Reflections from Westcast 2014

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Westcast 2014 Conference in Winnipeg, MB. Westcast provides pre-service teachers like me with a great sharing and learning opportunity. It gives us the experience of presenting and attending other students' sessions, and allows us to make connections and share ideas with future teachers from Universities all over western Canada. 

A session that really excited me was, "Inquiry-Based Learning Through Genius Hour," presented by Sean Giesbrecht and Clara Haimes-Kusumoto. Genius Hour, is basically an hour a week or day (whatever works best in your classroom), where students are given the opportunity to research and learn about something that is of interest to them. They may cover numerous topics throughout the school year of which they become a "Genius" at, and they share their findings with their class (in whatever way they choose) at the end of each topic.

Genius Hour follows the principles of Daniel Pinks book on Motivation, "Drive." That is, it gives students opportunities for:

1. Purpose: Students may work to solve a problem, reach a goal or uncover interests
2. Autonomy: Students are given choice and power over their learning
3. Mastery: Students are given the time, resources, and skills to become a "Genius" of their chosen topic

Here's How it Works:

When introducing Genius Hour into your classroom, you might have your students brainstorm the meaning of the words, "Genius," and "Hour." For example, in this session we thought of  innovative master, knowledgeable, abstract and creative for Genius, and a block of time or 60 minutes for hour. You may also introduce Genius Hour with a Kid President video.

The format of Genius Hour is simple. The teacher is setting up a block of time for students to follow these 3 steps:

1. Research
2. Prepare
3. Present

Included in these 3 steps, are: 

1. Think Time:

• Differentiate between thin vs. thick questions
• Talk about how to create essential questions
• Teach inquiry skills 

2. Work Time and Research:

• Teach research skills
• Provide lab time
• Show students how to get involved in the community to find answers to their questions and encourage them to do so.

3. Assessment:

• Formative (Conferencing) and Summative (Check-list of criteria agreed upon in class) Assessment
• Peer/Self Assessment
• Exit Slips

4. Celebration:

• Gallery Walk
• Question and Answer Period, Star and a Wish
• PowerPoint, Prezi, Student Choice
• Full Participation

 I love the idea of implementing Genius Hour into the classroom. I think it would be super engaging for all students and would help create a great classroom learning community. If you are interested in starting Genius Hour in your classroom, here are some websites the presenters left us with:

www.artjunktion.com

www.geniushourinquiry.weebly.com

www.geniushour.com

~Miss A