When I was still in the credential program I had seen a few Pinterest posts about Genius Hour and after doing my own exhaustive research I knew it was something I HAD to implement in my own classroom. I loved the idea of Genius Hour for so many reasons. For those that may not know about Genius Hour it is a time set aside each week (typically an hour hence the name) where students can work on any project they would like. Students are given a timeline (we usually do 6-7 weeks) to complete their projects and in the end they present their projects. This is by far our most popular time of the week and students always double check each Monday that we are having Genius Hour time on Tuesday. In the first trimester of the year I only did GH with my homeroom but then the other 6th graders became so excited about GH they begged us (my partner and I) to do it across all 6th grade. This trimester we have included all 6th graders in Genius Hour and it still proves to be the students favorite time of the week. I always show this youtube video to my students at the beginning of a new genius hour session.
Here are some of the reasons Genius Hour is so successful for us:
Here are some of the reasons Genius Hour is so successful for us:
1) It's a Passion Project
Students are allowed to research ANYTHING they want!! This means their passion is driving their learning and experience. I think we all know we are far more invested in something if it is our choice.
2) Student Driven Research
Since this project is driven by the students passion, they are using research skills that they have learned as well as developing new skills on their own. Many of my students have learned how to use a dictionary....yes you read that right a dictionary! They have also learned how to look up scholarly articles and are learning the difference between quality research and just another article on the internet. During Genius Hour I spend a great deal of time helping students navigate different research methods.
3) Meeting the needs of all my students
Probably my favorite part about Genius Hour is that it meets the needs of all of my students. Every student can achieve success in their project as long as they participate. For some students this may be a 6 week project where they researched an endangered animal and raised money to donate to shelters. For other students their project may be making a difficult paper airplane. The goal is that each student is able to challenge themselves at their own level.
They can work alone or with 1 other person- This is a hard and fast rule. I do not allow any groups larger than 2 because then I tend to get someone slacking on the work. I have seen greater collaboration when students only have to deal with 1 other person. Of course that has been one instance where I approved a 3 person group but this was a special circumstance.
Students need to get their projects approved- During the first week of GH students work on deciding on their projects and they draft an idea submission sheet. They have to turn this into me and I go through each project idea as part of an approval process. Students know they cannot start their project until it has been approved.
Project must be a Research Question- Each project needs to be presented as a research question. I discuss with the class beforehand what a research question looks like.
Students are allowed to research ANYTHING they want!! This means their passion is driving their learning and experience. I think we all know we are far more invested in something if it is our choice.
2) Student Driven Research
Since this project is driven by the students passion, they are using research skills that they have learned as well as developing new skills on their own. Many of my students have learned how to use a dictionary....yes you read that right a dictionary! They have also learned how to look up scholarly articles and are learning the difference between quality research and just another article on the internet. During Genius Hour I spend a great deal of time helping students navigate different research methods.
3) Meeting the needs of all my students
Probably my favorite part about Genius Hour is that it meets the needs of all of my students. Every student can achieve success in their project as long as they participate. For some students this may be a 6 week project where they researched an endangered animal and raised money to donate to shelters. For other students their project may be making a difficult paper airplane. The goal is that each student is able to challenge themselves at their own level.
How I Make It Work
Since I have 6th graders they are able to do the majority of their projects on their own. There are a few parameters though that all students have to abide by. The guidelines I give my 6th graders are:They can work alone or with 1 other person- This is a hard and fast rule. I do not allow any groups larger than 2 because then I tend to get someone slacking on the work. I have seen greater collaboration when students only have to deal with 1 other person. Of course that has been one instance where I approved a 3 person group but this was a special circumstance.
Students need to get their projects approved- During the first week of GH students work on deciding on their projects and they draft an idea submission sheet. They have to turn this into me and I go through each project idea as part of an approval process. Students know they cannot start their project until it has been approved.
Project must be a Research Question- Each project needs to be presented as a research question. I discuss with the class beforehand what a research question looks like.
They have to do the majority of the work at school- This means they need to complete most of the project at school during Genius Hour. Many students want to do crazy science experiments that I am not equipped to monitor at school and those students have to change their projects around. This is because the whole point of GH is to do a project at school. They need to be busy and have a purpose during this time given to them. Again, there have been exceptions made.
Check-in along the way- I try to check in with each group every 2 weeks but realistically sometimes I do not get them each group within those 2 weeks. I meet with each group for sure 2-3 times throughout the project time and some groups more often if they need it. During this check in the students and I fill out a quick check in to see where they are on their project, what do they need to finish before presentation day, and what are they going to do from here on out to get there. For many groups this is a very quick check in and they know exactly where they are going and how they will get there. For other groups this is a crucial step in getting them to a their goal or taking the time to readjust their goal if they need to.
Science Fair Style Presentation- I have a lot of students! It would be quite an undertaking to have enough time for each project to present in front of the class. I decided to do our presentations in a science fair style. Students set up their project presentations and we invite family, friends, other classes, and school staff to our Genius Hour Fair and students get a chance to present their project to a whole bunch of people over the course of an hour.
I used a fabulous resource I found on TpT from Applejacks Teacher. For $6.00 I saved so much time in making all my own handouts for Genius Hour and for me it was definitely money well spent.
Have you tried Genius Hour in your classroom? Tell us below!
Check-in along the way- I try to check in with each group every 2 weeks but realistically sometimes I do not get them each group within those 2 weeks. I meet with each group for sure 2-3 times throughout the project time and some groups more often if they need it. During this check in the students and I fill out a quick check in to see where they are on their project, what do they need to finish before presentation day, and what are they going to do from here on out to get there. For many groups this is a very quick check in and they know exactly where they are going and how they will get there. For other groups this is a crucial step in getting them to a their goal or taking the time to readjust their goal if they need to.
Science Fair Style Presentation- I have a lot of students! It would be quite an undertaking to have enough time for each project to present in front of the class. I decided to do our presentations in a science fair style. Students set up their project presentations and we invite family, friends, other classes, and school staff to our Genius Hour Fair and students get a chance to present their project to a whole bunch of people over the course of an hour.
I used a fabulous resource I found on TpT from Applejacks Teacher. For $6.00 I saved so much time in making all my own handouts for Genius Hour and for me it was definitely money well spent.
Have you tried Genius Hour in your classroom? Tell us below!
Happy Teaching!
Ashley
