Genius Hour in junior grades

Whoever thought Genius would be a huge hit within a classroom full of grade 6's? For those of you who may not know what Genius hour is, it's an hour of student directed independent projects that is based on google's 80/20 work . It provides students a chance to explore their interests and develop research and presentation skills that are creative and outside the box. As an Early Childhood Educator I knew the importance of inquiry based learning, but had a difficult time bringing it into the classroom with older students. I read many sites, books, and other educator's blogs about Genius hour and how they incorporated it within the classroom. Then I went for it! I introduced Genius hour to the grade 6's by informing the students that they were able to find a topic of interest and research more into it. This was a first attempt and I learned as I went. Most of the time I felt not prepared, did not know what to except, and I felt the class was chaos. Let me explain it was well worth the feelings in the end! Here are a few things I learned as I went along. 

Introducing Genius Hour to the students

As a class we created a success criteria that allowed the students to understand what their task was and how they can become successful. I provided each student a copy after it was created and a copied was always visual in the classroom. This allowed students to always refer to it throughout the process. Next I had students brainstorm on the topics that they were curious about. Before introducing this I would have students begin the brainstorm a week or two before where they can write it on a sticky note (similar to a wonder wall) and place it on the board. This will allow students to have an idea at the start and begin their research. 

Reflection

I had students verbally inform what their topic was going to be but I did not have them write it down and submit it.  When I do it again, I would have students fill out the form below and submit it that way it provides them more thinking it through before getting started. It also allows me to be a little more organized with who is doing what. As educator's we understand the importance of reflection, but getting students involved in self-reflection could be hard.

It took a few classes (longer then I thought) to get the process started. At first I did not have the students record what they were doing during the hour. About half way through I thought they should be recording what they are doing within the hour that is provided to them (similar to a self assessment) so they can document their learning as it occurs. This would be something that they would hand into me as part of the written portion.

Presentation

Students knew at the beginning that their projects were going to be shared with the class. I left it open for them to create ways to share it. As we moved forward students wanted to share with other students and parents. In the end we did a Genius hour night (attached to the school's Christmas concert night) where those students who wanted to share were able to set up within different class rooms and share with people who came by their exhibit. Below is the rubric that I used for the students presentation and in class work. This can be altered for any grade.

I may have jumped two feet into taking this on, but it was well worth it! The presentations, student growth, and ideas that I would have never thought of were shared. Students were asking to continue this type of project because they had some many things they wanted to research and share with one another. As educators we tell students to try something new and go outside their comfort zone, why can't we?

Have you ever done Genius hour before? Please share your thoughts, or best tips below!

Making sense of inquiry based learning

As students enter the education system in kindergarten parents often feel that their child is playing all day.  In my years of being an educator parents often become frustrated and upset because they feel that their children are playing all day and not learning anything while they are starting school.  Educating parents about the aspects of inquiry based learning from the kindergarten curriculum has been a challenge.  Not only is this shown within the kindergarten curriculum however it is expanding into other grades as well. Educators follow the backwards design beginning with looking at the curriculum documents and gathering a big idea on what they will see their students learning.  After finding out the big idea you need to begin to ask questions.  This could be place on a wonder wall within the classroom where students can write down questions or things they wonder about.  From these wonder questions, the educator provides a big question that allows students to investigate and find answers to support their own learning.  These questions turn into one big inquiry that is created to cover a variety of concepts. These questions can also become cross curricular including a variety of subjects.  As an educator I often find this part the most difficult part to do.  Students begin their investigation using a variety of materials to find their answers.  They can use technology or books to look for answers or may build something to figure out answers.  During this process the educator is monitoring and guiding the inquiry process.  They are also documenting the process to use for assessment later on.  

The Inquiry-Based learning process. 

The next step requires students to discuss their findings with other students.  This can be a presentation, paper, a model/figure that they have created or anything else that shows their findings.  Students enter the reflecting portion and  begin to share what worked and what didn't. They also reflect on how they learned. A self assessment can be completed during this stage. 

Some educators (including myself) incorporated Genius hour into my classroom as my beginning step into teaching inquiry based learning.  I experienced this during my grade 6 placement in teacher's college.  I knew how to incorporate inquiry based learning in the younger years (preschool and kindergarten) but did not know how to explore this in older grades.  This allowed me to see the benefits first before adjusting my whole classroom into this style.  Genius hour occurred once a week (I choose Wednesdays) for an hour a day the students got to work on their passion projects (something that interests them).  Students spent several weeks researching the topic before they started to created a product they shared with the class.  Throughout this process I would document the process and ensure the students stayed on task.  Students got a choose on how they would share their new product to the class.  This was rewarding to me and the students!  Take a peak at the video below for more details or visit http://www.geniushour.com/.

