Month: July 2016

I decided to end off the year with students working on Genius Hour projects. The plan was originally to start working on our Genius Hour projects after the Christmas holidays, but with so many other things on the go, we ended up starting our projects in mid-May. My reason to wait until later on in the year was that I wanted students to have some experience with how to develop effective questions, locate information effectively and synthesize information. These are skills that I started working on by using a gradual release of responsibility through various inquiry studies, and they helped my students when it came to working on their Genius Hour projects. To help me to prepare I read: Inquiry and Innovation in the Classroom: Using 20% Time, Genius Hour, and PBL to Drive Student Success by A.J. Juliani. I also checked out the Genius Hour Wiki, which contains a lot of resources that are very useful for teachers.

Introducing Genius Hour to Students

I introduced Genius Hour projects using a variety of texts that I read to the students to inspire them.  One of these books was On A Beam of Light by Katherine Berne.  I also shared some of my own Genius Hour projects, looked into other students projects and watched some videos to inspire us.  I also sent a letter home to parents sharing with them what Genius Hour involves with examples of projects, based on a sample letter in Juliani’s book.

To begin the process of Genius Hour with my grade 3 students, I had the students write a journal entry about the questions they had in mind for their projects and what areas they were interested in learning more about. I also offered students the opportunity to create or make something like a prototype or learn about how something is made in order to bring in elements of maker education into our classroom. At this point I met with some students to discuss their questions.

Students used their own devices as well as school devices to locate and perform research as well as make notes. Some students preferred to use paper and a pencil, other students used the school computers and programs like Word Online, while other students used to make notes on their devices. Examples of projects included “How are submarines made?” “What do I need to learn to create my own cookbook and restaurant?” “How can I become a writer?” One student who is very passionate about dance made her own instructional dance video and learned what she would need to do to become a dance instructor.

Although Genius Hour Projects are usually an hour a week, as the year was quickly drawing to a close it became Genius Hour every day, as well as some half days at times in order for students to have enough time to work. Some students never fully realized the goals they had made, but I encouraged them to continue to learn and add to their projects over the summer reminding them that “we never stop learning!” Students shared their projects in a variety of ways, including presentations, models and reports. Some of my students even shared their learning through Skype calls.  In addition, I decided to assess the projects strictly on descriptive and specific feedback both written and oral, as opposed to assigning a mark. The students really enjoyed the process of Genius Hour and it is definitely something I will try again next year.

 

 

 

Ever since I first heard about BreakoutEdu on Facebook, I loved the idea and I could not wait to try it out with my students! But I wanted to experience it firsthand to get a sense of how it worked and see if it lived up to my expectations. In May, I attended the GAFE Summit in London Ontario and I had the chance to try it out with a group of educators and it lived up to my expectations. As we worked through a session, I could see the collaboration, problems solving and engagement happening in the room and I wanted my students to experience it as well.

Before the end of the year, I decided to give it a try and put together a game for the last week of the school. I checked out the Breakout EDU site and adapted the game The Candy Caper designed by Kern Kelley and Kaidan Kelley, designed for 4th graders. The premise of the game is: “The custodian has asked all teachers to keep their class in their rooms for a few minutes to do work in the hallway.  They didn’t say why, but it turns out the lunch ladies hid some candy and they were hoping to be the first to find it! They left the class clues to be able to find the candy before the custodian does!”

I  adapted the game to include some of the content we had just covered in science and to meet the needs of my classroom. For example, the original game had the students use a Google Form but I changed it to include a Nearpod clue instead. The first clue had the students log on to Nearpod, which displayed a series of directions which instructed students to complete questions related our unit on plants before obtaining their next clue.

As was recommended at the GAFE summit, I had 10 students work on the task. The other 10 students watched and I had them prepare to give the other group feedback on what they saw students doing well, and something they felt the other group could improve upon (two stars and a wish) which is a strategy for giving feedback that my students are familiar with. The students really enjoyed the experience and the excitement of breaking out could be heard from afar!

Reflections for Next Time: New Learning

If I was to do this again (and I will) I would have 2 games going simultaneously, although the clues would be slightly different so the groups do not copy from each other. As well, my class has a lot of experience working together and communicating effectively so these skills definitely helped out with the game. Still it was very interesting to see the dynamics and how students responded and worked together through the challenges. It really addresses the learning skills that we report to on our report cards in Ontario.

What’s next for Breakout EDU for me?

I also see great potential in using Breakout EDU in professional development. This is a great opportunity to have staff working together at the start of the year when often there is review of general administrative policies that need to be discussed. These meetings can often be very long and not engaging  and Breakout Edu presents an opportunity to change that! In addition, our school is working on a Ministry grant with STEAM and maker spaces so we are hoping to use the Breakout EDU to build knowledge among the staff and with students in the school next year.

Also, I as I have a passion for global education and collaboration, I think it would be pretty awesome to have a clue that involves a Skype call to another class as part of the game. I also have been playing with the idea of designing a game with my students that another class would play in another part of the world. We would watch them in our Skype call to get feedback and see first hand how it went.

What have your experiences been? If you are interested in connecting with my students and I in one of my Breakout EDU games please let me know. I would love to hear your ideas.