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I am so excited to announce that the book Denise Krebs and I wrote about Genius Hour is now available online! We have been working on this project of ours for years and it is finally out!

With the launch of our book, we have also put together a companion website: geniushourguide.org.
On it you will find many resources from the book, plus bonus articles and materials. Best of all, you’ll be able to engage with colleagues eager to support each other as we implement Genius Hour in our classrooms and schools. Read the welcome message for more information about the site.

This summer I taught an undergraduate course at Simon Fraser University: 

EDUC 394: Cross-Curricular Connections

Over the past few years I have really worked on planning with the big ideas in mind and thinking about the cross-curricular connections that I can make so I was excited to share some of my ideas, practices I have incorporated, and the theoretical backing for this type of teaching with my students (all of them are working toward a BC teaching certificate).

Some of the themes we touched on were:

• ​ePortfolios
• Blogging
• Year Plans
• Place Based Learning
• Non-Fiction Reading and Science/Social Studies
• Metacognition 
• Imaginative Education
• Inquiry
• Genius Hour
• Global Connections and Mystery Skype
• Assessment
• Meaningful Technology Integration

One of my favourite parts of the course was, of course, when we talked about Genius Hour!

Of course a major part of teaching Teacher-Candidates is modelling teaching while you are teaching, so what better way to learn about Genius Hour (and open-ended inquiry) then by actually doing Genius Hour, right? So that is exactly what we did! After a brief intro (much shorter than I would do with actual elementary students), we took the time to do our own Genius Hour inquiries and then shared our learning/debriefed the experience the following week. Some topics the Teacher Candidates investigated:

What is The Daily 5?
How does Roots of Empathy work and how can I teach empathy to my students?
How do I build a strong sense of community in my classroom?
How do you blog with a class that has very little technology?
How do I help build leadership capacity in my students?
What are the Zones of Regulation and how can I use them in my classroom?
How do you make a stop motion movie?
What is the difference between Faye Brownlie’s lit circles and the kind described by Harvey Daniels?
I wonder how the new curriculum will change the way teachers teach?
How do I set up a grade 1 classroom?
What does student-centred actually mean?
How is Reggio being used around the world?
How can we teach sustainability in our classrooms?
What are literature circles?
What do kids wonder (and what types of Genius Hour projects have they done?) –Lisa had a great discussion of this on hers!
How can I use different desk arrangement styles to help my students be engaged and focused in the classroom? (I am mostly focused on intermediate grades.)
How does Genius Hour work in K/1?
How do you facilitate conflict resolution between students?
How can I create a successful classroom community?
What do I do on the 1st day of school?
I wonder if schools will one day be paperless?
I wonder how to engage students who lack motivation?

Such great questions! So there you have it...Genius Hour: Not just for K-12. It works with Teacher Candidates too!  

I also think that as practicing teachers we should be taking a little time each week to look into our own teaching inquiries!  I loved doing my graduate diploma (a few years back) because it taught me a structured way to inquire into my practice. 

These days my knew personal Genius Hour questions are focused on becoming a better writer and learning more about Reggio.

How about you?  What is your question? What are you looking into these days?

Pro: 
Spending time with like-minded educators around the world. A while ago I blogged about how I love twitter because instead of just being able to collaborate with the teachers in my hallway, I was now able to collaborate with amazing teachers everywhere! The whole world became my hallway! Similarly, ISTE is like a face to face twitter feed! I am able to connect with all those same amazing teachers in person--we literally get into the same hallway finally! 
 
Con:
The hallway is super crowded!!! You have to become a professional person-dodger (new word: it works, right?) to make it from one end of the convention centre to the other!
 
Pro:
You find yourself nodding along with all of the presenters.  You have found your people.

Con:
But it is hard to find the time to chat with your people.  Most folks are in a rush because there is so much going on. How do we ensure more real conversations are happening? With the people you know...and maybe even with someone new!

Pro:
Choices! Choices! Choices!
I had dozens of workshops starred on the ISTE app (oh! there is another pro-the app). There were so many amazing workshops being offered and I wanted to go them all. I mean, when else do you get to attend workshops put on by inspiring educators from around the world?

​Con:
You go to the sessions. BUT...now what?  I need a now what component!  I know what the issues are...let's talk solutions.  Maybe we need to have a discussion area for people who want to continue 'nerding out' post-presentation and discuss.  I felt like a lot of what I heard at ISTE was preaching to the choir…and…I already believe! I am with you! Now let's talk about what we are going to do next...Please!