Genius Hour 20 Day Challenge - Day 18: Creation Station & Video Tutorials

Day 18: Creation Station & Video Tutorials

Now it's time to create! 

Some of your students may get to this step a lot sooner than others, it really all depends on what they choose to do for Genius Hour.

This question required a lot of researching before getting started on the creating part:

How can we create a fossil guide for fossil hunters who want to know what periods so they can find the fossils they want?

This question from a 4th grader required some researching before getting started on creating, but the largest portion of the project was spent problem-solving and trying to make it work.

How do 3D Printers work, and how can I program one to make a model of a finger joint?

As the facilitator of this experience, you will need to meet students where they are at and push them to the next level. This can be a little scary at first, but it's ALL WORTH IT!

For the first Genius Hour experience, you may have students fall back on the staples of presentations like Powerpoint slideshows or posters. The more times you do it, though, the more variety there will be in how students choose to show their learning! 

On our Google Site (available in our MEGA BUNDLE), you will find Product How-Tos. We have videos showing how to use Explain Everything, Comic Life, and more! We also have written explanations for how to make Google Slideshows, Prezi, and more! Having these tutorials helps student be more independent during this stage. 

When you do this mini-lesson, all you have to do is show your students the different tutorials and allow them some time to explore. As you notice students who are really strong in a certain area (like Google Slideshows), crown them the experts! Encourage other students to ask for help from these experts!

Genius Hour 20 Day Challenge - Day 7: Searchable Words for Google

Day 7: Searchable Words for Google

Remember the Bloom's Taxonomy questioning post (Day 5)? Using questions from this activity allowed us to practice search terms. We just had students underline key search terms and write notes next to each question.

At this point, reiterate to your students that we want YARD questions, AKA questions that can't be answered in one search online. Therefore, the classic type in the whole question trick won't really work. Let's use this foot question to help guide:

What makes French Bulldogs unique?  

1. What is the main topic of this question? French Bulldogs
2. What other words are important? unique
3. Are there any other synonyms or more specific words you can adjust to help find your answer? charactaristics instead of unique, traits instead of unique
4. Google Search: French bulldog characteristics OR French bulldog traits

Always sample their search terms to see if you can actually find them. Try searching it even if they give a totally incorrect answer. We once had a student that suggested we search "What" and "makes" in this question (seriously). Instead of prompting the student, we just projected Google for him to see, and tried it out. We asked him to observe what came up, and he quickly realized that he needed the other words in the question to find his answer.

Let's use this higher level thinking question for an example now:

What is the difference between a French Bulldog and a Golden Retriever, and which is a better fit for my family? 

1. What are the main topics? French Bulldog and Golden Retriever
2. Since most sites probably won't have information on both topics, you might research each separately. 
3. What other words are important? difference, family, fit
4. Which part of this question can be found online, and which part requires us to draw OUR OWN conclusions? finding the difference can be found online, and deciding if it's a good fit can be done in my head
5. What kinds of searches can help you find the differences between French Bulldogs and Golden Retreivers? 

• care for French Bulldog
• care for Golden Retriever
• training French Bulldog
• training Golden Retriever
• French Bulldog activity
• Golden Retriever activity
• French Bulldog pros and cons
• Golden Retriever pros and cons 

Why the focus on French Bulldogs you may ask? 

Seriously? Need I say more?

There's nothing wrong with sharing a good website with students, but providing feedback to help students with using better search terms is necessary. Here's an example of a way to help students find a website, but still allowing them to think about how their search terms affect what sites you find.

For more advanced Google-ers, this infographic may be helpful. Not sure I'm even at this level yet, but it would be a great poster for the classroom for students to refer to.

Genius Hour 20 Day Challenge - Day 6: Reflection Practice

Day 6: Reflection Practice

Reflecting about the process and being metacognitive is an important part of the process. From the beginning of the year, I had students blogging and reflecting about their learning and their classroom behavior. This really helped them be more thorough in their Genius Hour reflections. Go to Lauren's Teachers Pay Teachers store to download this FREEBIE. 

You could also go to Kristin's TpT store to get this FREEBIE of Self-Reflection Starters.

If reflecting isn't a regular part of your day, at this point we recommend getting your students to start reflecting about the Genius Hour process. Don't expect in-depth, eye-opening, life changing realizations the first few reflection experiences. Many of the reflections at first was a lot like one of my favorite Bachelor contestant's response.

If you use a class blog like Weebly, KidBlog, or Edmodo, provide students with prompts such as: 

• What was a challenge you faced today? How did you get through it?
• What was something easy or enjoyable today? Why? 
• What do you like or dislike about this step of Genius Hour? 

