Thursday, March 5, 2015

Now Announcing: Two Innovation Courses for 2015-16

Inspired by Don Wettrick's book Pure Genius and my J-Term Innovation Class, I sent a new course proposal to my principal that I wasn't sure would actually fly.  It's not that my principal is afraid to try new things, it's just that I pitch new ideas to her frequently. It is my job. I really didn't think this one would get past the proposal stage.

So, you  might say I was a bit surprised when I got an email last week asking for course descriptions for middle and high school technology courses.  And, yes, I was given permission to go outside the box this time around.

After writing my dream scenarios, we had to bring it back down to earth a bit.  She wanted to see some more structure, and I had to write up syllabi to go with the courses.  What we ended up with might not be Genius Hour in its purest form, but I'm happy with the results for the first year.

This is going to put me completely out of my comfort zone.  For one, I am an elementary teacher with some middle school experience. I am not a high school teacher, but I'll be guiding high school students through some rigorous learning experiences.  I also realize that I'll be asked to do a lot of personal interactions with students (I'm so much better with digital interaction) and will have to have passable knowledge on many topics.  So, you might say that I'm on my own Genius Hour experience.

Overall, I'm thrilled to have this chance to bring innovation to our school and give students the chance to show off what they can do.

Right now, I have the bare skeleton of what the courses will look like, but I will post more as I develop them down the road.

Feel free to borrow from the following documents and ask me if you have questions.
Proposal
Class Descriptions
Middle School Innovation Class Schedule
Middle School Innovation Class Syllabus
High School Innovation Class Syllabus

59 comments:

  1. Looks great Craig! One item that I would like to see more information on his the grading rubric. Is this something that is different for each student? Or is it the same for each student?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great question, Scott. I'm still working on a lot of the particulars. I'm envisioning a teacher-created rubric for the middle school course, and a team effort for high school. I'd like to have an individualized rubric for high school, but I'm trying to think about all the logistics (ie How on earth do I enter things on RenWeb so parents understand what I'm doing?). Do you have suggestions?

      Delete
    2. Scott. Thanks for asking. I put this together right before Spring Break. What do you think?

      https://sites.google.com/site/mvcainnovation/rubrics

      Delete
  2. Craig-GOOD FOR YOU! That is such an amazing, yet probably a little terrifying journey! I can't wait to see how the year goes, your successes and 'failures', and some of the students' projects. My 6th graders and I are starting a mini Genius Hour session tomorrow and we will do it every Thursday for an hour. Thank you for posting your schedules, syllabi, etc. Seeing the breakdown of percentages/categories was great-I think it's spot on! Best of luck to you on this new journey!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Emily! I thought I replied last night, but I see I didn't. Odd. You nailed it. I can't wait, but I'm nervous all the same. Do well on your Genius Hour with 6th grade and let me know how it goes. I came *this close* to doing GH with my 6th grade computer class, but it'll be hard with seeing them only 50 minutes a week.

      Delete
  3. Hi, Craig! You have a lot of great resources here. Thanks for sharing! I particularly like how you are using iBooks to get your students to reflect on their learning journey. Very cool!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Elizabeth! I'm hoping that by charting my journey, I can other teachers make this leap. Do you use Genius Hour?

      Delete
    2. Hello. Yes, I do use Genius Hour. I launched this idea at the beginning of the year, and I have seen a lot of success with it. I am excited to tweak things and start fresh with it next year.

      Delete
    3. Great! I'd love to see what your students are creating. Please share along the way! Do you have a blog I can follow?

      Delete
    4. Sure do! It's lambertclass.blogspot.com. It's still fairly new.

      Delete
    5. Got it on my Feedly feed now. Can't wait to see what happens down the road! Thanks for sharing!

