How Genius Hour came to be

As part of our school-wide journey to answer the question ‘who owns the learning’ at MJDS, I am inviting students to be guest bloggers and share a powerful experience or memory. This is a first for both me and our student blogger and I am so proud that she chose to take this risk and share a part of her MJDS story. I hope you enjoy…

The following blog post is about Genius Hour. I chose to write about Genius Hour because I think it has been a huge part of my MJDS experience over the last four years. Genius Hour is a unique and innovative concept that not many schools offer and this is one of the many reasons MJDS is so special. Genius Hour has taught me good research skills and how to follow a plan that you have made.

It all started in fifth grade. A new board was set up in our classroom that read “Genius Hour”. We were then told in morning meeting that we will be starting a new thing called Genius Hour. We were told that you can research anything you are passionate about or make a project about something you are passionate about. The whole class was so excited. Everyone was excited to think of ideas. Every Friday we would be given 45 minutes to work on our Genius Hour projects.

We were handed a piece of paper and wrote down our interests. I bought the sheet home and started thinking of ideas. I could not think of a project to do with dance but I could with chocolate. My project came to be, I was going to learn about chocolate and make chocolate bars. I started my project by emailing a chocolatier. They responded after some time and on a Sunday my family, friend, and teacher all went to the chocolatier with me for a tour. I made a website for my candy bars. The next step was actually making the candy bars, so on the day of Genius Hour presentations me and my mom came to school early to start creating my candy bars.  We made cookies and cream, caramel, potato chips, and plain candy bars. I presented my website, slides, and  the candy bars to the class. The class loved them. Other kids made a model of a stadium, researched happiness, researched liquid nitrogen, and wrote a picture book. The Genius Hour projects were a hit and everyone loved them.

Then in 6th grade, we did a Genius Hour in science class. It was almost the same with a few minor changes. I decided to learn how to make gum and the effects of chewing gum with a partner. Everyone loved Genius Hour again.

In 7th grade, Genius Hour was now a thing everyone in school was doing. We had a science Genius Hour again.  This time Genius Hour had a few more guidelines that had to do with science. I decided to study about GMO’s which are genetically modified organisms and the effects they have on you. People researched everything from zodiac signs to volcanoes. Our grade all made our presentations and presented them to each other.

We had our second Genius Hour of seventh grade and this time my partner and I chose to research makeup and how long you should keep your makeup for. We tested new and old makeup and saw which ones grew more bacteria. The rubric was updated from last time and more improved and so were the project proposals. This rubric is important because for a project that is completely student based it can’t be a free for all and there needs to be an outline and guidelines to follow. After every Genius Hour the class and teachers learned what they need to improve in the rubric and then they improved it.

Currently, in 8th grade, we have Genius Hour  during ETC. ETC means exploring the core where each quarter it’s a different class that explores either math, science, social  studies, or ELA. The upper school has ETC twice a week.   The 7th and 8th graders have two hours a week to work on their Genius Hour projects. This time the rubric is improved and everyone made project proposals. The project proposals were edited using peer review multiple times. We blog weekly about how our projects are going. I am making a bullet journal which is a customizable planner/notebook/journal. I think this will be the best Genius Hour yet, since we have the most class time and best rubrics yet.

Everyone at MJDS now does some sort of Genius Hour. The kids in my grade think we are the guinea pigs since we were the first to do Genius Hour, but since MJDS is always innovating everyone is the first to do something.

9 thoughts on “How Genius Hour came to be

  1. I’m so glad you got to be my guinea pig 😉 And you’re right—I am always learning from you and your classmates about how to enhance rubrics and expectations so that you can all make the most of your learning experiences. Your chocolate bars were amazing; I still remember tasting them and everyone being so excited to give you feedback. Even more amazing was your dedication to your project and willingness to take risks. I am still so impressed that as a 5th grader you were willing to reach out to a local expert- how mature of you! I love this story, thank you for sharing it with the MJDS community! 🙂

    1. From ARosenfeld – Thank you so much. In 5th grade, I looked forward to Genius Hour weekly. I think it was a great idea. I loved making the chocolate bars and visiting the chocolatier with you. It was an amazing experience.

  2. This is so well written and really shows the process and how it grew. I love the last line, how everyone is the first to do something. I also really appreciate how bold it was for an 8th grader to write something many in our community will read! Love it!

  3. I am so in awe of you for stepping up and sharing your story–your courage, self-confidence and sense of curiosity is really inspiring! By the way, our cousin in California produced a film called “GMO OMG”–have you heard of it?

    1. From ARosenfeld – Thank you so much. As part of my project, I saw part of that film. I did not know that your cousin produced it. That’s so cool.

  4. I can not believe how advanced our kids are, and our school is. I want to come back and be an 8th grader!

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