Presenter: Michele Haiken
Location: Stamford, Connecticut, United States
@TeachingFactor
Presentation Title: Moving From “Some Study I Used to Know” to Inquisitive Learning with Genius Hour & Passion Projects
Presentation Description: How can teachers inspire and ignite learning in their content area among the demands of the Common Core and 21st Century Literacy? This video presentation addresses how one middle school teacher made the commitment to Genius Hour with her students over the course of the school year, set up weekly Genius Hour class periods, and cultivated student ideas and interests. In the process, Genius Hour projects promoted students’ ownership of their own learning and allowed students to explore and create inquiries that were meaningful, insightful, and creative. Students were engaged and excited to discuss their passion projects at any moment and used class time with gusto to research and create. The ideas students explored allowed for their teacher to reflect on her own best practices to inspire the same inquiry and interest into her English Language Arts classroom. This presentation includes student voices and shares projects created by students this past school year. Find out how Genius Hour was introduced to the students and how the teacher facilitated weekly Genius Hour periods to support and push students thinking and ideas. Resources included for teachers looking to start Genius Hour in their classroom and veteran teachers to get answers to sticky questions like moving beyond making cupcakes, to classroom behavior and technology challenges.
Link to presentation’s supporting documents:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xFl9phtuOAwnHF4VsYVBr7Quvm9FJy09UEbh0fCM9Wo/edit?usp=sharing
Additional Information:
http://theteachingfactor.com
@teachingfactor
Michele,
Thanks for a great presentation, I found the genius hour to be a tremendous service project that could easily be implemented into my classroom. I enjoy having students be able to focus their work on their own ideas and run with it. Good job to you and your students for making a difference in your community!