      Delete
  4. As a middle school teacher, I too am struggling with the part of how students are going to "share their ideas with the world". They are still young and impressionable and do not have a lot of access (at least not in our district) to websites like twitter and facebook. Maybe using kidblog or something similar to share. I'll do my own genius hour (teacher version) and innovate a way to make this happen. Thanks for sharing your ideas!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Absolutely, Brandy! I find that most middle schoolers are already on social media -- Twitter, Instagram, and probably others. I just have a hard time making it a school requirement. A classroom Twitter account is an alternative, but I still would like to see their fingers on the account. Blogging, on the other hand, I have no problem with making them blog. I could be wrong, but I think KidBlog has tightened security where you're only sharing within your class. Let me know what your research says. I'd love to hear it!

      Delete
  5. Wow, Craig, you're so lucky that your principal let you take on this challenge! In a way, this class is your own personal Innovation-style project.
    As you are guiding your students, you can be showing them how you are following many of the same steps as they will be in their projects. You can share your proposal to your principal, this blog, and examples of the research you did, and experts you consulted as a model for your students as they are developing their own projects.
    In a way you are both the teacher and the student in your own class. I look forward to reading about, and learning from how things go in your classroom.
    Good luck to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That really is an excellent idea! I have developed a web site as a reference for my students. I think I'll make a section all about my "Innovation Project" I am in the middle of. That will show that learning is truly a life-long event. Thanks for the tip!

      https://sites.google.com/site/mvcainnovation/

      Delete
  6. You are very lucky, Craig, to have such support in your district and building for your “out of the box” ideas, AND getting to use social media with the students as a learning tool. Thank you for sharing your syllabi and schedule…both are great resources. Hopefully next year I can fit my own version of genius hour into my 7th grade science class and still get through all the required curriculum! Best of luck on your new adventure…look forward to reading how things progress!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Cyle. I think the number one most important thing is to get administrative support on a project like this. Remember there is no Genius Hour Police, no rules on how you HAVE to do it. Put as much structure into it as you want to put into it. I've also found that the content of the project isn't as important as the learning processes involved in the project. Please share your story as you go along. Do you have a blog I can follow so I can read about your adventures?

      Delete
  7. Craig, I really appreciate all of the information you have provided! It has really gotten me to think about how to implement this in my own school. I too struggle with the idea of letting middle school students share with the world. I will be trying to make this work in a math classroom. I have been thinking about starting with a guided project, like having the kids research the question "When am I ever going to use this?" I am also working with my team teachers to approach the genius hour as a team and sharing the work load. Your resources have really given me some good ideas. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow! I LOVE that question! Why not throw the elephant in the room right back at them?!? Love it! Now...what do you do after that? I don't know, but you could have them look at various math professions, STEM applications, math in their world, etc. I would think that math would be the hardest subject area of study to use GH with, but you've got me thinking some great ideas! Don't be afraid to give them some guidance and structure as you start this. I would love to read more of your adventures. Do you have a blog I can follow?

      Delete
  8. Craig: I think it's really great you are stepping "outside your comfort zone" and reaching out to high school students. I'm betting they will be incredibly receptive to this new idea. It's always exciting to see how students respond to something innovative. I think every teacher that begins a Genius Hour in their classroom is stepping outside their comfort zone. Most of us are not used to "letting go" with our assignments and letting students take the lead, but you have to with this. The more I read (and hear) about it, the more excited I get!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Janice, have you attempted GH yet with your students? It truly is exciting to see what they create. I recently talked with a former student who couldn't stop raving over the projects he did while he was in my class a couple years ago. They love the chance to explore topics THEY want to explore.

      Delete
  9. Craig: I commend you for working so hard to make something you believe in come true. I liked the proposal and the class descriptions. I think it will be a success. It will be a little messy and disorganized when you first start but that is ok. The students will quickly buy in and it will work out. Students need time to innovate and learn on their own. We need more teachers willing to put the effort forward to try this out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Michael. I'm really excited and can't wait to see what comes of this! I'm used to messy, actually happy with it. Thanks for following the adventures. Do you use GH?

