes, @BedfordJA, @Mrs_MLondon, @mRodey5, @nat1002, @MrsGadtke, @SchrockJo, @teacherplusmom, @TraceyCarayol, @yecca13, @kimberlie94, @cmccrorey2nd, @Brendaelcms, @MsHarnden, @hughtheteacher, @shannonmcmurtry, @PaulSolarz, @cya_outside, @teachbleggett, @BroncoTeacher1, @Edmison3rdGrade, ‎@AmyThompsonWES, and your hosts on this web page, @gallit_z and @mrsdkrebs

A summary of a great chat!
This summary of the tweet chat will give you lots of ideas straight from of the classroom on how to do Genius Hour with our youngest learners. Q1: How do you introduce the concept of #geniushour to your little geniuses?

Teacher shows his/her own passions first, which leads students into thinking about theirs. ~Jessica via Angela

I ask "Would you be interested if I told you that you could learn about anything you wanted?" Eyes pop! ~Stacie

Give them time to build something with no directions or restrictions...just let them create! ~Ms. Hayes

I saw a kinder teacher have students draw something they loved and then ask them to come up with questions about it. ~Michelle

We have been building to it via PBL and projects like #cardboardchallenge. Talked about big wonder questions and things that interest them. ~Angela

Students were exposed last year to Genius Hour through learning lunches with older students. We combined interest list with Dot Day as a kick off this year. ~Jill (Clarified about learning lunches: "Now we are starting monthly Genius Hour lunches w/grades 2 and 6-8 to share and reflect. Students love it.")

Record all their wondering questions! Throughout the day, have chart paper and record. ~Jessica

Michelle added that you can teach the difference between wonders that are researchable and those which are simple to figure out.

I like using picture books and videos to help introduce Genius Hour. ~Gallit

We used videos on YouTube explaining Genius Hour and Audri's Rube Goldberg monster trap video. ~Jessica

Picture books - What Do You Do With an Idea? And The Most Magnificent Thing ~Pam and Kim

Read I Am Albert Einstein (Scholastic). Great book focusing on "genius behaviors." ~Natalie

I have some favourite books that I use to introduce and then students do a ME project to figure out what they are interested in! ~Robyn

Teaching students how to question is important in the beginning. ~Brenda

Renee shared her Question Matrix based on Bloom's Taxonomy to help teach questioning.

Start simple. Sometimes we just start with play-dough. ~Robyn

What Do You Do With an Idea? and videos, especially about growth mindset. ~Renee

Ask students, "What do you love? What are you passionate about? What do you want to know more about? Talk, talk, talk!" ~Stacie

...hands on and constructing with littles worked better than more abstract questions like, "How do you predict weather?" ~Angela

Another good video w/Kid President. A Pep Talk from Kid President. ~Brenda

Find something you're good at and use it to help address a problem by raising awareness or helping cause. ~Hugh

Q2: How do primary students do #geniushour research when they aren't yet independent with literacy skills? Share ideas.

Pair them up with an upper grade! Maybe do passion projects together to get the ball rolling! ~Ms. Harnden

PebbleGo will read to the students, also it's a perfect 1st grade reading level. ~Natalie

Angela had also used PebbleGo and loved it, but expressed concern about the limited number of topics.

Use databases and visually rich resources - books, Kiddle, schooltube - ask your #librarian 🙂 ~Jill

My students have done well with using http://kiddle.co, I have placed predetermined websites in Google Classroom ~Jessica

I found videos and added links to @Seesaw. Students could view that content to start some research. Still tricky, though. ~Angela

I do research with buddy teams. Students use safe sites all listed in my website and paper research guide. Many have read aloud feature. ~Renee

Started it with 1st grade today. Used @Wonderopolis where they could see video and listen to reading on topic too ~Brandi

My third graders are currently researching U.S. symbols...learning so much from pictures alone! ~Maria

I tend to not focus on research with the littles, more creation. However, @Wonderopolis is wonderful to differentiate for littles. ~Robyn

Ask them to interview experts, pair w/ older kids to mentor, conduct experiments for their own research. ~Michelle

