Implementing Genius Hour

I am enjoying planning for the upcoming school year and excited to be back in the general classroom. In addition to looking for ways to integrate primary sources and other resources, I will be implementing a Genius Hour time. In some ways, my engineering classroom was a bit like Genius Hour, except students didn't usually get to choose based on their interests or passions. Though they had choice on materials and ways to create outcomes, the topic was based on what we were covering in the classroom.

Genius Hour is inquiry-based learning that allows students to work on individual projects that focus on their passion. Even if they don't know their passion, they know what they are interested in and may discover a passion. My planning is in its beginning stages, but I am quickly identifying how I want to implement this opportunity and resources I may need to manage and scaffold the open-ended student process.

I want to create an introductory video much like the video below but in another program with audio so that students can revisit it throughout the project as needed. I would also like to have Genius Hour at least twice each week. The amount of time is still to be determined.




I will ask students to complete an interest survey to assist with the brainstorming component of choosing a project for Genius Hour. After choosing a topic, students will be asked to identify the driving question they would like to answer and share. There are a lot of great existing resources for planning and sharing with students to support the process. I will continue to dive into those while formulating my plans. It will be interesting to scaffold 2nd and 3rd grade question development and research strategies for answering questions that go beyond an easy Google search. I plan to use Seesaw Digital Portfolios for managing student progress https://web.seesaw.me/. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I feel as though I am on solid starting ground. I found the article at We Are Teachers was a great starting point with additional resources listed. https://www.weareteachers.com/what-is-genius-hour/

Preparing for 2019-2020 in the Classroom - Starting with Primary Sources

As I am wrapping up my fellowship and preparing to return to the classroom for the 2019-2020 school year, I find myself very excited about the possibilities in front of me. I have been out of the general classroom for going on seven years. During my six years as the K-5 Engineering Teacher at Galileo STEM Academy, I felt as though what I was doing could be integrated into the general classroom. Now is my chance to put it to the test. I have begun mapping out the various resources I now have in addition to my engineering tools and identifying ways they can be integrated into the general elementary classroom.

Since my passion for integrating primary sources has been deeply embedded during my time at the Library of Congress, I first went through standards and district curriculum looking for areas that would easily integrate with primary sources. I highlighted areas I felt could be easily integrated with the use of primary sources. Since primary source analysis uses similar strategies as science based claim, evidence, and reasoning (CER), I also noted areas where I could integrate the use of CER with primary sources and various content areas.

I look forward to the challenge of integrating the various resources I have accumulated in my teacher tool box and the lessons learned from the elementary engineering lab.