Are you a Genius? Do you consider yourself to be smart? The vast majority of kindergarteners answer both of these questions with a resounding, “YES!” Sadly, as children get older, fewer and fewer of them identify themselves as smart or a genius. Only people such as Albert Einstein are viewed as genius in society, and as children become more aware of social norms, they become more critical of themselves.
Therefore, we must provide outlets for our children to celebrate that everyone has gifts, talents, expertise, passions, and everyone is a genius at something! At Trivium, Genius Hour is that time where students are able to explore their passions and interests. They are given the opportunity to grow as individuals while applying skills like researching, collaborating, creating, presenting, and the list goes on and on. Some students can be seen sprawled out on the floor in hallways crocheting, drawing, making a poster, or conducting an experiment. Others students are huddled around a laptop doing research on topics they are interested in, visiting the librarian to find a book that answers a driving question, or filming stop motion animation films which are student created.
Genius Hour should look differently for each student because it is individualized. Passion based learning looks like engaged students chasing their questions and teachers cheering for them on the sidelines, and sometimes stepping in to coach. The beauty of it is that students learn to take risks, pursue passions, embrace failure, and create something that is all about them. Genius Hour wasn’t invented by Trivium, I wish it was. It is a model adopted by teachers from companies that started allowing their employees to have time each week to work on choice projects. The result was two-fold with happy employees who felt a sense of value and ideas that helped their companies grow. The same results can be seen in our school.
This year, we are using Angela Maiers’s new book, Genius Matters, to launch the first 20 days of Genius Hour. It’s helping train the students and set them up for success in Genius Hour all year long. Lessons include: setting up Genius Hour Notebooks, Defining: Genius, Exploring Passions, Solving Problems, Taking Risks, Effective Collaboration, Documenting Findings, Sharing our Genius, and more! We can’t wait to see the creativity bloom this year with our Knights.
