A New Year - I Wish You More

Story: I Wish You More

Happy New Year!

As we head into 2017, I have a wish for you!  

I wish you more…

I wish you more Ups than Downs:

I hope you had a relaxing, restful holiday break, because you deserve it.  Teaching and caring for children with such diverse needs is hard and important work. The opportunity to refuel, rest, and care for yourself is key to having energy for great work in schools.

I wish you more We than Me:

We have big jobs as teachers!  Teamwork and peer collaboration can help lighten our load and bring new energy to our daily tasks.  I would love to continue help with ideas for technology integration and work with you and your students more – We can create some great learning experiences for your students.

I wish you more Will than Hill:

Technology brings some unique challenges from time to time.  But, we have the wonderful advantage of being a district that provides students in grades four through eight their own Chromebook.  This opens a window of opportunity and brings the world to our classroom.  What will we do with this awesome tool?

I wish you more Can than Knot:

Students spend most of their day learning what they are told they are going to learn and how they will show what they have learned.  Can we allow students the opportunity to have more voice and choice in the learning process?  Is their a way we can make the connection or “tie” it all together for them so we are meeting standards and district expectations as the same time (without creating a big knot)?

I wish you more Treasures than Pockets:

We know not every day will be awesome.  But, we have treasures!  There are wonderful things happening in our schools every day.  We help kids to learn, smile, and belong. We try new things and share our learning.  We build relationships, share amazing stories, give words of encouragement, and have some fun! 

2017 has started! 

Fill your pockets with treasures and go be awesome!

Giving Students Opportunities for Innovation

As a classroom teacher, I found it extremely valuable to give students time for innovation project-based learning.  The way I implemented that time into my classroom was to use 20 percent time or Genius Hour.  I gave my students the chance to work on any project they wanted. It went very well and students created some interesting projects and presentations to share what they were passionate about.

Genius hour is a great way to allow students to drive their own personalized instruction.  I highly recommend considering the use of a Genius Hour opportunity for all students.

What is Genius Hour

Traditionally, teachers map out academic standards, and plan units and lessons based around those standards.  During Genius Hour, students are in control, choosing what they study, how they study it, and what they do, produce, or create as a result and they decide how to share their learning with their classmates and others. It provides students freedom to design their own learning during a set period of time during school.  Genius Hour promotes inquiry, research, creativity, and self-directed learning.  It also supports standards in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and research.  Also, it can support content area standards.

How to Get Started

There are a lot of resources out there, and teachers that have embraced Genius Hour are great resources, often willing to share what they have or help you problem solve.  I’d be happy to work with any teacher wanting to implement Genius Hour in their classroom.

As a teacher, your biggest role is to support students by helping them focus and problem solve. The relationships you build with your students during this time are invaluable.  Genius hour is a time to work with students individually, conference with them, and help them reflect on where they are at in the process.  It is also your time to keep them moving, help them revise or change their focus if they are “stuck”, help them make connections with mentors and keep them on track for the timelines or benchmarks you have determined for each project.

Keep the Success Going

I found using my social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Google+) to find mentors and/or people to interview was extremely valuable to my students.  We made all kinds of awesome connections with amazing professionals that were extremely willing to give their time to help children learn and succeed.

It is also important to continuously reflect on the process. What is working with your students, and what isn't?  Remember, not all genius hours will look the same,  it should work for your classroom community and teaching style.  You may find that it evolves over the course of the year, as well as from year to year.  It is all about the engagement and creativity for your kids.

The Impact

After two years, my genius hour time created a wonderful climate of curiosity and innovation.  We turned this energy into a weekly day of student led learning: Fab Fridays!  We used responsibility partners and reflection groups during mathematics and literacy blocks.  This allowed students a day of choice and voice while addressing content area standards.

We also set aside an hour of coding using code.org and one hour for Makerspace.  This allowed students to create programming, learn coding, investigate, design, problem solve, produce, build, craft and collaborate with peers.

What opportunities for innovation can you provide for your students?  And, how can I help you?