What about him?
Yes and no.
What is genius hour?
“genius hour is a movement that allows students to explore their own passions and encourages creativity in the classroom. It provides students a choice in what they learn during a set period of time during school.” - Genius Hour
The idea is built on the notion that if we give kids free, unstructured time to be creative and innovative they’ll come up with cool ideas. Tech companies like Google have implemented this idea of ‘Genius time’ into their business model by providing paid time for their employees to investigate passion projects. The result? Gmail. On a smaller scale businesses have given employees paid free time to collaborate and out of this time we have seen efficient, meaningful results. The clincher? It took way less time for employees to solve a problem during paid unstructured time than it did for employees to solve problems while doing their every day jobs.
This makes sense - we’ve used this idea in education for a long time. We’ve given kids reign to choose a project they are passionate about and to explore with very few parameters. We’ve seen this play out in the larger school system too - project based schools in our area include West Valley City School and the Community School. Both report high student engagement, grades, and rates of success. So, if genius hour is so great, why don’t we implement it far and wide?
Is it feasible to ask a teacher to give up a whole hour of curriculum each day to allow her students to play? Is it truly genius hour if the teacher gives the kids free time during the day to work on a project she put parameters on? How does this work across different grades? More broadly as we work to serve all learners in an increasingly diverse and inclusive classroom how does genius hour play out?
For students who haven’t yet developed investigative skills would genius hour be tantamount to play time?
These are all questions to consider as we decide whether to implement genius hour in our own classrooms.
It is insanity to do the same thing over and over and expect different results.
ReplyDeleteIf we don't try new things and mix it up will we ever grow?
I like the idea of investing in their dreams and questions.
Great job, Taylor! I am excited to see your kindergarteners!
It is insanity to do the same thing over and over and expect different results.
ReplyDeleteIf we don't try new things and mix it up will we ever grow?
I like the idea of investing in their dreams and questions.
Great job, Taylor! I am excited to see your kindergarteners!