Implementation:
In order to incorporate genius hour I would try to start with the idea at the beginning of the school year. After the first few days of school I will have students come up with any mathematical questions that they wonder about. I will stress to students that the questions that we want are questions that cannot be easily researched online. Once students have created a decent amount of questions we will categorize them within the different units that we will be covering for the school year. Once we begin our first unit students will be instructed to begin their first genius hour project focused around one of the questions created. Students will be provided with choice of how many people they work with, how they present their project, etc. Students will be given 20% of every class period (about 15 minutes) to work on their project. Students will also be instructed to post their findings from each genius hour project that they complete on a blog post. Genius hour projects will not have a specific due date, but students will be expected to complete a genius hour project for each unit for the school year. Benefits: This experience could benefit my students by encouraging them to be more intrinsically motivated. Students will become more intrinsically motivated because they will have a choice of what kind of question they explore. Also, students will have choice of who and how many people they work with for each project. I believe that students will also benefit from the learning of time management through these projects. Also, I believe that if students are working with a group of some sort students will learn more about leadership skills and working collaboratively. My overall goal is for students to become more engaged in Math through researching and completing a project focussed around the wonderings that they have. Tools: Weebly: www.weebly.com Weebly will be an excellent tool for students to use to blog about their genius hour projects. Upon completing each genius hour project students will be required to add a blog posting to their website explaining their wonderings, their findings, and reflecting on the overall project. Also, this website and blog posting will allow students to share their work with a wider audience besides just within our classroom. Google Drive: www.google.com/drive/ Google Drive will be a great tool for students to utilize when collaborating with others. With the use of Google Drive I could actually allow students to work with other students within different class periods. Also, if two students within the same room are working on different aspects of the project they can do this and share information and edit the same document while working. Google Drive will be an essential device to utilize throughout the Genius Hour work time for my students. Research: Article: matthewoldridge.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-road-to-geniushour-math.html This article was an excellent resource to help me better understand how Genius Hour can be used within a Mathematics classroom. I would encourage all of my fellow Math teachers to give it a look. This article explains how to begin Genius Hour within your classroom along with having students create a "wonder wall" or questions. Also, I appreciated that the article provided examples of what questions/wonderings were good for students to explore during Genius Hour. Support: According to the article found at: www.geniushour.com/2013/03/29/approching-your-administration-about-genius-hour/, Genius Hour, "does not result in any loss of class instruction, creates life-long learners, develops relationships with students, and teachers 21st century skills." According to this video, www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMFQUtHsWhc, "When students have a say in their learning they become much more engaged." These two sources support the idea of all the benefits of utilizing Genius Hour within the classroom.
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AuthorMy name is Heather Thompson and I am and 8th grade Math teacher at Zoneton Middle School. ArchivesCategories |