The Geniuses of TW

This week (most of) my students gave their 60-second pitches, detailing their plans for this semester's Genius Hour Project.

A couple of small truths rose to the surface. The process for sharing their projects and soliciting feedback worked really well. I'll outline all that below.

But first, the list of projects in the works in Room 706:

• Create an Instagram for teen vegans
• Learn watercolor painting
• Create a golf ball that returns automatically
• Learn American Sign Language (4)
• Create mini waffle pies
• Blog about pancake recipes
• Create a social media account to recognize the TW Art Department
• Create a video to teach Spanish
• Learn how to bell dance
• Create an Instagram for the Football schedule
• Give up junk food
• Create a volunteer program for kids
• Create a machine that reduces water usage
• Break a record in soccer
• Learn how to play the piano at a nursing home
• Learn how to do 200 pushups at once
• Create an Instagram to highlight Friday football games
• Learn how to make origami animals
• Create a program for kids who are bullied
• Learn how to create drawing collages
• Learn how to make a cake that’s full of vitamins
• Make art with recycled items
• Learn to write with the non-dominant hand
• Create a website for kids who are bullied
• Create a phone case that can stick to surfaces
• Knit blankets for shelter animals
• Create a custom T-shirt
• Learn to make healthy meals
• Create a post-workout protein bar
• Learn Portuguese
• Create a video about historical figures
• Create a youtube channel
• Write a book
• Create an organization to meet famous athletes (2)
• Learn to cook a variety of ethnic foods (2)
• Create an Instagram account to highlight TW teachers
• Learn to draw
• Create a video showing how to braid hair
• Compose a piece for the choir
• Learn how to work the Rubik’s cube
• Create a mixed tape
• Make dog beds for the animal shelter
• Learn to play the piano
• Become a vegetarian
• Create inspirational items
• Learn to play the guitar
• Volunteer at a nursing home
• Create a TW’s Worst Cooks Instagram
• Invent a pet bed-in-a-bag
• Learn to play the bass
• Create a cooking and fitness video for teens
• Create a compliments video
• Recreate a famous painting
• Create a new kind of bouncy ball

You see it, right?

1. My students are quite interested in food, particularly the healthy variety. Very cool.

2. There will be some awesome Instagram channels soon.

3. We may need a funding source ...

You may also have noticed that some projects are specific, and some are pretty vague. Others are ambitious, and some are fairly simple. That's OK. It's about the process, so I plan to give students just a little direction, even if I have some reservations.

Here's how I managed the 60-second pitches:

1. I assigned the 60-second pitches as homework, after explaining the concept of The Elevator Speech. Students were required to tell us: The planned project, why they chose that project, what materials and resources they will need, what obstacles they expect, how they will overcome them, why the project is worthy of their time, and finally, a gracious "thank you". Materials were stolen from  inspired by the work of Laura Randazzo: Great Teachers Pay Teachers resource

2. Students created their own Padlets  that they set up so that they could see feedback, and I could see feedback, but other students could not. (Moderated, with me listed as a collaborator.) This worked for most students.

3. A shared Google doc posted on our Google classroom has a table with an alphabetical list of all the students and a link to each students' Padlet. As someone went up to give their pitch, the class clicked on the link and added feedback to the student's Padlet. (By the way, I use this table over and over and over again. This is how they share their blog posts, ThingLinks, etc. Making one for each class is a good investment of time.)

3. On Friday, students will have class time to review their feedback with me.

Next step:

Next week, students will receive their first blog post assignment.

Stay tuned ...

Taking Action

After blogging a bit and chatting a lot about grading policies, I had the completely sweet opportunity to help launch an Action Research project with a small but mighty group of educators this week.

Last year, I read up on the whole Action Research idea, and with just a dangerously small amount of information, I essentially begged one of the associate superintendents in my district to let me give this a try.

The goals are simple:

1. Put numbers on the experience: I hope to do a better job of quantifying the results of a compressed grading scale, and I’m quite curious to see if other teachers in my district find the same results in their classrooms.

2. Model the joy of learning: I ask my students to put themselves out there and encourage them to take risks, fail fabulously and reflect on their adventures. This project makes me walk that walk.

