8-2: Genius Hour – 20% Time

Genius Hour or 20% Time is the concept of giving students an hour a week (or 20% of their class time) to learn what they want. Instead of allowing it to become free play time, they must engage in purposefully learning about what they are passionate about by following a plan that involves carefully defining a project, researching it, collaborating, and sharing. The benefits of Genius Hour are endless, but such a unique learning and teaching style requires great flexibility and open-mindedness from teachers, families, administrators, and students.

Benefits

1. Genius Hour encourages life-long learning. Genius Hour allows students to engage in authentic learning. No matter how innovative and engaging your teaching style, if students have no interest in material, their learning will suffer. By inviting students to delve into their passions, they are reminded that learning is in their hands and they will continue to follow the process later in life.
2. Genius Hour creates a community of learners. Students must collaborate with classmates during their projects and reach out to experts and individuals who have undertaken similar projects. In doing so, they become a part of a large network of learning.
3. The nature of Genius Hour allows for differentiation. Students choose topics at their understanding and work at their pace and ability to create unique products. Students in need of enrichment will be able to delve into more advanced topics and students in need of support will be able to follow the same process as their peers, but at their own level.

Obstacles

1. Curricular Demands – As a 6th grade science teacher, although I have specific standards and curriculum to move through, I have a lot of flexibility to add in STEM challenges, science fair projects, project-based learning, and potentially Genius Hour because we are not preparing for a standardized test or held to specific calendar checkpoints. Other grade levels and subjects do not have this freedom. It can be almost impossible for the 6th grade math or ELA teachers to move through all of the required material within one school year. Although Genius Hour meets loads of standards, it does take time away from other key standards.
2. Stakeholder Approval – From the outside looking in, Genius Hour has the potential to look like a formula for a lazy teacher and students playing on their devices. Genius Hour will require intensive family and administrator communication, specific checkpoints, clear deadlines, and strong rubrics to ensure that parents, administrators, colleagues, and community members can understand and respect what is taking place.