      Delete
  10. I think it's great that you "get" the concept of intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation, I wish more of my teachers had! I am also impressed that you are trying to grade student work qualitatively as well as quantitatively. You will certainly grow as you take chances like this, and you will become increasingly confident as you embrace taking good risks like this one. Good for you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Mark. I hope I get the concept in reality not just theory. I can just see myself saying, "This is really going to hurt your grade." Ugh! I should work that out of my system now. How do you use GH in your class?

      Delete
  11. What I like most about your blog is how you address EXACTLY the same questions and concerns that I would have in implementing this with my 5th graders. It's hard for me to see what a 10-year-old's "passion" is outside of Minecraft and WWE! I'm oversimplifying, but you know what I mean. Obviously they'd need more guidance and structure than a high schooler--the whole "service" oriented theme is necessary. I like how you broke down the grade into smaller percentages, and the timetable seems to lend itself perfectly to a summer school class--3 weeks, intrinsic motivation, Common Core standards!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Peter. I appreciate the feedback. You can do a lot with MineCraft. Have them build a famous landmark/building and include a commentary about the actual building. Build an amusement park. Lots of good stuff! Do you blog? I would love to hear more about your adventures.

      Delete
  12. Great work Craig. I appreciate how hard you are working on this topic.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Craig, I think it's awesome that you are blogging about your work as a teacher and even your interactions with your principal. I used to blog a lot and it's so difficult to say things the right way so people are not offended or misread your intentions, but I think more teachers need to be out doing that. We need to be making education better and offering better ways to teach so that everyone benefits. I think it's really smart that you are teaching online professionalism, courtesy, and copyright! That's huge for our students. I also think students will like TED talks more than some adults would expect. Everyone likes to be inspired. Way to go on doing just that!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Bolton. I have a very good relationship with my principal and she has given me a lot of leeway to research and implement new technologies and ideas. Blogging has become such an important part of my teaching. I've learned much about technology in the classroom from others and want to spread my knowledge in turn. Thanks for reading.

      Delete
  14. Craig, you are right, this is a daunting task, but I admire your drive for wanting to do this. I love how you said the kids "need" this and that every kid brings a GPA and ACT/SAT score to their college application, but this gives them something that rises above these numbers. That is awesome! As for when the project is complete, I'm sure you'll incorporate their self-reflections as part of the rubric, and are you allowing them to negotiate for their grade once the point totals are in? I love the idea of students arguing (respectfully of course) for a higher grade because of their passion towards their project. Excellent proposal and project. Thanks for pushing towards innovation with our youth and sharing it with others! Good luck to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Colleen, it looks like you've been reading Don Wettrick too. The negotiation phase is something I'm still debating. Maybe after they've had a few projects under their belt. We'll see. I think the key to success on this project is letting the students see that I'm growing and learning alongside of them. Thanks for reading. Do you do GH? Do you have a blog I can follow? Thanks!

      Delete
  15. Thanks for sharing all of this information, Craig. I especially liked it when you talked about students asking "Will I need this in the real world?" The opportunities you will be giving the students will be authentic because they will be choosing what they work on for their projects. I also liked how you mentioned about students having a "positive digital presence" when using Twitter and other social media when talking with professionals. As a middle school teacher, I appreciate the fact that you want your students to share their projects with others and be accountable. These are all skills we want our students to leave school with so they can function in the work place and in life. Keep up the great work, Craig. Good Luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Tracy. I'm really excited to put Genius Hour on steroids! I can't wait to see what they can create and maybe, just maybe, we can help change the way education is done in America. Are you involved in Genius Hour?

      Delete
  16. I am new to Genius Hour this year. I don't do it in my room (yet), but I have worked with a teacher who does it in her Reading classes. I know most of the students enjoy the time to follow their passions during the school day. It is fun to look forward to seeing what they have accomplished!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At least you get to see it in action with a colleague. You get to learn from others' bumps and bruises. Will you give it a whirl next year? I'd love to hear about the adventures!

      Delete
    2. I will see what next year brings! I will continue to read teachers' blogs about their success and failures with Genius Hour to get a better idea of how it could work in my library.

