Genius Hour???

As my planning for the upcoming school year continues I have taken inventory on what I would like to implement in my classroom.  Since I get the privilege of having Chromebooks in my classroom, the world is my oyster.  I love doing Project Based Learning but that is usually what I believe the students should be learning about, then the idea of Genius Hour was introduced to me by a colleague at the end of the last school year and I was intrigued.  So, I decided to do a little research on the topic and educate myself before resolved to implement it as part of my curriculum.  Needless to say, I am hooked!!

Genius Hour is a product of Google who allows their employees to use 20% of their workweek to research and learn about something they are passionate about as long as the result benefits the company.  This thinking has found its way into the classroom and is igniting an excitement for learning in many students around the nation and the world.  Why wouldn't I want to implement this in my classroom?  One of my goals every year is to have my students promote to their next grade feeling they learned what they needed to be successful in my class and had fun at the same time.  I want to make our school year together one of their most memorable educational experiences.

There are 3 key instructions that need to be followed during Genius Hour, or as many others have coined it Passion Projects.

1.     It must use a driving question.  

·        It cannot be what are Giant Pandas?  But, instead, why are Giant Pandas endangered and what are we as people doing to help them out?

2.     It must involve research.

·        This can be either with technology, books, resources, video, or any other reliable source for which information can be obtained to learn about the topic in question.

3.     The product/end result or other compelling artifact from the project must be shared/published.

·        This will usually be shared with classmates but, maybe use one project and host a Gallery Walk and share the students' work with the school, parents, and community.

Throughout learning about Genius Hour I came across a few YouTube videos which helped sway me to wanting to have this as part of my learning community.  Take a moment to watch each of them and you will be persuaded as well to find a way to allow this great opportunity to find its way into your planning as well.  Again, it is only 1 hour per week is all you have to allow for a more learning and engaging classroom rich with inquiry and student ownership.

With all this creativity, inquiry and learning demonstrated how could you not be motivated to change the learning for your students if the resources and curriculum planning is available.

The Countdown Begins

Well there is only 1 week left until teachers have to report to school, but the overachiever I am I have been working in my classroom since last Monday.  This past week I have been focused on painting my classroom and getting my stored stuff into my classroom to unpack.  Here is what my classroom looks like thus far....

Facing the front of my classroom walking in from the door.

Closer look at the wall color, called Sea Glass, and the desk/office area I created.  This will be so needed due to advising the Student Council this next school year.

This is my personal bulletin board in my desk/office area.  I love the hot pink against the light blue/green wall color.  The black border is sparkly/glittery as well.

So, I have at least 4 more bulletin boards to finish and then get all my resources and beginning of the year activities filed away I believe I will be ready to face my parent on "Meet the Teacher" night.  But, before I can meet my parents I need to finalize my math syllabus and get my welcome letter translated along with my supply list for my students so they can be set for success at the beginning of the school year.

I have to say a humongous THANK YOU!! to my mother.  Because I am switching curriculum this coming year getting resources for Math and Science have been priority one.  Upon looking at the curriculum map for 6th grade Math set by the school district I saw they are incorporating EngageNY's Math Modules.  My wonderful and dear mother took the time to print each of the six modules set by EngageNY - all 3 segments for each module; teacher material, student material, and copy ready material.  All this information was put into 3 5" 3-ring binders, and then each element separated behind a tab for each module.  I am very set when it comes to being able to utilize this amazing resource.  So, again THANK YOU MOM!!!

On a side note I was able to spend the morning alongside my sister and 2 of her daughters as we perused the aisles at Treasures4Teachers.  This company is a non-profit for teachers of all kinds to get supplies they need for the classroom at next to nothing.  It costs $35 to join and then you get a bag & everything you can fit in it only costs you $5.  There is also an area that has supplies like pencils, pens, markers for $0.50 - $1.00 for almost everything in the room.  Not to mention the plethora of free items for the taking.  All the products are donated to the business so that the teachers can get the necessary tools to help guide their students success.  If you want to learn more about this wonderful organization/non-profit check out the link below.

Because I have so much to do & so little time I am off to continue to get my homework completed and get the school year off to a great start.

AHHH-MAZING!!

I got really excited about something on TV this evening.  My husband has this knack of forcing me to watch CNN, and finally it paid off for me.  I was so stoked when they reported on the discovery of the lost Egyptian port city called Heracleion.  My wheels got spinning because my part of the 6th grade curriculum next year is ELA & Social Studies - and the focus is on ancient civilization.  This will be a great addition to my unit on Ancient Egypt.  I am already thinking of activities, writing prompts, and reflections that correlate to this great discovery by the underwater archaeologist, Frank Goddio.  If you want to see all the pictures posted on his website about the discovery thus far follow the link below....

Lost Egyptian port city of Heracleion

Here are a few of the engaging pictures I want to include in my unit plans...

I cannot wait to get the lessons on this unit created, this is such an great opportunity to share with my students how the world is full of treasures & lessons.

Let it begin

Well the paperwork is in, and my staff badge has been made.  Today I sat down with my new boss and discussed the plans and expectations for the ensuing school year.  The discussion was not as formal because I spent the past semester working with her during my student teaching tenure.  Within this conversation I learned that the format for the 6th grade would be changing.  My cooperating teacher and I will be each teaching 2 subjects, and I opted for Language Arts & Social Studies.  This new format will cause the 6th graders to get used to the changing of classes that comes with Jr. High.  I welcome this new process because this means less lesson planning for me.  Only having to focus on 2 subjects rather than all the subjects allows me to ensure all required content is covered.  Of course I will be implementing a cross-curriculum method, incorporating the Math and Science my partner teacher will be focusing on will help create a well rounded learning environment.  I left my meeting with the Principal with the curriculum created by the district.  With this arsenal in my hands I am not beginning to start curriculum map.  It will be nice to come with an idea already in line when I finally sit down and plan with my new 6th grade teaching partner.

After much research on the internet for curriculum map templates, I decided to create my own.  I downloaded an adorable universal border and using a table started the blueprint to begin planning my first year of teaching.  Below are the forms I created to begin this process.  Since I am only focusing on Language Arts and Social Studies I only created 4 templates - one each for Reading, Writing, Speaking/Listening & Language, and Social Studies.  Using this will help me get the year in line so I am not trying to scramble to make sure I cover all the required content to ensure my students are successful and ready for 7th grade.