genius hour

Genius hour is an approach to learning where students are guided by their own interests, background knowledge, and curiosity to learn.From the outside looking in, it is less organized, less formal, and less standardized than traditional learning. Genius hour is truly “open-ended” learning characterized by student self-direction, passion-based learning, inquiry, and autonomy.

Genius hour is…

1. Student-centered
2. Messy
3. Emphasizes inquiry and research
4. Authentic
5. New challenges (i.e., it creates new problems to solve in your classroom)
6. Inherently personalized
7. Inherently creative
8. Purpose-driven
9. Maker-friendly
10. Often collaborative and social

 3 Rules for Genius Hour

1. It must use a driving question
2. It must involve research
3. The product, end result, or other compelling artifact from the project must be shared/published

To summarize it is , self-directed learning and user-generated learning experiences is that within a ‘Genius Hour’ framework, this student-centered approach is only used a portion of the schedule, providing students a choice in what they learn and how they learn it during a set period of time within a school day.