Show progress over last week! Posts due by 11:59pm tonight.
Tonight by 11:59pm your third progress post is due. Keep in mind, progress can be big or small. The key is to discuss your journey en route to your SMART goals. Do you need to realign your goals given time constraints? Has any element changed in your path? Discuss in detail.
In addition to your progress, please also comment on where you are in the TED Talk process. What ideas are you thinking about as of now? What questions do you have for me? What can I do to help you land on an idea worth spreading? This week we introduced the TED Talk project and discussed the rubric. There is also a progress post due by 11:59pm. Remember that progress can be big or small, and the posts can be short! We just want to see evidence of growth over your last entry. Let me know if you have questions.
Let's go to war! By 11:59pm on Monday, April 11, your very first progress post is due. All this post needs to do is show that you've made progress on your SMART goals since Monday, March 28. Progress can be small or large; it just has to be progress. See me with questions.
Let's go to war! It's time to gameplan out the rest of your semester with regard to Genius Hour. To this point, you've been thinking about what you WOULD do to solve your problem or fill your gap or meet your need. In the Shark Tank, you presented a plan to do just that. Now you'll spend the rest of your semester implementing said plan; it's time to ACTUALLY DO what you set out to do!
The first step is to set some goals for the rest of the semester (six blog posts in seven weeks). Then you'll move forward following your own plan. Here are a couple things to keep in mind:
For next week, check out the below guide on SMART goals and set 3-5 of them for the rest of your semester. What would you like to accomplish before your TED Talk? This SMART goal blog post is due Monday, March 28 by 11:59pm. Let's go to war! This week, just answer the questions in this prospectus on your blog in preparation for Shark Tank next week!
This post is due Monday, 3/7 by 11:59pm. Let's go to war! Now it's time to find your fourth and final source (after your expert and two sources identified last week). This one may start to focus on finding a solution to your probletunity now that you've been able to define it in detail. Then you'll post an annotated bibliography as next week's blog.
The next step in the Geniusing process is to create an annotated bibliography to defend the validity of your four sources (one expert and three others of your choosing--and some people may have more!). Think of the annotated bib. as the foundation of your elevator pitch during Shark Week (which, btw, is March 9-18). Annotated bibliographies are simply an explanation of a source, explaining both its validity and its usefulness while briefly summarizing its content. Each explanation should also include direct access to the source (via a link or contact info.). Check out this Google doc (thanks, Mrs. McGrath!) and my friends at the Purdue OWL for help. Your annotated bibliography is due as a blog post on Monday, February 29 at 11:59pm. Let's go to war! Anyone who's ever met me knows I get a lot of life inspiration from Chipotle. It's a real thing. In the last two weeks you've begun to identify experts who might be able to serve as mentors for your project. As you begin to answer your research questions from last week, you'll get a very clear sense of your project's direction. Use that to narrow your scope of experts/mentors. On Monday, February 29, your annotated bibliography should be posted. It will outline the validity of four highly-reliable sources you've found. While that assignment will be submitted on your blog, you should still be blogging your progress each week between now and then. When it comes to research, you're looking to answer the driving questions you wrote two weeks ago. As you learn more, you will inevitably develop more questions. THAT'S A GOOD THING! The focus of your research should be in outlining and clearly defining your PROBLETUNITY, not in a solution just yet. I love this Charles Kettering quote: Kettering's message could not be more relevant to Genius Hour. When asked about their project, I hear many kids start their explanation with a SOLUTION, not a PROBLEM. Hold up, ponies. Without looking into the depths of our problems, we can't even begin to appropriately devise solutions. Research and development looks like this:
Friends, Royals, countrymen... we're in stage ONE. For our next blog post, identify TWO MORE sources that will help to outline your problem and launch you into a solution. Blog your progress. Talk about obstacles and triumphs. Your post is due on Monday, 2/22 by 11:59pm. Let's go to war! I'm an English teacher, not a dictionary. I had to look it up: What a great word, right? Inquiry. It's all abuzz in the education world, but the quest for truth, information, and knowledge is all too familiar to every human at every level. This process is, by the very core nature of humanity, what we do here on earth!
So how does this apply to your #GeniusHour project? The next step in Geniusing is to shape your probletunity into a series of driving questions. These inquiries will drive your research and ultimately give you the necessary information to go about solving your complex probletunity. The underlying purpose behind Genius Hour is that complex problems require complex problem-solving skills, so solutions to your probletunity are likely not obvious from day one. Getting there is a process of inquiry! Here's how to go about it:
The idea is that you're taking a magnifying glass to your issue and trying to learn as much as possible about it through a series of questions that your research will ultimately answer. Post the questions on your blog. This blog post is due Monday, February 8 by 11:59pm. After hashing out your probletunity ideas, the next step is to think about who and what outside resources may be able to help you. As one of your sources for this project, you'll need to reach out and find an expert to serve as your mentor. Think about it like this: in traditional school, your English teacher is your mentor in English class, your math teacher guides your through hardships in geometry, etc. But in an autonomous #GeniusHour project where you're pursuing a topic entirely of your own devise, you're likely exploring ideas about which I, as your teacher, have very limited knowledge. AND THAT'S WHAT MAKES IT SO AWESOME! But you still need a guiding force, someone to whom you can turn with questions and issues and anything else you'd need. You need to find an expert. This week, start the brainstorming process on your blog about potential experts. Who in our school building might be a great choice? What about in your circles of family and friends? In our community? In Indianapolis? Then look outside the bubble. Are there experts in your field on Twitter? (That's a rhetorical question because the answer is YES. The real question is "how do we find them?".) Use your resources. Think like there is no box. Be creative. For next week, post your brainstorming on the topic of experts. What are some options? The post will be due by 11:59pm on Monday, February 1. Let's go to war! Habig |
Kelsey HabigGeniuses, check here weekly for the blog assignment, documents, and updates. Docs & rubricsGenius Hour explanation
Class list of probletunities Blog rubric Prospectus Shark Tank pitch rubric Shark schedule Pitch schedule TED Talk rubric AssessmentsBlogs (weekly)
Shark Tank (March 9-18) TED Talk (May 11-20) Archives
May 2016
Blogs due |