They could partner with an upper grade class, buddies, at home project-if possible, parent volunteer, center time, buddies. ~Kim

Give them guiding questions. Model research. Do a whole class passion project first. ~Ms. Hayes

Yes we use PebbleGo and @Wonderopolis @WonderBoxApp a lot because of the read aloud features and videos! ~Renee

Here is a post by @JPulvers about how we did it with her kinder class - "'Genius Hour' for Kindergarten? Is That Even Possible?" (big buddies helped out) ~Gallit

I love Google Classroom for students to have quick access to links and access to a Google Doc for their work for the day. I have been having my kids bouncing back and forth between GC and @Seesaw to show their work and they love both! I have them complete a Google Doc or Google Drawing to show their thoughts. ~Jessica

I've reached out to bring in business people to my classroom to assist students... awesome experience ~Mr. Pete

I have several parents that volunteer during our work time...~Robyn

Robyn and Renee, the moderators, also helped some of us know it was OK to not focus on research, but to let students create. Robyn said regarding what Genius Hour looked like in her room, "Many of my students choose to create, make and tinker." "Some will need to explore with their hands and minds first before running into need for research," said Renee. And Robyn added, "For me it is the student's time, if I tell them they have to research then I am limiting their creativity." We are so happy that they brought this up and we advocate for this creative freedom in our as well.

We had a research boot camp with our media specialist as part of our kickoff last year ~Carrie

My students are older but maybe try OK-Google or how-to books. Team up with librarian or reading buddies. ~Jessica

@Wonderopolis is a fantastic resource that would be a great introductory tool to support teachers and primary learners ~Hugh

Maria wondered, "Anyone ever used class experts to help students who may not be as strong in reading?"

@Seesaw I have been using the QR feature too so students can scan the code and bring them right to resource ~Angela

We are buddying up with another grade but working to ensure no one is "in charge"- that's it's a learning process together! ~Melissa

Happy to be here! PebbleGo has been great..reads to kids. Newsela has options for changing lexile level ~Amy

Several different apps available to read text to younger students. Read Comfortably- cleans up page. ~Stacie

Q3: How do you manage all of the #geniushour projects of your little learners?

For me Genius Hour time is the craziest, busiest most awesome time of the week, it is magical! ~Robyn

We use @trello to plan out our steps for Genius Hour projects. Helps us manage our time. ~Paul

I started out with a student binder but am thinking that isn't the best. I am loving my @Seesaw Genius Hour folder and index cards for myself. ~Jessica

We use Blendspace at the moment and also starting Google drive with them ~Jill

"The Kid Should See This: Smart Videos for Curious Minds of All Ages" has great sparks for curiosity and wonder, leading to interesting learning possibilities. ~Karen

I have binders mine keep research guides, sticky notes, and drafts in. I am a butterfly on Genius Hour days all over room conferring. ~Renee

Status of the Class board was helpful. We had 17 different projects going on, from a music video to stop-motion animation ~Carrie

Students have simple notebooks for brainstorming, taking notes, difficulties, questions. Students meet a deadline date for final idea. ~Stacie

In the beginning it's more work, after they get going it's the students managing themselves. When they get to this point, it's fun to see! ~Brenda

I just made a website where every student had a tab. As they completed their project posted it on there ~Brandi

it's not easy. A lot of movement checklists. I like to use google apps too so I can check in at home. ~Jessica

My students reflect and capture progress in @Seesaw and Genius Hour folder. And on the teacher side, I had lots of post-it notes, sheets, and stacks of books ~Angela

Students also chose faculty mentors to meet with about projects (dance, science, admin, etc.) Students presented ideas/thoughts to them ~Carrie

Just starting but envisioning a combination of paper journal/binder and digital portfolio. Teaching balance just like we do! ~Melissa

I have Wonder Wednesday, Genius Hour in the morning and @wonderopolis in the afternoon. ~Robyn

And lots of us want to hear more about this, Robyn. Might there be a blog post about Wonder Wednesday in our future?

Q4: Do you collaborate with and/or have mentors in other grades/classes for #geniushour? How does this benefit your young geniuses?

