Genius Hour

Over the past couple of years I have been hearing more and more about a new practice being brought into classrooms called "Genius Hour", sometimes called "Passion Projects".  Each time I read about it, my interest was piqued.  According to the official Genius Hour website, one place it originated is through the search-engine giant, Google, which allows it’s engineers to spend 20% of their time to work on any pet project that they want.  The idea is if you allow people to work on something that interests them, and productivity will go up.  Google’s policy has worked so well that it has been said that 50% of Google’s projects have been created during this creative time period.  Ever heard of Gmail or Google News?  These projects are creations by passionate developers that blossomed from their their 20-time projects. 
Pretty cool.  Who isn't motivated by doing something they love?  But...can I do this with second graders?  They certainly have the curiosity and passion.  This could be a great means to tie together science, technology, reading, engineering, art, math (S.T.R.E.A.M.), geography, social studies, and so much more.  What better way to implement 21st century skills? But, again....can I do this with second graders? 
Well, folks...I've decided it is time to try!  I've allotted 1 hour every Wednesday afternoon (as long as I am not at a meeting) as our Genius Hour.  Last week I began by explaining to the kids what I wanted to do.  The kids enthusiasm probably could have rated on the richter scale.  I could practically SEE the gears turning in their minds.  Next, I shared this great video by Kid President.  (He has lots of good ones, btw!) This led to a discussion about why it's so important that they care about their learning and how they are the problem solvers of the future.  Not only that, but they need to be able to work together to solve problems.  This little Pep Talk was a great start. 

Now, I know there is a LOT of junk on You Tube.  ("No, Emily, you may NOT watch the Anaconda video.  I don't care if ----- said it's funny-NOT happening!") But, there's some pretty good stuff, too. The same goes for the Internet as a whole. Because of this concern, I will be asking parents to come in at some point to help with our Passion Projects.  We're not ready yet, but I will be inviting anyone in who wants to catch the genius bug! More on that at a later time. 

Our final step this past week was to start brainstorming.  I gave the kids a journal with the Thomas Edison quote, "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."  We talked about how this is going to be fun, but it is also going to be work!  We also talked about how Thomas Edison is credited with inventing the lightbulb, but his invention really was based on and built upon the work of a number of other people.  

Next, they got an almost blank paper that asked, "If you could learn about anything you wanted, what would it be?"  Their job was to write down anything and everything that interests them. ANYTHING!  Minecraft!  American Ninja Warrior!  E=MC2! American Girl Dolls! Dogs! Some kids filled their sheets, others wrote down a few carefully selected topics.  We inserted this into our journals.  They know that if they think of anything else, they need to take out that journal and write it down! 

This week, we will spend some time talking about the 5Cs and narrowing down our topics.  We're on the road to awesome! :)