Making You Think Monday
Genius Hour Edition
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.
Products like Post-Its and GMail came from companies giving their employees 20% time to invest in something they were passionate about.
How could I get started?
The way I started learning about Genius Hour was by reading everything I could get my hands on. I would start with this book by Angela Maiers, The Passion Driven Classroom: A Framework for Teaching and Learning.
Helpful Websites
There are also many helpful websites available with rubrics, start up guides, and forums.
Here is a link to a Live Binder completely dedicated to Genius Hour. It has articles, ways to get started, and motivational videos.
Genius Hour.com is a very helpful website as well. There is a great introductory video that you could even use in your classroom when explaining Genius Hour to your students. GeniusHour.com even has a course for teachers with 70 videos walking you through the process step-by-step.
Edutopia has a great article about the kind of culture you can create in your classroom by using Genius Hour, as well as how it ties to personalized learning.
Let Me Know!
If you want assistance in your room implementing Genius Hour, I can help with that!