transforming your classroom: genius hour presentation
TRANSCRIPT
Changing your classroom with
Genius Hour
Katie CampbellWallace Middle SchoolTwitter: @kteachcampbell, @wmsgttEmail: [email protected]
Presenter: Katie Campbell
•PLTW Gateway Teacher for 4 years •Teacher for 9 years•Former Science and SPED Teacher•Have been doing Genius Hour in my
classroom for the last two years•Have a 2 year old daughter
So, who are you?
Are you ready?
• Do you want to teach your students how to think critically and solve real world problems?
• Are you ready to transform your classroom?
History of Genius Hour
•Who started it?•Google’s 20% Time, Apple’s “Blue Sky”,
Twitter•Can be called by many different names•20% Time, Montessori Method,
Innovation Day, Curiosity Friday, Passion Time, Makerspace, etc.
What is Genius Hour? • It is student-driven.• It is passion based time. • It doesn’t have to be an hour, but it can be
anytime that you can dedicate for students to work on a project of their choosing.
•Genius Hour has a driving question and requires reflection and some sort of product to be created. (Or, should.)
•You can decide if or how you want to grade it.
Think about this…•“If we want students to be successful, we
don’t drive them toward success by continually working on standardized tests. We can take at least some of our time to give them choice in what they are doing in school. Genius hour gives students (and educators) hope, engagement and well-being.” –Genius Hour Manifesto by Denise Krebs, Joy Kirr, Gallit Zvi and Hugh McDonald http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=829279
Why should you do genius hour?
•“Imagine a time for students to follow their passions, become content creators in autonomous ways, create inquiry based questions, and enjoy an engaging learning experience simultaneously.” –Angela Maiers @AngelaMaiers
What will you do with your time?
Why I decided to “do” Genius Hour in my classroom
21st Century Learning Skills
Maybe you want to try project based learning? •Genius hour could be a start?
•http://www.teachthought.com/learning/mashing-genius-hour-project-based-learning/
What do my students say about genius hour?
What kinds of things can students do during genius hour?
Reviewing Expectations for learning during Genius Hour
What worked for me…
•Make a T-Chart with your students after a few weeks to see what they know.
Genius Hour 1st Period
What it is What it is notTime to be creative and do something unique
Not free time or nap time
Freedom to work with others or by yourself
Not time to horseplay, not time to waste materials
Time to learn something Not an assigned task by the teacher
Some kids need your help!
How can I sell this to my principal?•Compare and Contrast•Drawing conclusions with data•Research•Guiding Questions•Inquiry Based Activity•A tool to develop and achieve some
overarching skills•Encourage the students to look at the
standards of what they want to learn about!
Building Rapport with your students
•Take what they are interested in during Genius Hour and make those connections.
How could you “do” genius hour with your content? •Do you have to do it within your content?
•Could this be an opportunity to do something cross curricular with another department?
Turn to someone next to you and Discuss
•What scares you about genius hour?
The Daring Librarian @GwynethJones
Keyword Search: Genius
Hour Live Binder
How can I get more information?
• Join Twitter and follow some of these amazing people!
• @JoyKirr• @IamKesler• @mrsdkrebs• @PaulSolarz• @teachkiwi• @gallit_z• @geniushour• Don’t forget the #geniushour chat the 1st
Thursday of each month at 6pm PT or 8 pm CT!
Have you seen Crumbles?
Katie Campbell
Thank you so much for coming!
@kteachcampbell @wmsgtt
This was one of my genius hour projects. Kids loved asking me what I was doing with my time and why I was tearing apart a book. (I did have librarian permission!)