Some of us had to say, "Not yet" to this question, but we're hopeful.

I have the best tech facilitator! We co-plan and team-teach Genius Hour ~Natalie

A 5th grade class mentored a kinder class and it was magical. Good for 5th too because they learn how to guide and not take over! ~Michelle

Molly, on partnering with Jessica, tweeted, "It makes it easier to make mistakes and learn when you have someone to bounce ideas off of!"

And Jessica about Molly: "@mRodey5 is going to be joining me in this adventure soon and our classes can collaborate/share with each other!"

Yes, we share with grades 6-8. Keeps motivation, ideas, curiosity flowing. ~Jill

In the past we have mostly worked on our own...but we did help out little kindergarten friends with their projects one year. ~Gallit

I don't assess but rather guide and have students share their success, failures and learning. ~Robyn

We have amazing teachers willing to dive in and work together!!!! ~Mrs. Harnden

We make an "Expert Wall" in hopes that students will use each other. I want them to interview at least one expert on their Genius Hour. ~Stacie

Had 1st graders do inside/outside circle where they could talk about their research and say why it was a wonder to reflect ~Brandi

Diy.org has some good learning paths/projects for students too ~Angela

Q5: What does #GeniusHour look like in your room? For example many of my students choose to create, make and tinker.....

Each year the groups have been different but solo projects seem to be most successful in grade 3. ~Robyn

Happy, engaged students working on various things sharing and collaborating constantly ~Jill

Still trying to figure out exactly what it looks like. However, creating, moving, building, rethinking, and not giving up ~Angela

Genius Hour is Tu/Th for 30 minutes each day w/ time to research, create, and make. Students on computers, looking at books, and using building supplies ~Jessica

Genius Hour in my room is messy, noisy, but students are super engaged! It's like a crazy science lab of researching, planning, designing, etc. ~Renee

For 6th grade, they had to create driving questions and research questions. Connected with experts. They chose presentation style ~Brandi

The kindergarten class I saw was great because of variety. Some experimented, others researched, others created. Teacher supported each S's ❤. ~Michelle

Genius Hour looks like students' dream of the perfect school. To adults it looks like a creative mess and smiling, engaged kids ~Jessica

Crazy, messy, and noisy are all indicators of student learning! Love it! ~Jessica

Organized chaos! One student may interview someone about music videos; one is creating a Safe Kids program; another is on phone with the zoo. ~Carrie

It's fun, students talking, sharing, getting up, interrupting one another, but then we have "the quiet zone" so they can zero in. ~Stacie

Q6: Are you building in a reflection or self-evaluation piece for your little geniuses? How? Feel free to share any documents. #geniushour

Here's an example of 4th grade reflection log after Genius Hour. Maybe adapt for younger students? Credit: @KathyHill20 ~Michelle

Yes! Always room for reflection! What it will look like, I am not sure, but it is in the plans! ~Kim

Tied it in with Growth Mindset chats. We celebrate mistakes and share them out on a mistake wall! ~Jessica

Love for students to answer reflect on anything they do! It's important for Ts to model this too! #lifelonglearners ~Maria

I have used blogs, journals and 1-1 conversations in the past ~Gallit

Yes! Performance and Effort Rubric completed by students, also has place for students to write their steps for next time ~Natalie

My students use @Seesaw with pics, video, and voice to reflect during and after Genius Hour.

YES! Reflection and then setting goals for new learning is key for me! What worked, what didn't, and what am I wondering now? ~Melissa

Reflection is so important! I built it in kid style with and a sentence or two on students' research guides. The research guide with reflective piece at end is also on my Genius Hour / Makerspace blog site ~Renee

Included habits of mind with 2nd graders. They incorporated those and assessed how doing while doing Genius Hour ~Brandi

We meet and chat. Also created a reflection bingo sheet they fill out weekly. Bunch of questions. They pick and answer one with few words ~Jill

Reflection logs after each session, reflection after the project is presented. ~Michelle

More ideas from this rich chat for you and your students to consider
Skype
Jill, teacher librarian, from New Hampshire, asked if anyone would like to Skype with students about Genius Hour.
Online Graphic Organizer
Can anyone help Jessica answer this question? Popplet and MindMup were two that were mentioned. Any others?
Buncee
Renee White, our co-moderator, introduced me to a resource that was new to me: Buncee.com There is an educational account. She used Buncee to create the graphics for her chat questions, like the one at the top of this post!
ISTE 2106
Angela Gadtke shared that she was inspired by Gallit's ISTE2015 presentation. She will present at ISTE2016 about Kindergarteners in Genius Hour. Robyn and Jessica will be there too. I hope you will all share pictures and tell us how it goes!

