Genius Hour is the idea of "having student passions come to life" (Kesler, 2013). Google was one of the first to create this idea in order to allow their employees an hour of freedom. Their employees focused a portion of their day, in order to become motivated and hardworking individuals throughout their work schedules.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMFQUtHsWhc
As Kesler (2013) states in his video, there are main goals within 'Genius Hours'. The first, is that there should be a driving question. The student must communicate what they want to learn about. This can be any topic as long as it relates to an increase in learning. Secondly, the question must involve some form of research. Allowing students to take the initiative and researching their own interests allows each individual to show their excitement and passion towards the topic of choice.
As I reflect on my own experiences in the classrooms as an elementary and high school student, the topics and subjects which I found most beneficial were the ones in which I exemplified 'Genius Hour'. These were the science fairs, the musical opportunities, the creative ways to hand in assignments, the conversations that were stimulated throughout discussion, the nature walks outside, the computer programs we discovered. Passion-based learning is one of the hardest and easiest methods of teaching in the classroom.
So if 'Genius Hour' and passion-based learning is so easy, why are we as educators making it seem so hard? Why are we consistently limiting our students in the way they present their information, the topics they choose, or the format in which they use? Why are we celebrating individuality and showing an interest as educators become like a secondary parent to these young children? These are the questions that I have begun to ask, and in the next few weeks, I am hoping I will have some further answers.
No comments:
Post a Comment