Genius Hour in Middle School English / Language Arts Class
or what to do with an exploratory class
when youre told to just do whatever
This topic comes up from time to time in our Face Book group for Middle School ELA Teachers. The concept of Genius Hour or some other unstructured exploratory time sounds exciting because of all the possibilities, but once that excitement wears off, how do you choose what direction to go in for your students?
What will your students be learning and doing each day during this seemingly loosey-goosey time?
And how much planning or preparation on your part will this entail?
I mean, you still have your real classes to prep for and to work on . . .
So thats why I went back into my Middle School ELA Teachers Community FB Group, scoured through various emails Ive both sent and received, and compiled this list of favorite projects, ideas, and resources that have surfaced over time to help you think about what YOU could do with a Genius Hour / Exploratory type setting:
Before we dive into the list of ideas for what to do with a Genius Hour / Exploratory Class, consider the following:
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How much time do you have with your students for the Genius Hour / Exploratory class? Once a week? Every day? Just a certain number of weeks before you get a new group of students? All year long?
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What kind of technology will your students have regular access to? Is Wi-fi part of it?
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How large (or small) is the class? Consider the amount of space youll have and whether you have the supplies and resources for your students.
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What time frame do you have to work with? One teacher who reached out to me has 45 minutes each day for her Exploratory students, but she only gets 12 weeks with them (and then a whole new set of students comes to her).
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As the teacher, do you thrive on structure and processes or do you work well with a little bit of chaos happening? In other words, where is your comfort zone when it comes to what your classroom will look like, sound like, and be like each day during this time?