Why “Genius Hour”?

Probably some of you are wondering how I came out with this idea.

This short post is going to answer that question and give you more insight into my philosophy of school work and assignments.

During my Fulbright Programme in the USA in 2012, I met an American teacher who told me a lot about her classes and assignments she was giving her students. Not only did she present me a detailed description of her teaching methods, but she also showed me some of the assignments her students worked on throughout the whole school year. As we spent several days together, we had plenty of time to dwell on our teaching and classrooms. Out of many ideas we discussed, it was “Genius Hour” concept that turned out to be the most challenging and striking thing. More details of this “Genius Hour “concept can be obtained by checking out the references listed below. The first reference is short , and a very good summary to the concept.

Of course, at that time I had no idea what “Genius Hour” was and why one should use it in the classroom. After carrying out extensive research, I decided to implement it in my own teaching. All the advantages did definitely outweigh all the disadvantages so why shouldn’t I do it with my students. The advantages include, primarily:

1.An unrestricted opportunity for the students to be creative and come up with ideas that would be given consideration

2.A short and focused time frame to think through the idea and assess its viability

3.Personalized instruction

The beginnings were hard as some of my students found it hard to create their own driving questions and did not feel as motivated as I did. Besides, they did not feel like sharing their work with others. Later, I became much more experienced and adjusted this concept to the needs and expectations of my students.

This year I have selected students taking the academic line of studies to participate in “Genius Hour”. I do believe that students who are able to choose what they want to learn about are more motivated and passionate about their work.

 

Student led learning, motivation, inquiry-based and autonomous learning, passion, productivity, lifelong learning, voice are just the few words I associate with this amazing concept.

If you are one of the teachers working at Nannestad High School ,and, you see merit in the use of the “Genius Hour” concept,  and , you would like to join us, do  drop me a line so I can introduce you to the concept and help you develop and apply the concept to your own teaching.