GENIUS HOUR

What is "Genius Hour"?

• Genius Hour is time set aside during the school week for you to work on a project of YOUR interest.
• It is an individual project, only for you.
• When the project is completed, you will share it with a larger audience.

So, what do i have to do?

• Brainstorm project ideas/Choose a project.
• "Sell" your project idea with an action plan to the "Shark Tank." (Say what?)
• Conduct research about project topic.
• Write about your project in a journal/blog/video.
• Fail! (Excuse me?)
• Create an amazing way to showcase your project.
• Present your learning to an audience.

Brainstorming

• You need to really work at this part in order to choose a topic that you truly want to learn about.
• Choosing a topic that you are not entirely interested in will defeat the purpose of this project for you.

"Sell YOur Idea to The "Shark Tank"

• Once you have chosen your project, you will create a big guiding question for your project, an action plan and sell your idea to the "Shark Tank," which is your classmates.
• The "Sharks" will listen to your plan, offering comments, giving suggestions, or asking questions.
• Once you get through the "school of sharks," you can begin the next stage.

Possible Ways to COnduct Research

• Read about your topic (online articles, books, blogs, magazines, newspaper, etc.)
• Watch videos about your topic.
• Interview or talk with people knowledgeable about your topic.

Write YOur Reflections about Your Project

• Throughout this project you will write in a journal/blog about your learning experiences.

FAIL!

• The greatest accomplishments, inventions, and innovations in human history would never have been without continuous failure.
• Failure creates success! When we fail or run into snags in your project, smile about it, and press on.
• You will post your "failures" to our EPIC FAIL board in the classroom.
• You will also write about these instances in your journal/blog.

Show WHat YOu Have Learned

• Once all of your research has been completed, you will choose a way to present your learning.
• There hundreds of ways to do this, but you should find the way that works best for your project.
• Examples might include making an instructional video, designing a comic strip, creating a Powtoon, write a play, create a pamphlet or poster.

Show your stuff to an Audience

• The final act of your project is to present your learning to a larger audience.
• This presentation will be yours and yours alone.
• It should be between 5-10 minutes in length, but it could be longer if necessary.
• During this presentation you will discuss your experiences during this Genius Hour Project and the things you learned along the journey.