Genius Hour

We launched our first ever Genius Hour with a pep talk from Kid President.  (check out the link!)


He implores us to be awesome.  He asks us to get up and do something.  He quotes that excellent and well-known verse from Robert Frost.  The path less taken might be a little scary, and full of bramble, but it is the Awesome Path.  We should take it.

You may or may not have heard of a little company called Google.  Google is a place where thinkers are allowed to Be Awesome.  Google allows its engineers a specific amount of time to work on "pet projects".  They use this time to work on whatever creative dream that they want.  Both Gmail and Google News are projects that came from this pet project time.

Daniel Pink gets it.  In his book, Drive, he writes all about motivation.  His research has shown that the human brain functions best when it is allowed personalized inquiry time.  In short, when you allow a person to choose what they would like to learn, the result is astounding.

Genius Hour will take place in our classroom every Friday afternoon.  Our projects are varied and incredibly ambitious.  Johnny will complete a podcast about Malala, the brave Pakistani educational advocate.  Josie and Mia are going to demonstrate how volcanoes erupt.  Diego and Andrew are exploring those creepy yet cool creatures of the deep.  Ana and Skyler are creating a television show to demonstrate helpful ways to make friends in school.

As always, these young minds astound me.  Whether they are excited to explore space or launch a social justice group, they are choosing the path less taken.  They are choosing to Be Awesome.

The level of excitement blended with ultimate focus was at all-time highs last Friday afternoon.

Is it any wonder that we can't wait for Genius Hour this week?