I am giving my Year 4 students the opportunity to have their own Genius Hour this term.
One hour a week to pursue a passion of theirs, based around a question – something they’d like to find out. Today, I asked them to complete a short quiz on Edmodo as a formative assessment on their Genius Hour journey. What they’ve decided to focus on, what their plans are, what they’ve done so far and what should come next. It gives me an idea of who might need some extra guidance, or resources, or some encouragement that it’s ok to get it wrong the first time, As I sat at my computer tonight reading some of their quiz answers, I came across this…which was too good to ignore:
It really made me wonder how far our students would be willing to go if we didn’t stand in their way and stop them. If we didn’t bombard them with rules, guidelines and curriculum necessities. If we didn’t breathe down their necks saying, “No, we don’t have time for that because you have to get that narrative published before lunchtime”.
Seriously, one of my students has told me that he has made half the universe. He’s only partly joking, as his Genius Hour project is an investigation of the solar system, but he is thinking big picture! He knows that things like this are possible! I’ve got other students who have decided to create their own blog, one is writing her own recipe book and another is trying to see if he can power a lightbulb using a potato.
Technology is evident in all we do and one day, it may even see some of our students making half (or more!) of the universe.
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