Keep Connecting

Robyn, Molly, Renee, Pam, Jessica and Angela all talked about connecting with one or another after the chat. You can connect too. Add new members to your PLN. Join others in connecting about Genius Hour for primary students! You can also share with the hashtag #PrimaryGH, which is not as busy as the #geniushour hashtag. Together we are smarter!

Now, we'll end with a couple of our favorite tweets from this primary chat. True for all ages!

We hope you enjoy Genius Hour, a rich learning experience for you and your students!
Please, do leave a comment and join us here in talking about Genius Hour. We're listening!

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Our latest #geniushour chat was on Thursday, April 7, 2016. The topic was Genius Hour in the Primary Classroom, grades K-3. We enjoyed the leadership of two primary teachers who rock Genius Hour with their students: Robyn Thiessen, grade 3 teacher from British Columbia, and Renee White, first grade teacher from North Carolina.

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by Terry Heick

Genius Hour in the classroomis an approach to learning built around student curiosity, self-directed learning, and passion-based work.

In traditional learning, teachers map out academic standards, and plan units and lessons based around those standards. In Genius Hour, students are in control, choosing what they study, how they study it, and what they do, produce, or create as a result. As a learning model, it promotes inquiry, research, creativity, and self-directed learning.

Genius Hour is most notably associated with Google, where employees are able to spend up to 20% of their time working on projects they're interested in and passionate about. The study and work are motivated intrinsically, not extrinsically.

The big idea for Google is that employees motivated by curiosity and passion will be happier, more creative, and more productive, which will benefit the company in terms of both morale, 'off-Genius' productivity, and 'on-Genius' performance.

What's The Difference Between Genius Hour And Traditional Learning?

Genius Hour provides students freedom to design their own learning during a set period of time during school. It allows students to explore their own curiosity through a self-manifested sense of purpose and study while within the support system of the classroom.

A key distinction compared to more open, self-directed learning and user-generated learning experiences is that within a 'Genius Hour' framework, this student-centered approach is only used a portion of the schedule, providing students a choice in what they learn and how they learn it during a set period of time within a school day.

Genius Hour In The Classroom: 6 Principles Of Genius Hour

Sense of Purpose

Students must find their own sense of purpose in what they study, make sense of, and create. The context and motivation are no longer entirely academic, which forces both the student and teachers to make adjustments.

Design

Without teachers 'packaging' content that frames and scaffold content, students are left to design their own learning experiences.

Through surveying possibility, navigation of unfiltered content, gathering information, and narrowed research, students make sense of ideas important to them. This navigation and survey of possibility then lead to more narrow inquiry and research. In this way, inquiry-based learning has significant overlap with Genius Hour. (See also, 20 Questions To Guide Inquiry-Based Learning.)

Create

Whether students 'make,' publish, design, act, or do, 'creating' is core to Genius Hour. There is always a visible product or function of the learning.

Socialization

Students connect with teachers to plan, peers to produce, and experts and community members to establish a sense of purpose for their work.

80/20 Rule

The 80/20 rule is important, as it provides the only structure of most Genius Hour learning. Whether it's an 'hour,' one day per week, or something else, it provides a kind of schedule while contrasting usefully with traditional academic 'training.'
6 Principles Of Genius Hour In The Classroom

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Genius Hour In The Classroom: 6 Principles

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by Terry Heick Genius Hour in the classroomis an approach to learning built around student curiosity, self-directed learning, and passion-based work. In traditional learning, teachers map out academic standards, and plan units and lessons based around those standards.