Spread the word: I hope as a result of our work, other teachers in our district will be willing to give alternative grading policies a try. And ultimately, I’d love to see other teachers launch their own Action Research projects. I sincerely believe these projects allow teachers’ voices to alter the tone and content of the education narrative, and we have a supportive, vibrant district that values our insight. Strike while the iron is hot and all.

So, how is it done?

The prequel: Think about a problem that nags at you and your colleagues. What do you all revisit over and over at the lunch table? What theories do people throw around at staff meetings, and you think, “Is that really true?” There’s your issue.

Then, read. Here’s a resource I consult regularly: Action Research booklet

Finally, invite the crowd. My admin first wanted me to present information at a Management meeting, and then I sent an email to every teacher in the district.

I started with a large, comprehensive group from a wide range of disciplines across the three sites in my district. When the time came to meet and get started this week, a handful of participants from a few departments at mostly one site are on board.

But we're fired up.  I’m pretty sure that’s how it goes.

Then, we set norms.

We decided on a single research question: How does a 50 to 100 percent grading scale or a proficiency-based grading system affect student motivation and performance? And we agreed on a timetable.

Our first task is to survey our students about their attitudes toward school, grades, points, etc. Next month, we’ll start gathering evidence - student work, quickwrites, etc. We meet again in November to conduct our initial analysis and refine our process, if necessary.

Stay tuned ...

Genius Hour has arrived in Room 706

I recently met my 11th set of AP English students. I’m already impressed by their curiosity, their enthusiasm and their mad skills.

And I’m already worried that I’m not going to do right by them.

I’ve never been happy with my exam scores. Once, I had a huge increase in the rate of 3s, 4s, and 5s. And since then, the scores have gone back to where they’ve hovered most years.

I’m ready to try something revolutionary.

Enter: Genius Hour.

But before I chat about the hows, let me address the whys.

I don’t want my kids to score 3s or better because it would make me look good. In the California State University system, a 3 or better on the AP English Language and Composition exam earns a kid SIX units of credit. SIX.

Those six units could make the difference in a student heading off to a CSU and ultimately entering the workforce and community as a college-educated adult. Or deciding that the cost of college is too high. (And, for a lot of our kids, that’s just what it looks like. What they have to pay for school these days should make us all vomit. That’s another blog.)

That 3 might mean the student confidently heads off into AP English Literature and Composition their senior year, where they can earn ANOTHER SIX units. Starting school with 12 college credits makes the financial math look really good. I know. That’s how my daughter started college.

Now, I could go on and on about why my students struggle to “pass” this exam - the demographics, language-rich vs. language-poor environments, blah, blah, blah. Those things are real and have a real effect on my kids. But those are things I have very little control over.

I have a ton of control over what happens in my classroom.

With Genius Hour, I hope they nurture a passion, make connections to all kinds of passionate people, living and dead, who use their words and their passion to move mountains, and see how it all fits together.

Here are the nuts and bolts:

1. What is Genius Hour? In my classroom, students will have one hour every Friday to work on a project of their choosing.

2. How are students graded? My students will give a 60-second pitch on their project next month and a final project presentation at the end of the semester. They will blog regularly throughout. They will be graded on the process, not the product.

3. How does a teacher get started?

1. I borrowed heavily from Laura Randazzo, who has excellent free materials just waiting for you at TeachersPayTeachers. And she wrote it down RIGHT HERE!

2. By now, you may have noticed that I’m obsessed with “Hamilton”. To launch the project, we watched the opening number from the musical and the PBS interview with playwright and lyricist and myth and hero Lin-Manuel Miranda.

3. We discussed his quote, “What's the thing that's not in the world that should be in the world?”

4. Flip through slides about 3M and Google and the results of their 20-percent policies.

5. Boom! It’s time for kids to start brainstorming.

And, indeed, they did. On the way out the door, students gave me exit slips with their ideas. Super ideas. Exciting ideas!

Here are a few:

So, what’s the downside? I have no idea.

I’m learning along with my kids.

How much fun is that?!

Stay tuned ...

(If you'd like me to share my Genius Hour Google folder with you, email me at runteachsleeprepeat.@gmail.com)