Keep the prompts fairly open-ended. If you feel that students aren't sharing enough, reply back with a follow up question.

Lauren here! Here are some examples of ways I incorporated reflection into my 4th grade classroom.

I had students revise their writing and reflect on the process.

Here's a reflection from a social studies primary source lesson.

At the end of the year, I had students share their plan for completing an at home volcano project, and then reflect on the process.

Genius Hour 20 Day Challenge - Day 3: Website Evaluation

Day 3: Website Evaluation

Work with your LMC teacher to have students evaluate websites. Our LMC teacher is absolutely PHENOMENAL, so I can't say that I had a huge role in planning the website evaluation lesson, however it was an important component to the process. Please note that this might take more than one day, depending on how much practice with web evaluation you want your students to do.

The main goals include:
Helping students understand that anyone can put anything on the internet (so they're not all reliable), and that not all websites are appropriate for us to use (for a variety of reasons).

I find this to be a great opportunity to show this commercial:

Have students evaluate by modeling how to find good, reliable components on a website. Then have students find the Who, When, Why, Where, What of websites:

Who...wrote the website?

• Discuss the difference between .com, .org, .gov, and .edu.
• Show students where to find the author(s) on the About Us, bottom of the page or FAQ page. 

When...was the website last updated?

• Discuss that sometimes the updated time is kind of irrelevant with a topic (like if you're researching historical topics), but often times the website needs to be updated regularly to stay accurate!
• Show students where this can be found on a website.

Why...was this website made? 

• What was the author's purpose? Note -- if the purpose is to convince someone of something, the information may be bias, thus, not necessarily reliable.

Where...do the links take you? 

• Are the links working on the website, and does the website work well? 

What...is on the website? 

• Can you read and understand what the website is saying? Does the information sound like it makes sense? 

Once you model evaluating websites -- both reliable and unreliable -- allow students to practice. Creating a handout with guiding questions can help students as well or you can use this one!

This website evaluation tool uses the CRAAP method (yes, that's what it's actually called). This test consists of a list of questions to help you evaluate the information you find. 

Make this a literacy center! The more consistent practice the students get with web evaluation, the more naturally they will do this, and the more reliable information they'll find online. 

Here's a very simple, quick version of web evaluation.

Genius Hour 20 Day Challenge

Two years ago we piloted a program (in our district referred to as Personalized Learning), but many refer to it as Genius Hour, Passion Projects, 20% Time, or any combination of those words combined. To stay consistent, we'll refer to it as Genius Hour, because that's what we're seeing used most frequently in the Social Media world -- but it's all very similar!

So...what is Genius Hour/Passion Projects/20% Time?! Genius Hour is where passions come alive! Students are given the opportunity to pose their own questions, problems, or challenges. With support, students will plan, manage, and reflect upon their learning. Students will switch roles from learner and teacher throughout the process. They will have the freedom to think independently and interdependently, take risks, and learn from their attempts. You and your students will not be able to get enough of it!

Follow along in this 20 day challenge to see one way to implement Genius Hour this school year! The goal is to work students up to independence. We'll be posting one post per day for 20 days!

These posts will include online resources, student examples, TpT Freebies, and MORE! Please feel free to ask questions and share your experiences! I'm looking forward to making my Genius Hour even more successful this year! 

"Since my first year teaching I've dabbled in Genius Hour components, but it wasn't till last year's pilot that I felt really good about what I was doing with these students. Why?? Because this is a new way of thinking for this kiddos, and you have to gradually work with them on this process! You can't expect to hand them a packet, and have them come up with something great. Feedback, collaboration, and scaffolding will get them there." 

- Lauren

Please note that this may take more than 20 days depending on how in-depth you get with the lessons.

Day 1: What is Genius Hour?
Day 2: Brainstorm Your Interests
Day 3: Website Evaluation
Day 4: Researchable Questions - Inch, Foot, or Yard?
Day 5: Bloom's Taxonomy and Research Questions
Day 6: Reflection Practice
Day 7:Searchable Words for Google
Day 8: A Lot, Some, Little Activity
Day 9: Question Drafts
Day 10: Critical Friends
Day 11: Finalizing Questions & Final Project Discussion
Day 12: Writing a Plan & Organization Tips
Day 13: Help Wanted Board
Day 14: Research & Problem Solving Minilesson
Day 15: Research & Setting Up an Interview
Day 16: Knowing When to Move On & Where Am I Board
Day 17: Conferring
Day 18: Creation Station & Video Tutorials
Day 19: Share!
Day 20: Genius Hour Self Evaluation