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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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This year, a group of 6th graders within the school district I work with decided to take on the great challenge of implementing Genius Hour. With the help of their incredibly fearless, talented, and trailblazing teacher, Denise Trabilsy (@dtrabilsy), we worked together to provide the students with the experience of being able to spend 1 hour each week to learn about something they were each ridiculously passionate about.

Where we began.

Over the summer, I brought in Paul Solarz (@PaulSolarz, ICE 2014 educator of the year and 5th grade teacher in Arlington Heights, IL) after meeting him at the ICE conference to speak with a select group of my staff on strategies for implementing this experience. Feeling incredibly passionate ourselves after learning from Paul, Denise and I rolled up our sleeves and immediately dove into this at the start of the school year to bring it to life as quickly as possible.

The students loved it. Obviously. They were in charge of their own learning destiny for one hour a week, every week! Who wouldn't be supercharged by this? After nine inspiring weeks, here's what left us reflecting.

About 80% of the students chose a topic in which they were only soaking up the information. They were the "sponge" - there was no creating of something new, no bringing a new product to life (the most popular topic was something relating to or about Greek Mythology)... and Denise and I were torn. Do we let them sponge? Isn't Genius Hour just about students experiencing the love of learning in a way that they are in full control over? They followed all of our parameters, structures, and submitted the necessary documentation of their knowledge. So now what?

What drove the metaphorical knife through our hearts was when students from the sponge-group asked, "So what's my grade?"

Somehow Denise and I skated through the entire 9-week experience without having to address the matter of "the grade". Genius hour is assessed, but it is not graded. Students give and receive feedback from their teacher and peers, but no percentage ends up in the gradebook. The students that were never phased by this idea were the other 20%. What made this experience different for this group than the students that just soaked up information?

It's simple. They were creating, prototyping, practicing a new skill, or building something new that was uniquely their own. These students created something so powerful, something that spoke to them, and awoke every fiber of their being. These were the kids that by the end they had their own "drop the microphone and walk off the stage" moment. Bam!

The 2.0 Evolution.

A lot of the components that helped the "makers" in the class be so successful was that they constantly had the opportunity for multiple feedback loops. As a district, we've been having a lot of conversations about Project Based Learning and Design Thinking, so I wondered how we could possibly sprinkle in pieces of what makes PBL and DT so powerful and mash it into Genius Hour (and still not make it a "grade").

I created a side by side comparison of where we started with Genius Hour and placed it next to ideas for taking it to the next level for the student passion projects that dealt with actually "creating". In a speech I saw Paul Solarz give last year at the ICE conference, he said he reminds his students about this notion:

"You don't always have to do research. I would love it if you would do one passion project that includes building something - a project the world would benefit from."

Not all students need to follow this route, but as educators we need to provide an epic path for the student-creators that do! Here are some modifications. This isn't to say that the first iteration of Genius Hour was wrong, bad, or anything for that matter. In fact, Denise and I are still encouraging students to follow the 1.0 model who are the die-hard spongers of knowledge, but we need to revisit what we can ask students to "do" when they simply just want to learn about something and not actually make or create.

First draft into 2.0. Looking for ideas to further evolve... all suggestions welcome!

The Big Changes

1. The driving question. In 2.0, students will modify their driving question - "How Might We..." or "What if..." question/statement instead of focusing on whether or not it is "Googleable". In many Design Thinking methodologies, problem statements are formatted as "How Might We..." statements. Using these as sentence starters will send the students in a direction of a solid, testable problem statement that leads to multiple outcomes.

2. The planning process. Sixth graders had an enormously challenging time coming up with a list of steps they would take to complete their passion project. In fact, even when they finished this list, many of them still struggled to follow the steps they initially set out because their steps changed during the process - and some students struggled with adapting to the changes that were organically occurring. Can I abandon my steps? Am I allowed to change my mind? So we scrapped this. Instead, we want students to focus on rapid, fearless brainstorming, their purpose for learning/creating, and the audience they are creating for instead of a recall list. See images below for the MAPS chart by Troy Hicks (@hickstro) and the Ideate sheet from the Stanford d.school (@stanforddschool).

