In general, I like the concept of Genius Hour. I personally struggled with this assignment for the same reasons that I'm sure my students would struggle: a general lack of motivation. Part of this is because we were not given class time to work on it, so I think I was putting it off for a little bit when I should have been working on it through the months. But also, the topic that I chose was so incredibly interesting to me that I set out to do too much and then was unable to accomplish what I wanted within the limited time frame. Originally, I wanted to look into the history of coffee, the way coffee farms are run, how coffee is roasted, the different methods of roasting, etc. But I ended up shrinking it drastically.
Even so, I can see how a project like this can fulfill a variety of my standards, especially as an English teacher. In this project, I used research skills, reading skills, and writing skills. If I were verbally presenting the information (such as doing a video essay or something like that) I'd have also hit the oral communication standards. And, in some ways, I hit oral communication standards by interviewing Scott from NoCo Coffee. I also had a blast meeting with Scott and getting hands-on with the coffee, which follows Lifelong Kindergarten's concept of Play. I really did learn a lot about coffee during my two hours there because I was helping him operate the roaster and drinking the coffee and all of that. Additionally, during my work training I learned a lot with my Peers as we discussed proper pour-over technique. We also all asked different questions and approached the content differently, which added to all of our learning. In general, I wish I had chosen more of a hands-on Project instead of mostly research. I wanted to add an element of experimentation, but ultimately I didn't have the resources to do it as well as I wanted, so I chose to not do it. Research projects have never been super interesting to me, which I should have thought about before choosing this topic. Although, since it was a product I was Passionate about, it kept me going to keep doing that research.
If I were to assign this to my students, I might add on one or two requirements, which I know kind of goes against the idea of Genius Hour. But just to make sure it aligns to the academic standards, I would require some type of formal writing to be turned in, even if it's just a project proposal. Additionally, I would probably require a short oral presentation about the project, even if it's just to small groups.
The primary standard I would align this project with would be Standard 4. Research Inquiry and Design: "1. Synthesize multiple, authoritative literary and/or informational sources to answer questions or solve problems, producing well-organized and developed research projects that defend information, conclusions, and solutions."
I would also spend some time discussing what authoritative sources are and help them learn to problem solve. The standard is for 11/12 grade, so they will hopefully have some practice doing a project like this.
In general, I enjoyed this project. I can definitely see the benefits of implementing this in the classroom because it can frustrate the students and therefore teach them how to handle that frustration. Additionally, it teaches self-management and self-motivation, which I think students often don't receive in a traditionally structured classroom.
Even so, I can see how a project like this can fulfill a variety of my standards, especially as an English teacher. In this project, I used research skills, reading skills, and writing skills. If I were verbally presenting the information (such as doing a video essay or something like that) I'd have also hit the oral communication standards. And, in some ways, I hit oral communication standards by interviewing Scott from NoCo Coffee. I also had a blast meeting with Scott and getting hands-on with the coffee, which follows Lifelong Kindergarten's concept of Play. I really did learn a lot about coffee during my two hours there because I was helping him operate the roaster and drinking the coffee and all of that. Additionally, during my work training I learned a lot with my Peers as we discussed proper pour-over technique. We also all asked different questions and approached the content differently, which added to all of our learning. In general, I wish I had chosen more of a hands-on Project instead of mostly research. I wanted to add an element of experimentation, but ultimately I didn't have the resources to do it as well as I wanted, so I chose to not do it. Research projects have never been super interesting to me, which I should have thought about before choosing this topic. Although, since it was a product I was Passionate about, it kept me going to keep doing that research.
If I were to assign this to my students, I might add on one or two requirements, which I know kind of goes against the idea of Genius Hour. But just to make sure it aligns to the academic standards, I would require some type of formal writing to be turned in, even if it's just a project proposal. Additionally, I would probably require a short oral presentation about the project, even if it's just to small groups.
The primary standard I would align this project with would be Standard 4. Research Inquiry and Design: "1. Synthesize multiple, authoritative literary and/or informational sources to answer questions or solve problems, producing well-organized and developed research projects that defend information, conclusions, and solutions."
I would also spend some time discussing what authoritative sources are and help them learn to problem solve. The standard is for 11/12 grade, so they will hopefully have some practice doing a project like this.
In general, I enjoyed this project. I can definitely see the benefits of implementing this in the classroom because it can frustrate the students and therefore teach them how to handle that frustration. Additionally, it teaches self-management and self-motivation, which I think students often don't receive in a traditionally structured classroom.
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