 

Over the years as an educator I have found the love for inquiry based learning.  It has been a huge learning curve for me but a rewarding one.  Seeing the excitement from my students when they find out answers on their own, the stronger relationships students build with one another, the communication skills they develop, the confidence that the students have in their own ideas and the ability to share them with their peers is rewarding!  My advice for any educator taking the jump is to take baby steps into it and begin to see the rewards and you will change your thinking and teaching style. 

“Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.”
– Chinese proverb

Pedagogical documentation

Documentation has many purposes, audiences and forms.  A few years back after making the transition from childcare into the Ontario school system and attending teacher's college I realized that teacher's are not aware of what documentation is or how and what to document.  The first step as an Early Childhood Educator was to educate the Kindergarten team on why we document and how to document.  Next to teach was how to display the learning so it was visible for parents, administrators and children to see.  Here are my cole note's version on pedagogical documentation.

Why document learning? An educator in the classroom is being an observer and collecting observations, student's work or recording conversations as evidence of student learning.  They are gathering evidence (say, do, represent) through careful listening to make the child's thinking and learning visible.  Educators can see the learning, discuss ways to extend the learning (materials, questions), share the documentations with the children to help create new ideas, and to inform families and administrators as to the power of play, exploration and group learning.  Assessment follows after the observations and demonstrates what a child has learned.

What to document? This question is one of the most popular questions I get when I talk to teacher's about documentation.  One thing I often remind educators about documentation is to capture the learning when and where it happens.  You are to capture the learning that is taking place. This can also be from a child's point of view.  For example you capture a photo of a child measuring another child using rectangle shaped wooden blocks.  You write the conversation occurring and see that the child is learning who is the tallest and shortest student in the classroom.  A child can look at the picture or pictures you took and explain which student is the tallest and shortest based upon the number of blocks they used to measure.

Capacity Building Series K-12-
Pedagogical documentation (2012)

How to present the learning? The power of pedagogical documentation lays within the picture or video clip that was taken during the learning process.  A good picture will be able to tell the reader a story, identify the learning, make a connection and to show the child's emotions. As an educator I often use the app Sesame Snap or I create a pic collage with the pictures and place it in a word document.  These documents can be displayed in various ways, and communicated to parents in various ways depending on your preference. I enjoy making portfolio's for parents that the students take home at the end of the year demonstrating their learning that year similar to a scrapbook. Most common way is bulletin boards where students can view their learning and show others what they have learned. If it's electronic on an app such as Sesame Snap then you can have parents view in online right away. Remember there is no one right way to do it! Educators need to determine the documentation format that works best for them to support the students in their classroom

The power of self assessment

What is assessment?
Assessment takes place within a classroom and includes diagnostic and formative feedback throughout the instructional period to improve learning. It reflects how well a student is achieving curriculum expectations. Self-assessment occurs when a student assess their own learning. This helps the student reflect and critically evaluate their learning process.

Educators have a document called Growing for Success that outlines the Ministry of Education's assessment, evaluation and reporting policy for educators who teach Kindergarten to grade 12. Within this document it discusses the various forms of assessment. Assessment for learning is defined as when teachers provide descriptive feedback to the students. Assessment as learning occurs when teachers provide their students with the tools for them to develop their capacity to be independent learners who are able to set goals, monitor progress, determine next steps and reflect on their learning. Lastly assessment of learning happens at the end of a learning period, and the teacher summarizes the learning that took place.

Pros and Cons to self-assessment
Students should be completing self-reflections within the classroom to help them identify areas that they need to improve. As a class, educators and students should create a success criteria for the upcoming assignment where it is clear, and detailed what the students will be evaluated on. This will help students become successful in their learning. Students can complete a self assessment in any grade.

Advantages and disadvantages of self-assessment 

Retrieved from Center of Education Innovation

This video describes the importance of self-assessment and ideas how to incorporate it into the classroom. 

     A recent article from the Globe and Mail discussed that high school students can take part in negotiating their final grades. An Ontario high school located in Caledon, ON will be working on a pilot project that is allowing students in grade 9 to sit down at the end of the course and have a discussion with their teacher in terms of their final mark. This strikes interesting points, however as an educator myself I wonder if it will work out.