{"id":180,"date":"2015-02-01T23:38:47","date_gmt":"2015-02-01T23:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cohort21.com\/jenbibby\/?p=180"},"modified":"2015-02-01T23:38:47","modified_gmt":"2015-02-01T23:38:47","slug":"genius-hour-update-countdown-to-pitch-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/jenniferkelly\/2015\/02\/01\/genius-hour-update-countdown-to-pitch-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Genius Hour update: Countdown to Pitch Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve had two classes devoted to Genius Hour so far (see my previous post<\/strong><\/a> for details on how I\u2019ve integrated Genius Hour into my course). There is a lot of buzz about this project, including students in other grades asking me about it! Without a doubt, one of the things students are excited about is the potential to replace their traditional final exam with a presentation and written reflection linked to their Genius Hour project. That motivational carrot aside, I think I\u2019m onto something with the project itself.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the things I am excited about:<\/p>\n

I LOVE the Genius Hour timeframe so far.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The space between our initial sessions has allowed students to sit back and really think about what they\u2019d like to take on as their project. Many of my students have approached me outside of class time to discuss a particular learning goal, and I can tell they are excited \/ motivated \/ grappling with their ideas.<\/p>\n

The initial student blog posts highlighting their interests.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For many students, this is the most careful attention to written work I\u2019ve seen all year. I enjoyed reading these posts as much as watching the videos my students made about themselves to send to their e-pals in France in September. They\u2019re all so unique and special!<\/p>\n

Here are some of the challenges I\u2019ve experienced so far:<\/p>\n

Balancing freedom with accountability.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"FebHow much structure should I provide for my students? So far, I\u2019ve had a formative check in during class to go over what they\u2019d been thinking about ahead of any formal goal setting. I\u2019ve commented on everyone\u2019s blog since then to give feedback or push students to complete a [SMART]<\/strong> goal setting activity that has them using specific language structures they\u2019ve learned in class.<\/p>\n

Students know what\u2019s expected of them for this week\u2019s Pitch Day<\/strong> (when they have 2 minutes to pitch their learning goal to the class and how they plan to achieve it for feedback), but will they be ready to present? How far should I go to make sure they are ready? Or is it a valuable lesson if they\u2019re not prepared and they see to which lengths their peers have already gone? Perhaps I just feel nervous because I\u2019ve invited our Head of Senior School and Instructional Leader (who both happen to speak French) to participate in our round table presentations and I\u2019ve never done this before!<\/p>\n

Making time to find my own inner genius.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I liked that Laura Sexton<\/strong><\/a> modeled Genius Hour to her students by setting her own learning goal to reach for. My students\u2019 final evaluation for the year will involve listening to a\u00a0reflection on my Genius Hour project, which is to learn how to do finger picking on the guitar and play one of my favourite songs. (Do you know how to say \u201cfinger picking\u201d in French? So far all I\u2019ve found is \u201cle finger-picking\u201d<\/em>). I\u2019m really excited to finally learn how to play the guitar! \u2026but first I need to focus on report cards. And check in on those student blogs. And put my kids to bed. Wow, this is going to be a challenge.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned for an upcoming post about how Pitch Day goes, and all the ideas my students have come up with!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve had two classes devoted to Genius Hour so far (see my previous post for details on how I\u2019ve integrated Genius Hour into my course). There is a lot of buzz about this project, including students in other grades asking me about it! Without a doubt, one of the things students are excited about is … Continue reading “Genius Hour update: Countdown to Pitch Day”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[63,56,62,61],"class_list":["post-180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blog","tag-genius-hour","tag-goal-setting","tag-motivation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/jenniferkelly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/jenniferkelly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/jenniferkelly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/jenniferkelly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/jenniferkelly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/jenniferkelly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/jenniferkelly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/jenniferkelly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/jenniferkelly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}