Connecting with the Library to Get Outside Resources

Do yourself a favor and get in touch with your local library!

OF COURSE the library would have a ton of resources!!!

I regret not getting in touch with our library sooner....I wish I knew about the resources that they offer to schools and teachers!

Our local library has phenomenal resources like:

• Resource Bags - Just fill out a short form about what you will be studying...and in a week, you will have a bag of goodies (books, digital resources, and more!) all about the topic!

• STEM Kits - What!? I had no idea! In the last week, I was able to check out Arduinos, Makey-Makeys, and Finch Robots! 

• Tours/Visits - The library will host tours of its facilities OR come to your school to do book talks, story time, database demonstrations, or more!

• Partnerships - Our library has a lot of great makerspace resources like 3D printers and Makey-Makeys! A middle school teacher in our district partnered with the library to have his students learn about the different resources...then collaborated with our elementary school!

• Host Events - Ready to celebrate your kids' hard work or show off genius hour/makers' projects, see if your library would be willing to host! It would be neat to have community members and students presenting alongside each other! We also hosted our celebration of our 3D printing project collaborations there!

Contact your library as soon as you can before you find yourself doing this...

Genius Hour 20 Day Challenge - Day 15: Research & Setting Up an Interview

Day 15: Research & Setting Up an Interview

While students gain a lot of great information through resources like books, encyclopedias, videos, and websites, an interview is another great source (and skill) for students to practice during Genius Hour. Of course this doesn't apply to everyone, but if time and resources allow, we strongly recommend it! 

Teaching students HOW to interview is crucial. They really need to know the proper interview etiquette, so they don't walk in looking like this...

Most importantly, students need to know the purpose of interviewing someone. 

The purpose of interviewing someone is to get a unique perspective on something, not to learn information that you could find elsewhere (online, in a book, etc). 

Students need to understand that someone is taking time out of their day to help, so preparing properly for an interview is needed. 

Create an anchor chart with the class outlining the steps that need to be taken in order to conduct a successful interview. It's best for the class to brainstorm the steps together, but the end product should look something like this. 

1. Find a qualified candidate - utilize the help wanted board, ask family and friends, or find an outside source
2. Write interview questions - reiterate the purpose of interviewing, and maybe model appropriate interview question (ie. How did it make you feel...? What is your favorite part...? What challenges did you face when...?)
3. Get interview questions approved - I STRONGLY RECOMMEND REQUIRING TEACHER APPROVAL. This is SUCH a new skill for students, and even with modeling, knowing appropriate and helpful questions is still a challenge. If teacher feedback doesn't seem like a viable option, at least do peer feedback. 

Find the rest of this mini lesson in our Computer-Based and Online Genius Hour Mega Bundle (using Google Sites). 

Get inspired!

Here are some cool interview opportunities some of our students had!

• An interview with my [Lauren] brother! My brother FaceTimed our classroom from his college dorm to help a student who was wanting to build a computer since my brother had experience with that! My brother gave suggestions of sites with affordable parts, informed my student of what parts he should splurge on, and helped explain some of the more technical terms my student didn't understand. 
• An interview with all the fourth grade teachers! My student wanted to know what challenges fourth grade teachers face. She got opinions from 4 different teachers, and learned more "behind the scenes" stuff about teaching!
• An engineer came in! A number of students had questions relating to engineering/technology/problem-solving (3D printing, computer building, coding, etc.) We had the engineer speak to that group of students. 

& many more... 

Genius Hour 20 Day Challenge - Day 14: Research and Problem-Solving Mini-Lesson

Day 14: Research and Problem-Solving Mini-Lesson

And today is where it all gets easier. Seriously. By today, most students should be done with creating their plan, and all of the preparation that has been done will allow for some independence.

BUT FIRST....Let me teach a mini lesson!

By this point, most students have had some time to work independently and start their research...and had some time to fail. If they haven't, maybe let them fail for a little while so they (and you) can see what they need help with. This mini lesson is a chance for you to have a discussion with  the class about what challenges students have had, then brainstorm ways to overcome them. We made a T-Chart just like this:

Problems I Encounter	Ways to Solve the Problem
I don’t know what website to use or can’t find a good website.	Try searching different terms.

If you purchase your Google Site Genius Hour Mega Bundle, the problem-solving mini lesson example is on there (as well as other mini lessons), but it is strongly recommended to have an open conversation like this with your class. If you address a lot of these issues up front, you can coast for a while and just keep your eyes peeled for some yellow or red cups!

This might be a good time to refer to Growth Mindset as well. Having a "problem" isn't always fun for these kiddos. Teach them the Growth Mindset language to help them with this process. 

Friendly Reminder...

Although at this point, you're probably strutting around the classroom with the wind blowing in your hair, or doing a happy dance and winking at the teacher across the hall....

Remember that they're still learning. Take a look at their documentation page and see if they are paraphrasing rather than copying. Check to see if they are using reliable websites. Check to see if they are getting a sufficient amount of work done in a session. Review their Reflection pages as well. It's a good opportunity to answer questions or help find go-to people. 

When reviewing one student's notes, I noticed that she added a chart in her documentation page. I then crowned her the Organization Queen. If I came across any disorganized notes, I suggested they get help from the Organization Queen. 

Sometimes after reviewing their documentation, notes, and reflections, I notice some big red flags. I take note and end up conferring with them first thing next Genius Hour session.