I have recently heard a lot about the buzz word “genius hour” so I decided to take the time to research more about it and provide some insights on how to make it easy to implement in your classroom. In this post, I am going to tell you a little bit about the definition and how to get started implementing it in your classroom.
What is a Genius Hour?
A genius hour is a way for student to explore questions, topics, ideas, and problems that are of interest or passion to them. During this hour, students explore, create, question, and critique as they learn.
Below are ten words that describe what a genius hour looks like:
- Messy- students are creating and it may be perceived as a bit chaotic at first
- Student Led- decisions are made by students regarding what they want to explore
- Flexible Standards- it may or may not correlate with the standards, depending on student choice
- Blooms Level or Creative- students are creative during this time and explore their learning
- Social Collaborative- students communicate and share their projects
- Fluid- their topic of may change or modify as new insights occur
- Purposeful- there is purpose in the project- to create, solve problems, or answer questions
- Question Based- students research and inquire during the process
- Learning- student are in charge of their own learning
- Self Awareness- students learn about themselves and their interest during genius hou
Below are ten words that describe what genius hours do NOT look like:
- Planned structure- there is not planned structure for students to follow
- Assessments- there are no formal or informal assessments occurring
- Expectations- there are not expectations regarding outcomes
- Product- the product or solution is not important- the process and experience is
- Silent- students are encouraged to share and explore together, not remain quiet
- Outcome-because of the creative freedom, students will have various outcomes regarding interests and creative inquiry
- Group Work- students may talk to each other and share, but ultimately each child is on their own journey of passion learning
- Boring- since children are invested in their learning topic, it will very rarely be boring
- Structured- the structure of the activities are open and free flowing
- Time Sensitive- some students may take multiple hours on the same project during their genius hour
Lets now explore how to start one in your classroom…
- Start Slowly: Have a conversation about what a genius hour looks like (consider using my top ten lists above). Give some examples of what projects might be and allow students to share their ideas.
- Define Expectations: The unstructured nature of genius hours may cause different reactions because students may not know what to do with the new freedom. Some students may get anxious without directive, some students may see it as a time for play. Have a conversation with students about what should happen if someone does feel anxious or totally checks out. Allowing students to be part of the discussion and decision about the process of genius hour makes them feel that they truly have ownership of that time.
- Share passions and interests: Before starting genius hour, have a day where students can share their ideas or bring in props for exploration … almost like an idea show and tell. This will allow students to get excited for their ideas and the ideas of others, leading to more communication and idea sharing when you begin genius hour in your classroom
- Define Areas of Limitations Prior to Starting: If there is ANYTHING or ANYWHERE in your room that is off limits, tell students BEFORE implementing a genius hour in your classroom. The goal is for students to feel free to explore, create, and learn. If you tell them. your boundaries DURING their genius hour, it would cause confusion and discourage students from taking creative risks.
- Have Fun With Them: Start your own genius hour with them. Want to learn how to start a successful blog ( me too:-)), learn about ocean trends, photography, dance, building a birdhouse, etc. There are so many interests we are also interested in exploring as adult educators. Allowing yourself to have this time with them may inspire you to do some creative adventures yourself.
If you decide to implement a genius hour in your classroom, I would love to hear in the comment section how it went. Perhaps there is some feedback on what to add on my post regarding starting a genius hour. Perhaps you or one of your students had an interesting topic of interest. Either way, I hope you enjoy the journey of creating genius hours in your classroom!
~Create, Inspire, Learn, Lead, Love