Freedom, creativity, and independence. These are three examples of a charismatic workplace, and these are qualities that businesses are expecting from their employees. One of these charismatic workplaces is Google.
Google has long tried to find ways to make more innovative products. One of those ideas is known as the “20 percent.” This means that each week, they use 20 percent of the week to do some side product besides regular Google work. James Logan High School is trying to match that with the Genius Hour.
Unlike most classroom projects, Genius Hour allows and encourages students to investigate any topic they want. It doesn’t matter if it’s about a sport, issue, or even a review of a movie. The sky is the limit for the program.
Genius Hour has been featured in a number of Logan classrooms for the past couple of years, and many other English teachers are coming in the bandwagon as well. Mrs. Theresa Clark was one of the first to guide a class through the Genius Hour.
“My hopes are that they will genuinely find something that they are passionate about. They will have the freedom and passion to discover what they are capable of,” said Clark, the pioneer of Genius Hour.
Clark has only been doing Genius Hour for a few years, but she has seen many amazing and creative demonstrations of unique topics. Clark first heard the idea from Principal Brar.
“He had gone to a conference and had seen a presentation about Genius Hour. He was really excited about the idea and hoped Logan would try it. Then he approached me and asked me if I could use Genius Hour,” Ms. Clark remarked.
Clark hoped to implement the same creative spark that Google was able to achieve with its employees. She wanted to experiment on this new assignment that is different from the traditional classroom model. Because Clark’s interest, Genius Hour was born.
After the initial success of Genius Hour, many other teachers wished to continue the project.
“A few years back, I heard rumblings in educational circles about something called “Genius Hour”, which is essentially an inquiry-based, student-directed learning opportunity,” said English teacher Shawn English.
The benefits and results of the Genius Hour were clear to see, so English wanted to spread the passion project as Clark and others had before, and to a wider variety of students.
“My hope is that students will see that learning, real learning, takes place outside of the classroom all the time, and is a life-long endeavor,” English said.
English wants to make students creative, productive, and very inquisitive. He believes that this can be done through students having the ability to control their passion. In other words, students having the ability to make what they are passionate about.
A handful of students from previous classes remembered their experience through Genius Hour. One successful example was from Juniors Dana La, Soha Manzoor, and Deanna Ngo, who shared her take on her overall experience.
“Since we were a group, we took parts of what we were passionate about. I wanted to start a business because I thought it was cool,” Ngo said.
Their business was also charitable – making clothes for refugees in the world. It is not a project that was demanded from their teacher, it was not a project based on any formal curriculum, this was something that Ngo wanted to do. There was a downside though. Students still had to work at a fair pace or else they didn’t get results.
“I think you get in as much as you put in. I know there were kids that weren’t really passionate about it,” Ngo said.
Passion seems to be a key component to success in the Genius Hour. Finding that passion and inspiration can be a challenge. Just ask Junior Marcus Williams, who researched and shared the history and origins of “durags” for his presentation.
“I was unsure of what I should do for my Genius Hour, and that day I was wearing a “durag,” Williams said. “I was walking down campus, and one of the CSTs asked me to take it off. I asked him why, and he said ‘Oh, it’s against student handbook.’ I looked and the handbook had nothing against it. So I thought, Okay. I’m going to use that for my motivation to show why I wear a durag and the history of it.”
The genius of the Genius Hour is that it allows the students to create something truly their own even on subjects that may be unfamiliar to many, such as the importance of the durag. Williams feels enriched because of the project.
“I liked presenting it. I’m a very open person, and sharing the project was very fun for me,” Williams said.
In the beginning, students can get confused with the process of the project. You have to start with a topic and a deep question, then search and work to make a presentation in your brain.
“It was interesting at first because people were scared of the freedom. Some were very anxious,” Clark said.
A project like Genius Hour can be intimidating. All the moving parts that come with preparing, presenting, and building the project makes it seem too big to accomplish for some, but that is one of the positives of the Genius Hour. Nobody will learn something if a project is too easy.
“I’ve always found in the past that the best assignments happened when the students choose to demonstrate their learning. They did the most amazing, creative things!” Clark said.
Currently, a new batch of students is participating in Genius Hour, and the students and teachers are hoping for great things.
“Genius as a concept is defined as the name we give to a quality of work that transcends fashion, fame, and reputation, and even time itself,” English said.
