This was one of the "simply fun" questions we like to throw up on the board. Timely, relevant, and simply FUN! The responses you put under your questions may just not be enough for some scholars. I LOVE it when they add their own...
"I'd buy them for my posse, too!"
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Once she left, I wondered, "Doesn't everyone at school know about the student station??" On the drive home, I wondered just how many teachers at school DID know about it? And why not? I'm going to blame time once again. We don't take the time to visit other classrooms and inquire. I'm going to make it a point of mine to go into classrooms towards the end of this year, chat with the teacher, and ask one question about the classroom environment, so I can learn from him or her. If our time is such that we are not provided specific time to take classroom tours of other classrooms in our own school, we should take the reins and do it on our own time, little by little, so we can continue to learn all we can! Ask the questions!!
We often don't know what happens in our students' homes. The question of the day can help with this relationship. Before heading out for our seventh grade outdoor education trip, we talk about table manners. Since we have over 150 students attending, eating all in one room at crowded tables can be tricky. The day after we talk about good table manners, I like to pose this question to my students... They move their magnets (which also helps me with a quick attendance check), and then, as happens often, one student adds another category. This day, what appeared was "I don't eat with my family." The one who started it gets my attention. What's the schedule like at home? Why don't you eat with your family? The response this year made me sad. "I don't want to. I bring my food up to my bedroom and eat there." That's my signal to get to know this student even more.
A large publisher of educational books contacted me in 2015, asking me to write an outline for them for a book about Genius Hour. Hmmm... That had been done - a few times by then, and even more by now. The list is growing, and I keep it on the LiveBinder here. So I wrote an outline about what trying Genius Hour did for my classroom... and they said that wasn't what they were looking for. I was told I could write a blog post for their website. Harumph. I had shared the first part of the story with my students, so I had to update them on this disappointment. They threw my words back at me... "If it's something you want to do, you should do it anyway." They had a point. So I kept going. Why not?! In August of 2016, I had a revelation of sorts, and I was almost finished with this book about shifts I'd made since implementing Genius Hour. It felt like a huge blog post about how I've changed so many parts of our classroom as a result of handing over one hour a week to my students. I thought of Dave & Shelley Burgess... And I thought, "The worst they can say is 'No.'" And now it's here. After months of going through the editing process (such great lessons for me that I was able to share with my students!!), and multiple nights wondering, "Is it good enough?"... it has arrived on Amazon. If you're reading the book, please connect with me through a blog post or your thoughts in an email. I'd love to add your ideas to the website, so others can learn from YOU! Let's keep the conversation going so we can shift learning back to our students! And here's Dave Burgess's version of what you can find in Shift This! This post is cross-posted at my blog - geniushour.blogspot.com |
Joy KirrTeaching since 1995, each year feels like my first as I see how much children can do. Categories
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