Wednesday 3 February 2016

Our Genius Hour Adventure Begins

There has been a lot of discussion and enthusiasm amongst our staff around Genius Hour this past week. After our first session yesterday there is a lot of excitement from students as well.
One of the things I have heard a number of times from my colleagues is that they are taking things slowly and allowing students to absorb a little bit of inspiration and information at a time.  As teachers, we tend to always be in a rush to get through the huge amount of content we have to teach each day.  But the value of going slow can not be underestimated when beginning Genius Hour with our students.  Being free to take the time to inspire, wonder, ponder and develop thick questions is so worthwhile as it gives students, who possibly have not had much choice in their learning up to this point, a chance to slow down and wrap their heads around this new freedom to choose.
The adaption of blogging to reflect on learning by both teachers and students will be an integral part of Genius Hour but my hope is that we wont just be blogging about Genius Hour but all of our learnings, thoughts, ideas etc this year and beyond. It has been wonderful to see staff and students becoming excited about sharing their learning and ideas with others and looking for feedback in the comments on their blogs.
We are at the very beginning of our Genius Hour adventure and I cant wait to see where it takes both staff and students this year!

The following video is one of  a few that with our Yr5 students this week.  I love the enthusiasm and excitement of this 7 year old.


Wednesday 27 January 2016

Genius Hour

Well, it has been a long while since my last post but here I am again, ready to share my thoughts and inspirations at the start of a new school year. 

I am excited and also a little trepidatious about introducing Genius Hour in our Yr 5 learning space this year. 

Excited about the possibilities:

  • building relationships
  • developing curiosity, creativity and critical thinking
  • questioning and solving problems
  • exploring and innovating
  • developing Habits of Mind
  • following our passions and heartbreaks
  • making and creating 
  • engaging all students
  • student centered, personalised learning
  • blogging our thoughts and reflections
and trepidatious:

  • how will it look?
  • process vs product
  • what about those paralysed by too much freedom?
  • how much scaffolding is needed?
  • thick vs thin questions
  • letting go of 'control'
I have spent many hours reading blogs, books and tweets on the subject of Genius Hour/20% time/PBL/Mastery Hour/Passion Projects etc and have found some valuable sources of inspiration and practicality, just a few of which I am listing below. Hopefully others may fib=nd them useful as well.

I am excited to see how Genius Hour unfolds not just in our Year 5 learning Space but across our school and elsewhere this year!