How to start genius hour
One of the trickiest parts of implementing a passion project slot or genius hour is getting your students started. How can we get our students to land on an interest, passion, inquiry, goal or challenge that they wish to pursue? How can we get our students to design a driving question that will guide their project over an extended period of time? A question that will take them from passion to purpose?
Spinndle has put together a Passion Project planner or Genius hour guide that supports students in identifying their Genius Hour idea/ topic and turning that interest into something more purposeful overtime. On the Spinndle platform, teachers can customize this roadmap to suit their students and students can add/ delegate tasks for a more student-led project planning experience.
With this Genius Hour guide, students know how to start genius hour!
ROADMAP
Stage 1 - Discover Passions
Narrow down your passions, interests, goals, wonderings to come up with one topic to explore. Pick something that will be meaningful for you.
Share a mind-map of your interests, curiosities, or problems you would like to pursue.
Add Need To Know's around all your topics of interest. What topic raises the most questions for you?
Turn your passion into a driving question that will help you focus on a project goal.
Stage 2 - Investigation
Narrow down your passions, interests, goals, wonderings to come up with one topic to explore. Pick something that will be meaningful for you.
Put together a list of questions that will help you answer your driving question.
Share your resources that will help you answer these questions.
Plan your investigation. What guiding questions and resources will help you acheive your project goal?
Stage 3 - Proposal
Imagine you need to get approval from your teacher before moving forward with your project. Clarify why this project is important, what you plan to do, and the steps you’ll take to get there.
Set a goal or purpose.
Determine objectives.
Plan a timeline of to do's.
Stage 4 - Build Expertise
You don't become an expert overnight. Choose one or more research methods to explore your topic deeper.
Choose a method of investigation: Survey, Interview, Observation, Participation, Library/ Internet Research.
Plan out the investigation. Answer who, what, when, and where. Gather resources and materials.
Identify creation. Do you have enough information to develop or create something? Ex. A product, a service, an event. If yes, what do you plan to do? If no, Or what additional research do you need to do?
Stage 5 - Create and Share
Now that you know more, what can you do with that knowledge? Find a creative way to act on it. Share your progress with others along the way to get feedback. Even experts need fresh ideas to help them see things differently. Make adjustments and improvements where you can.
Determine how to best reach your audience.
Revise project goals and objectives. What do you want to create and for who? Is it a product, service or event/ activity? Ex. I want to make [what] for [who] because [why].
Share your progress. Get feedback on your product, service or event from others, especially your target audience. What do you need to change / improve / fix?
Showcase your body of work. How did you take what you learned from your research and apply it in a new way? How did you meet your goal? Record proof of people using your creation and collect feedback. What did they say?
Stage 6 - Reflect
Often we don't notice the value or impact we have when we're in the middle of it. Look back and reflect on your experience. Reflect on your project and the entire experience.
Summarize and evaluate your experience. Choose a medium that's meaningful to you: journal, collage, photobook, blog, vlog. What did you learn about yourself? How did this impact you personally? (Learned a new skill? Developed a new interest?) What worked well? What would you do differently? Why?
Add to your work. What else could be done to continue your work? How could your project be made bigger, better or reach more people?
Hand over ownership to the student. Allow students to choose how to start genius hour and how to pursue their genius, one step at a time.
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