      Delete
  17. Craig, its great to see you taking a risk and trying Genius Hour with you classes! Whenever I see other teachers taking risks like that, it encourages me to try new things with my classes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Chrissy. I'm excited to be taking on these courses. I've done GH before, but these classes will put GH on steriods. 100% time, not just 20%. I can't wait to see what these students produce. Are you using GH in your class?

      Delete
  18. This is amazing! How exciting that your school is giving you the opportunity to teach students about innovation. As an elementary teacher, I would be interested in hearing how you would adapt the middle school class for intermediate students.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Ashley! I'm pretty excited about this as well. My only GH experience to date is with middle school students. However, the more I research and read about GH, I see that the younger the students, the more structure you need to add. I would probably start with a lot of brainstorming but keep it within the topic of a current unit of study. The content would be teacher/curriculum directed but the mode of presentation could be student directed. I'd love to hear how you would use GH in your class!

      Delete
  19. Craig: I like your innovative ideas and ways of teaching. Your detailed plans will allow other educators to teach students about innovation. I can tell that you are not the kind of teacher that Don Wettrick described in his book about teaching the same thing for 20 years. :) We all know that we have had those kinds of educators.

    I am fortunate enough to have a 1:1 ipad classroom and had heard about 20% Time and Genius Hour through social media and our ipad collaboration day. I knew I could find one hour a week to allow my students to research their passion. We have "dabbled" for about a month and then last week I had read Mr. Wettrick's book. We are even more excited for "Fun Friday" each week.

    I am a 4th grade teacher and you had mentioned that with elementary students there most likely wouldn't be tweeting, blogging, or YouTube videos for sharing the project process and final projects. I have a class twitter account that I use to share info. with parents and tweet "cool happenings" in the classroom. I also have my students use kidblog to blog. I understand that they most likely won't get that "expert" audience reading their blogs (it will be other students and maybe teachers), but their ideas and findings are being heard in kidblog. As far as video, our school has parents sign a release form at the beginning of each school year. I have a class YouTube channel, so I thought when the time came for students to share their work with an audience, we would post any videos to our class channel. I also thought if the blogging thing didn't work out, I could have my students journal their research findings, ideas, brainstorms, etc. in the Book Creator app, just to have a place to reflect. At the end of their project they would have a book of their entire Genius Hour project process. Do you think I am on the right track for implementing Genius Hour into my 4th grade classroom.

    PS: My students have high hopes we will be doing Google Hangouts with Ellen (I have a student who wants to be a talk show host), the Kansas City Royals will have new uniforms next season, Disney channel will be starring new actors straight out of Bellevue Public Schools, and little girls everywhere will be buying “Genius Hour” doll clothes from Target. Although, most of these examples are unlikely, it sure has been fun watching the excitement as my students are given the opportunity to explore their passion and develop important life skills along the way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisa, it sounds to me like you have great ideas and have a foot in this crazy GH world already. Mind you, my only personal experience with GH is in middle school, so I can't speak with any authority on 4th grade. (I did teach 4th grade for 2 years in New Jersey back in the day when I was that teach the same thing for 20 years teacher. GH didn't exist then.)

      I think you're right. Your students won't get the individual global audience we want them to have, but it looks like you'll be getting their work out there. The important thing is that you are awakening them to creativity in the classroom. Too much of education these days is about standards and testing. We need teachers like you who will keep that creative channel open.

      I have no experience with Book Creator (though I want to) but I found found that a shared Google Doc or OneNote folder is a great way for students to reflect. It's not as public as a blog, but it's a great 2-way communication between student and teacher.

      Any other questions, let them rip. Keep me in the loop as you get rolling. I'd love to see your kids hanging out with Ellen! :)

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the encouraging words. Also, thanks for the two person tweet chat this morning. Oops, I think I forgot hashtags in our chat. HA! I will be checking out some of your other blogs. I'll give you a shout out when we make to the Ellen show.

      Delete
    3. Wonderful! Loved the chat! Can't wait to be mentioned ON Ellen. :)

      Delete
  20. Thank you so much for sharing these resources. I have bookmarked them as valuable resources as I embark on my own Genius Hour project this summer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great! Thanks for reading and sharing. I'd love to hear more about your GH projects.

