Genius Hour - Explained

WHY do we have Genius Hour in our classroom?

I was in my third year in the reading/writing classroom.

I needed something besides what had “always been done.”

I couldn’t keep giving students fabricated projects to turn in when they finished a book each quarter.

I needed students to read more than four books a year – if they were even reading that many! Many students can get by completing the project without reading the book, and both the student and I do more work when the true goal has been averted.

I have three people to thank for their influence on how I do Genius Hour today:

Ewan McIntosh (@ewanmcintosh) – Edinburgh, Scotland

Design Thinking –See blog post here.

Erin Olson (@eolsonteacher)– Iowa

            Read,Write, AWARE – See blog post about Boston presentation here.

Donalyn Miller (@donalynbooks) – Texas

            The Book Whisperer – See blog post about reading logs here.

I wanted to change the way I approached independent reading in my classroom. Discussions with peers during a workshop in Michigan led by Ewan McIntosh gave me the WHY – Students will learn more when it’s driven by their passions. Students can find problems, and work towards solving them. This learning needs to be individual – and I need to make sure I conference with students to find out where/how I can help them succeed.

While in Boston, learning Erin Olson’s story of her 11^th grade literature students in Iowa, gave me more of the WHY – If students are inspired by what they read, they will act on what they feel. Erin had me tearing up, thinking of what students could do if inspired enough.

I then read The BookWhisperer, by Donalyn Miller, which helped me figure out more of the HOW. I now have a reading log that fits what I’m doing, my classroom library is organized by genre, and I truly believe students will be reading many more books this year!!! This year I have implemented a few simple motivation strategies that came from her book, and other ideas I’ve already been using were justified.

Two people gave me the name for what I have ended up doing:

Gallit Zvi (@Gallit_Z) – from Surrey, British Columbia

Denise Krebs (@mrsdkrebs) – from Iowa

I started building my Twitter PLN in February of 2012. These two innovative educators both taught 7^th grade and started a Twitter chat the first Wednesday of each month - #geniushour. I didn’t know what it was, but I jumped in one night. Ahhh – I’d found the name for what I wanted to do! Thank you Gallit & Denise!

I have one more Twitter friend to thank…

Bec Spink (@MissB6_2) – Australia

It is Bec Spink who introduced me to KustomNote, which syncs with Evernote. Oh, has this been a time-saver! I was already familiar with Evernote, so I asked her for her conferencing template. She readily shared, then I modified it to fit my conferences with students. When I sit down with students now, I have something to lead me through the conference. I have changed the conference as the few weeks have gone by – I now have one template for our first and second conference, and another for subsequent conferences. I have used Denise Krebs’ idea of having students grade themselves, and found last week that they’re harder on themselves than I would be! The notes students and I type into KustomNote are immediately sent to my Evernote notebooks. The next time students and I meet, I have them pull up their stack of notes, and we can see how we’ve progressed.

HOW does Genius Hour look in our classroom in September?

Right now, Genius Hour looks like independent reading. Students are reading, and I’m conferencing with them one-on-one, each Monday (or first day of the week). Students read, log their books, and share them somehow. Sharing could be as simple as writing a book review on their blogs, giving a short book talk to the class. Sharing could also mean making something. (Billy tried to make a zip line in class, after reading a short book about gravity.)

My original goal: READ.  My ultimate goal is still this: Read. Be inspired. Act on it.

During one-on-one conferences, I ask students where they are in their reading (finished with one book… starting another… stuck choosing a book…etc.). I ask many questions – Did you like the last book? What type of book are you looking for? What do you want to learn about? I use the notes from the last few times we’ve met to guide my questions for each session. I also use the interest survey they filled out at the start of the year to guide them to certain book genres, topics, or titles, if students are having difficulty choosing a book. One-on-one conferences are vital – they will help me help students read books in various genres, and hopefully get to our ultimate goal – act on inspiration gleaned from a book!

It is at this time that students reflect on their last two weeks, and set a new two-week goal for the upcoming weeks. Each student is different, and needs to be challenged. They know what they can do in two weeks, and I encourage them to set the goal to something that is manageable, but also not too easy. I keep reminding myself of my first goal – READ. If they are reading at the very least 20 minutes a night, I’m happy!

What do I DREAM Genius Hour to be?

I believe Genius Hour can look similar to how it started to look towards the end of my first half-year… One student reads about bullying, and creates a presentation that should be made in front of the entire school. Two more read about the Warsaw camps in Poland, and tell the class about them. Another reads a book about magic tricks, and puts on a show for us. I also believe it can look like Erin’s class – one of her students read The LastLecture, by Randy Pausch, and it inspired her to make blankets for babies in the NICU.

I would love for students to read what is important to them, and then act on this. I will role model somewhat, of course! After having read EveryDay by David Levithan, I wrote to him, asking him to not write a sequel, as I think that this one book should stand alone, it is that good. I also share each book I finish with students, and read the books they suggest. I’ve shared with them how a fiction book, North of Beautiful, by Justina Chen, got me interested in geocaching. I dream that students will pursue their passions during Genius Hour… by reading books that appeal to them, not books I have chosen. My hope is that Genius Hour encourages students to become lifelong readers and learners… 

Here is a sneak peak at what geniuses we have already in our classroom (Kyle's contraption for the Cardboard Challenge)...