3. The learning. Inquiry in 1.0 was on set dates, separated by everything else in the experience. To make this as natural as possible, inquiry will be looped during the time students are prototyping, giving/receiving feedback, prototyping again, and evaluating the final product. Whether students that are still sponging information or creating something new, they will all be encouraged to visually document their work through image and/or video and add this to their individual blog posts.

4. The feedback. This was a piece that was hit and miss in 1.0. The students were given feedback right near the very end of their passion projects. The struggle was in trying to get the kids to stop asking "Is this right? Am I done?" when they really should be able to answer that themselves by the time they have reached the finish line. Plus, those questions just aren't good when thinking of what it means to give and receive quality feedback. With the expectation of having students document their learning/process visually and add it to the blog each week, ongoing feedback will be able to happen organically. To get the most effective feedback, students need to be prepared to know what feedback they want. We will encourage them to include in their post something specific they each want comments on. With that desired feedback in mind, it's also important to think about how to give feedback. Students will self reflect each week (as they submit visual artifacts of learning) and when they give feedback to their peers using "I like, I wish, What if" statements (see resource link below).

5. The submission of knowledge. During round one, Denise and I were able to see in person the students' documentation of knowledge along the way. However, the submission of their work to each of their blogs was not always representative of that for everyone. Visually documenting their process along the way will help with this, and constructing their 1-minute submission videos as elevator speeches will definitely allow students to capture their understanding in a clear and concise manner.

For those of you that have student do-er's for a Genius Hour round, consider the 2.0 column as some food for thought... and let's chat more!

Additional Resources

MAPS chart by Troy Hicks, author of Crafting Digital Writing

Stanford d.school's "Ideate" brainstorming page. This is a piece of their larger Design Thinking process.

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Evolving Genius Hour for Student Creators

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This year, a group of 6th graders within the school district I work with decided to take on the great challenge of implementing Genius Hour. With the help of their incredibly fearless, talented, and trailblazing teacher, Denise Trabilsy (@dtrabilsy), we worked together to provide the students with the experience of being able to spend 1 hour each week to learn about something they were each ridiculously passionate about.

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How an Elementary Teacher organized her Genius Hour

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How an Elementary Teacher organized her Genius Hour

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@DonWettrick

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Quick post today-

One of the most common questions I get about students selecting a good Genius Hour/ 20% Time project is, "What makes a great project from an average project?"

The first thing I would get off the table is asking the student, "can I do an internet search and find an answer?" If it is yes... find another project. If not, then move to the "Rule of thirds."

The Genius Hour Rule of thirds is simple:

1. Do you have passion for this topic? Are you driven to do "it" even when school is not in session?

2. What skills acquisition are you getting out of this project?

3. Who does it benefit (other than you?)

Big thanks to Heather Banks and Catherine Staples of Carmel Clay School Corporation for the design!

The first rule is pretty much the obvious test, and why some call the Genius Hour/ 20% Time "passion project" time instead. Strangely, this is sometimes the hardest hurdle, if you are past the fifth grade. Too often time middle and high school students still look for the project that will impress the teachers.

The second rule is REALLY important. What skills are you going to acquire? This, I believe is still important to have the student identify this early in the project selection process. Obviously the younger students might respond with, "because I like Goliath Beetles," (this was an actual answer from when I asked my seven year old son Grant this question). But as they move up in age, they will start to see the Genius Hour time as a purposeful skill acquisition opportunity. Being curious is awesome, but I would like for older students to see HOW this curiosity can lead to actual skills.

The last rule is MAJOR important. It allows the student to see that their insights and inventions can benefit others. While our (meaning adults too) first inclination is to select somewhat selfish pursuits, identifying what can be helpful to others AND interesting to us is the sweet spot!

That's it!

I hope you've found this quick and useful!

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Three Simple Rules for a Great Genius Hour Project

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Quick post today- One of the most common questions I get about students selecting a good Genius Hour/ 20% Time project is, "What makes a great project from an average project?" The first thing I would get off the table is asking the student, "can I do an internet search and find an answer?"

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@Edutopia

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.