      Delete
    2. Great! Thanks for reading and sharing. I'd love to hear more about your GH projects.

      Delete
  21. Students in schools that allow the addition of elective courses without a lot of complicated proposals are lucky indeed. In our district teachers of middle school and high school students are learning about Genius Hour but will have to incorporate it within their existing classes of English, math, social studies, science, foreign languages, and perhaps a few existing elective classes. That is what I am trying to do in order to learn ways of incorporating Genius Hour into a full Reading/Language Arts curriculum in junior and senior English classes. I have had a classroom set of iPads in my room since October, and I have found students do not understand being in charge of their own learning. Many want to be like little birds--opening their mouths and letting someone drop the "food" (what they are to learn) in. I hope your new classes go well and that you have some students getting outside their comfort zones to take advantage of this type of class to learn something they really want to find out about.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Kathy for your encouraging words. I'm excited that you get to give GH a whirl next year, even if it's with some restraints. I think administrators like the idea of GH but feel too tied to standards and tests to allow us to go full bore with it. The trick is to find a way to teach the way you want within the restraints. Think of some broad open questions that relate to your unit and run with it. And remember, there is a ton of writing in GH, which helps continue to nail your ELA standards.

      As for the students, I got nothing. I think it's hard to go from a life where everything is handed to you and go cold turkey into what we are doing with them. Think about it...they go from "do this to get your A" to "what do you want to study? what should the final product look like?" They must think we've flipped our lids.

      Good luck! Let me know how things go.

      Delete
  22. Craig, I think you're on to something that works, here. What I liked the most was the amount of "structure within the freedom" that is included in your proposal. All of us elementary teachers want to create free-thinking independent learners, but our kids must have a structure to thrive in. I think that the kind of gradual release that your proposal lends itself to will be successful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Bob. It comes from some experience and a lot of reading. With that said, I think the younger you go, you need more and more structure built into the Genius Hour model. I'd be interested in seeing how you implement this into your elementary class.

      Delete
  23. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hi Craig. Considering a cycle course at our MS called Passion Projects. Thinking that you may want to consider a process such as IDEO's Design process to scaffold things a bit more or students but still leaving it in their hands. For example, if a student wants to create something for other students, then they may want to create a survey to collect student input. This is not only the empathy part of the process but also research. A GREAT book you may want to read is Warren Berger's A More Beautiful Question.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Funny you should say that. Read it back in the fall. http://craigsworld37.blogspot.com/2014/11/book-review-more-beautiful-question.html An excellent book that nails inquiry based learning well. I used that book when talking about Genius Hour at OETC earlier this year. I may need to go back and skim it though. It's easy to forget some important parts of books, especially when you've read a lot on a similar topic.

      The hardest thing right now is the not knowing. Not knowing the projects these students will select makes predicting how to steer them virtually impossible. But, I like your thinking. The weekly conferences will be a great way for me to sit with students and work through the how-to issues with them. Thanks for the input.

      Tell me about your Passion Projects course.

      Delete
  25. This all is really great! Thanks for sharing. I'm a first year teacher, teaching special education and this year I'm co-teaching 11th grade English and teaching two modified English classes. I'm all about finding new, innovative lessons/projects to get my students ready to learn and passionate about what they are learning. I'm interested in incorporating Genius Hour in my Resource and English classes! What I think is great about Genius Hour and you talked about this in your proposal briefly, is the idea that what we learn we can apply to our communities. That we can serve our communities by what we are learning and experiencing in the classroom. That's what I want most of my students; is that they can apply what they learn in class to what is happening in their life and around them. Real-life application is so important and especially at the high school level, finding true meaning in learning and how it applies to our lives is huge. Thanks for the resources! Best of luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm excited for you! Especially as a first year teacher, it's easy to just keep your head afloat much less attempt something new and highly innovative. I'd love to hear more about your Genius Hour journey as it progresses. Are you doing any blogging about it?

      Delete