A way to help engage students for problem and project based-learning is to institute a “Genius Hour” Model. Genius Hour is where workers/students are allotted 20% of their work time to spend pursuing their own independent projects (Juliani, 2015). To briefly describe, the theory behind Genius Hour is that workers/students will spend 20% of their time and with that time, they will be able to pursue their own talents, interests, foster 21st century working skills, and civic responsibility. When I initially investigated about Genius Hour, I belonged to “That sounds great but…”. I love the idea of student-led projects and students pursuing their own academic interests in Social Studies! However, I could also imagine administration walking through my classroom and demanding that I justify why students have an entire period a week for independent work. Will I look like a lazy teacher who wants to have a relaxing Friday? Even worse, I can imagine some of my more reluctant learners taking the Genius Hour as an opportunity to catch-up on socializing and resting. I frequently work with work-avoidance students and even a seemingly simple assignment of reading one paragraph with questions is a daunting task for some of those students. There are empirical benefits and practical uses of project-based learning in Social Studies and incorporating Genius Hour can be apart of that. So how can I implement Genius Hour for my students needs and meet Humanities curricular demands?
My first idea of how to modify Genius Hour for reluctant learners and students with learning disabilities was to provide structure in scaffolding. However, while researching how to implement Genius Hour practically, the crucial aspect is to not over scaffold. One educator’s instinct was similar to mine and ultimately found that they scaffolded the wrong areas which resulted in limited student freedom and creativity for their projects (Spencer, 2017). They found that ultimately, student ownership is essential for the empowerment that Genius Hour provides. Spencer and Juliani, two proponents of Genius Hour in K-12 classrooms, created an acronym to help scaffold and understand the project for students. The acronym is
To prevent over-scaffolding yet supporting student needs, the sections for Look, Listen, and Learn, Navigate Ideas, and Highlight and Fix provide opportunities to ensure students are being met. During the Look, Listen, and Learn, as teachers, we must ensure that students are the one who are developing their own questions and pursuing their own curiosities (Spencer, 2017). At this stage, however, providing providing open-ended and guiding questions can help students identify a specific interest. Navigating ideas is another section of that requires support of the students by the students. Spencer suggests student led groups for sharing their ideas, evaluating them, selecting them. Additionally, this is the step that requires students plan out the project for tasks and deadlines. Some students will need more specific teacher guidance, especially with students who already struggle with organization and task prioritization. The final step, Highlight and Fix receive feedback themselves, students, and teachers on their project. Students will apply the revisions as needed and prepare to launch the project. A crucial part to students projects is that they must know that ultimately, it will have flaws and feedback is a vital component to continuously improve and reflect.
When one hears ‘innovation’, frequently they will imagine it to happen in STEM. Innovation is a key aspect of the Genius Hour and people will frequently associate Genius Hour with STEM projects. Humanities classes will thrive within the Genius Hour model to pursue To fit the purpose of Social Studies education preparing children for their rights and responsibilities as active and engaged citizens, having inquiry-problem based units will aid students more than traditional education (Misco, 2014). In a 4th grade Social Studies classroom, students researched and created an anti-bully campaign in their classroom (Vaughn & Obenchain, 2015). The students saw the issue of bullying in their schools and wanted to work to help solve their problem. Students were able to specialize in certain aspects more geared toward their interests, such physical bullying or emotional bullying. This is a Social Action problem-based project that could be easily worked into nearly any humanities classroom with a Genius Hour. If students want to pursue a more technological project during their Genius Hour, there is also Digital History projects. Digital History Projects have been implemented by colleges, universities, and grade schools around the United States and give an excellent opportunity for students to make a positive change in their community and be apart of the Genius Hour (Lee & Molebash, 2004). Students are able to pick their own topics and way of presenting their project digitally. Students could make an online archive, make a teaching resource, make a phone app, and more (Digital History Project Review Guidelines). As studied throughout Critical Inquiry, there are often certain aspects of history that are sanitized or entirely forgotten. Here is a listen of great examples of Digital History Projects, ranging from Atlantic Slave Trade Database to identifying Social and Cultural changes in Central Europe. Students can research and create their own history project to reflect their own problems, community, and interests. Moreover, regardless of the topic, all these examples of projects have tangible and living products that can be shared and improve aspects of their community. These are just a few of the ways that Social Studies and Humanities topics can incorporate Genius Hour models.
With these adaptations and considerations in mind, any humanities classroom can give students the opportunity to participate in Genius Hour. Students, teachers, and schools will benefit from implementing opportunities to independently research, pitch their own ideas, innovate and create projects, and take ownership of their learning. Opportunities like this will prepare students for their future education, careers, and civic opportunities to the dynamic world we are apart of.
References
Digital History Project Review Guidelines Retrieved from https://ncph.org/publications-resources/publications/the-public-historian/guidelines/digital-history-project-review-guidelines/
Juliani, A. (2015). Inquiry and innovation in the classroom. New York: Taylor & Francis.
Lee, J., & Molebash, P. (2004). Using Digital History for Positive Change in Social Studies Education. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 20(4), 153–157. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ876867.pdf
Misco, T. (2014). Powerful Social Studies Unit Design: A Companion to Powerful Social Studies Teaching and Learning. Clearing House, 87(6), 241. https://doi-org.ecsu.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/00098655.2014.938598
Simos, E. (2015). Genius Hour: Critical Inquiry and Differentiation. English Leadership Quarterly, 38(1), 2–4. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ecsu.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=113475532&site=ehost-live
Spencer, J. (2017). The Genius of Design. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar17/vol74/num06/The-Genius-of-Design.aspx
Vaughn, E., & Obenchain, K. (2015). Fourth Graders Confront an Injustice: The Anti-Bullying Campaign--A Social Action Inquiry Project. Social Studies, 106(1), 13–23. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ecsu.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1044716&site=ehost-live