Introducing Genius Hour

The Genius of Stonehenge

In honor of of the New Year I decided to try something that many colleagues around the nation are talking about.  Hopefully, you have heard the term "Genius Hour" from your child! 

Genius Hour is something I have wanted to try since November 2011 when I read this blog post from a member of my PLN, Denise Krebs.  In it she describes her first attempt at this type of activity with her 7th grade class.  To this day, I follow posts and tweets about this 'Genius Hour' in the hopes of one day trying it with my fourth grade students. 

What is Genius Hour?  Click on the link to read in depth how one teacher, Gallit Zvi describes it and it's origin.  In a nutshell, it is letting students follow their passion using inquiry to "work on new designs or master new skills".

Genius Hard at Work!

This is it - this is the year! As discussed with the kids, sometime in January, they will have the opportunity to explore/learn/create/design something of interest to them.  My job will be to provide guiding essential questions for their learning/creating.  Sharing will be one of the components of Genius Hour.  The students will have an opportunity during a different timeframe to share their findings/presentations/works of art.

Students will be allowed to work with a partner (if their topic is the same) or individuallyt.  Several students have already shared their ideas with me (to be fine tuned of course).

What do you think of Genius Hour?  What do you think your child would like to explore?