The title of this blog is a play on educational terminology to demonstrate the importance of Genius Hour. STEAM is a currently used acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics. The students who have chosen to participate in Genius Hour have selected questions that involve one or more of these topics. Some of the questions relate to other important fields such as writing and history. Below is a list of some of the topics our students have decided to research:
How a wind turbine works and its efficiency
Constructing a computer server
Building a trail and bridge
Painting a school mural
Interior decorating
Making a ukele
Creating a video game
Starting a fundraiser for breast cancer
Making a music video
Writing a book
Inventing a ski suit
Learning why and how we cry and many many more topics.
One of the things I was concerned about during our Genius Hour pilot, was the students losing steam or the stamina and excitement to continue. Although we have only been working on this for three weeks, the kids have maintained the level of enthusiasm we saw at our first meeting. They are beginning to learn that asking and answering one question quickly leads to another question. They are willingly organizing and planning the next steps to take to work towards their individual goals. Mr. Collins and myself are attempting to meet individually with each student and are finding that this occurs beyond the designated times. Students are coming to us during other free times and consulting with us. This is what good education is about, intrinsic motivation and the willingness to take a chance to learn something new. We hope we can keep the train moving along on this track, so to speak, and invite you to follow our journey.
Keep reading and researching,
The Noisy Librarian
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