Our geniuses were hard at work this week and anxious to truly begin their projects. We started the hour with a talk about two "P words": patience and planning. They understood what patience is and why it is important especially when asking for help with their project. The planning part came in handy for our house builders who started by looking at a ruler and some house plans. They drew some rough sketches but then their mentor told them about adding measurements to their plans. One genius decided to build a house with a square layout and the other decided that a rectangle would be more his style.
Mentors!
We are so lucky to be in a K-12 school! I asked around to see if there were any students that were interested in Genius Hour (particularly ones that could operate a sewing machine or like building) and I got more than I could ask for. Two grade 10 boys who were available during our period and were more than willing to help. I paired them up with the three sewing students and the two house building students, leaving me available for the rest of the class who is still working on what exactly they would like to do.
Wettrick says that part of the blueprint for an innovative class is collaboration with an outside expert to gain knowledge and experience. One of his rules for this is that the expert cannot be a parent. I kind of liked this rule. I have nothing against parent volunteers and I've had some awesome ones in the past, but the kids get a chance to work with their parents all the time. Genius Hour is a time to meet a new expert that can share knowledge about a subject that a parent or nice aunt or uncle may not possess. The grade 10 boys may not believe it, but in their time in our school they've become experts.
What a win-win-win situation having the mentors has been. I can check in with all the groups and individuals easier, the kids are making new friends in the school, the knowledge and ideas being shared is really showing in the projects, and the grade 10s are developing an ability to guide the kids instead of doing the work for them.
Next time I will hopefully have an update on our next Genius Hour day. Some plans for next time that students shared included finding a pattern for sewing a dress, working on the walls of the house, taking notes about spiders, and designing a cardboard eiffel tower!
Wettrick says that part of the blueprint for an innovative class is collaboration with an outside expert to gain knowledge and experience. One of his rules for this is that the expert cannot be a parent. I kind of liked this rule. I have nothing against parent volunteers and I've had some awesome ones in the past, but the kids get a chance to work with their parents all the time. Genius Hour is a time to meet a new expert that can share knowledge about a subject that a parent or nice aunt or uncle may not possess. The grade 10 boys may not believe it, but in their time in our school they've become experts.
What a win-win-win situation having the mentors has been. I can check in with all the groups and individuals easier, the kids are making new friends in the school, the knowledge and ideas being shared is really showing in the projects, and the grade 10s are developing an ability to guide the kids instead of doing the work for them.
Next time I will hopefully have an update on our next Genius Hour day. Some plans for next time that students shared included finding a pattern for sewing a dress, working on the walls of the house, taking notes about spiders, and designing a cardboard eiffel tower!
Wettrick, D. (2014) Pure Genius: Building a Culture of Innovation and Taking 20% Time to the Next Level. Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc