Why We Love Including Genius Hour In Our School Day And You Should, Too!

Teaching has never been easy, all experienced educators know this. It is not simply that the job itself is challenging, but also the fact that there are several factors that make our task even harder. We sometimes experience pushback from various sources even though; on average I work a 10-hour day. Whether that manifests in lack of support from families or administrative officials it always ends up with the potential to affect our ability to be effective. (P. Coke, 07/18). I feel pressure from our community but obligated to take on these challenges as opportunities to learn, grow and improve. I truly believe that this particular technique may prove very useful in the classroom and in an online setting.

Are you doing Genius Hour? I sure hope you are!!

What is Genius Hour?

In his work, A.J. Juliani proposes a very refreshing and interesting take on capturing a student’s attention and imagination. By engaging student’s own interests and passions, we are tapping into their own curiosity as a driver of the learning process (A.J. Juliani, 2014).

Genius Hour is Juliani’s adaptation of the 20% time rule to the classroom. The 20% rule states that employees should be given the freedom to pursue their own interests during work hours, about 20% of that time should be spent working on their own passion projects. This is a technique used and made known by several big companies, including Google. The concept translates perfectly to the classroom, where we are to give our students a section of time to work on questions of their own. Motivated by their own interest and curiosity they propel themselves and find answers and knowledge in a way that would not have been possible had they not been left alone to pursue that which interests them the most.

 How are your Teachers Re-shaping the classroom?

During Genius Hour

We all learn differently. Some of us work very well in classroom scenarios, while others can stand to explore something new. It’s no secret and has little to do with individual intellectual capacity. By putting these techniques to use we are finally able to harness each student’s own power to focus and learn (P. Coke, 2018). We are engaging them at their core, listening to their thoughts and ideas, and supporting their growth. By doing this we can start to work from the inside to re-shape and redefine the intimate connection and relationship between students and their teachers. With a tool such as Genius Hour, we can take back that passion and use it to fuel our student’s learning journey. Implementation is simple and can grow from a simple proposition and allotment of class time. We are sure that you will see the results if you rise up to the challenge and, in turn, challenge your own students to rise above their own expectations.

References

“Using genius hour to change what we do with what we know”, P. Coke, 2018.l

“Inquiry and innovation in the classroom: Using 20% time, genius hour, and PBL to drive student success”,A.J. Juliani, 2014.

During genius hour - bcs genius hour. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2021, from https://sites.google.com/a/bcsoh.org/bcs-genius-hour/getting-started/during-genius-hour