Dear
Parents,
Our
class has started Genius Hour! Genius
Hour gives students the ability to apply the skills they have learned in school
(or hidden talents they might possess) towards an individual passion
project. It lets students dive into
something they are curious about, perhaps not covered by the regular curriculum.
During Genius Hour students will have the freedom to investigate, discover and
explore things about a particular topic they are passionate about.
Genius
hour started as a Google initiative for their workforce. Google employs thousands of individuals
world-wide. These employees use 20% of their work-time to indulge in a
personal-project of their choosing. Google
maintains that if you let people work on something interesting, it will lead to
a more happy employee which in turn will lead to higher job satisfaction and
commitment. More so, many of these personal projects end up becoming
full-fledged projects that we inevitably all use day-in and day-out. Google’s
methodology apparently seems to be working well because about half of Google’s
innovations have been created during this personal-project time! Many schools
and teachers, including myself, have heard about Google’s personal-project time
and have adopt it in our classrooms.
It’s
been my past experience that my students have truly embraced Genius Hour and
have discovered so many talents because of it.
Finally, once all the research is over, students will create a project
to showcase what they have learned.
Students are given free rein to explore whatever comes to mind; make a
video or poster, code, write a report, draw, or paint – the
multitude of ways to show what they have learned are endless!
Edible water bottles? What a fun idea! I knew our munchkins were going to change the world!!
Stay tuned for pictures of our great classroom creations. Have a great night!
MLopez
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