Out of over 50 students in 7th and 8th grade, 34 have signed up for Genius Hour. Of course, that number will fluctuate as kids drop in and out of GH, but it is an impressive start to our second year. One of the parameters we have for GH is that it is an individual project. We allowed several groups to work together last year and only one completed their original project. Not only was it a lesson for us a mentors, it served as a small lesson for those that "failed." Sadly some of those students chose not to return to GH partially because the process was not only undesirable but the reflection was not satisfying to them.
This year we had a large number of students want to collaborate on projects. I struggled with allowing them the opportunity to work together and sticking with the philosophy of letting them learn while internally thinking it was a set up for failure. I want them to succeed or at least learn from their First Attempt In Learning, but how do I help facilitate that? When teachers begin to say "no" to a project, does it then become "ours" and not the students? When students pick something that is costly and seemingly unattainable, how do I strike a balance between real learning and crushing the creativity and desire to succeed? These are the questions I struggle with and even the teachers I am working with this year question me on the defining line.
I have one good example of an overly excited team that wanted to collaborate but reigned themselves in before delving too deep. Three students, who participated in GH last year, wanted to work together to form a business. One wanted to learn about corporations and the role of a CEO, another wanted to examine the financial aspect of a business and the final student wanted to investigate the creative-product side of the business. I was extremely skeptical of this undertaking but knew if I said no, it would be going back on what I told kids about GH belonging to them. I decided that I would tell all the students that while collaboration is encouraged, each student must do his/her own research. Collaboration would occur when students made appointments with each other to have a meeting and take notes on their shared findings. I stressed that this would be similar to a business model and it would be a sharing of knowledge so that if a team member decided to "fail," the rest of the team would have access to the expertise of that member. Essentially, I guided them to what I foresaw as a viable solution. This allowed them to choose and work on something they were interested in, collaborate, and practice a model that is frequently used outside of the educational realm.
What happened? At first they were very excited about the concept but that did not last long. Each one came to me and expressed that while their vision was fun, they weren't passionate about it. The plan was never executed. The take away in all of this is not that they didn't choose to complete the project but that given the choice and freedom, they each realized it wouldn't work. In essence, that is more important to me than if they had succeeded by forging ahead with this topic. It demonstrated that they could think it through and see the holes in their plan. They felt safe enough to take a risk, evaluate, discuss, and come to a decision individually and as a group. They owned it; not me. All three students have gone on to other projects they are more passionate about with good plans. In looking at the big picture, this kind of student who perseveres is the one I want to cultivate.
Check back as I will continue this line of thought with other projects that are happening. See, GH is teaching me a lot too!
Keep reading,
The Noisy Librarian
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