On the Eve of Genius Hour

We are about to take the leap of a genius.  Tomorrow, my students will be introduced to an opportunity that can change how education is perceived in their young minds.  I will be introducing the concept of Genius Hour after reading many positive articles, real life stories, and Twitter accounts about the never-ending positive effects of the implementation of Genius Hour or 20% Time in the classroom.  I am excited to start this journey.  This is why I became a teacher.  To see kids learn, and to see kids get EXCITED about their own learning.  Genius Hour will present them with this opportunity.

I was away at sixth grade camp last week.  Being outdoorsy has never been one of my strengths, but as I was standing on the edge of the stream watching students get excited about racing their own engineered boats out of Tinker Toys, I was again reminded of the innate curiosity of human beings.

Listening to conversations, I heard the 6th graders problem solve, collaborate, creative think.  Everything we hope for in our children.  They were curious and imaginative.  Yet, they generated hypotheses and tested, then modified.  Sounds like great educational jargon, right?  This is what it looked like:

How come when we educators are posed with tasks such as "have students generate and test hypotheses" we immediately feel bogged down with more content to cover?  We pull out our latest curriculum textbook that sings praises of its activities.  When in reality, our classroom still has rows of desks with freshly copied worksheets placed on each one.  It's time to spice things up.

I have been seeing the light more and more.  These sparks of light have inspired me and brought me back to life.  It doesn't have to be stressful.  Genius Hour provides this opportunity.  Letting students control their own learning.  Letting go of the reins for a little bit to see where they want to go with their learning. There is much I want to learn too.  I can't wait to go on this journey too (graphic design or sewing??  Or both??).

I'm going to end on a quick story.  Today I was with my husband's family for a baby shower.  My husband and I were playing on an old train set with his 4 year old cousin.  As I sat back and watched, I saw the young boy curiously follow my husband around while he was trying to figure out how to get it to work again.  I was given another spark of light.  The 4 year old boy who has only one day of preschool under his belt said the following while observing the non-working trains and trying to figure out which ones worked the last time he was over:

"This train has webs on it, so it can't be this one that works".

Problem solving.  At four years old.  We CAN bring it back to the classroom.  For me, Genius Hour is the answer.