Inspiring Work

Check out the Youtube site of Out in School. There are some great videos made by students.

https://www.youtube.com/user/outinschools

http://www.outinschools.com/

Self-Assessment

Please give yourself a rubric mark for each of the following areas. For each mark, please write a 2-5 sentence explanation for why you think you should get that mark.

Areas to mark yourself:

• Approaches project and tasks with a positive attitude
• Challenges self to learn new things
• Uses creativity in project
• Works independently to complete work fully and by due date

Reflection after Round 1

Please consider the following questions thoughtfully and record your own answers. Please be as specific as possible. I intend to try to incorporate your feedback into changes in the second half of IWS 5000, but to do so it needs to be helpful and specific.

• What do you think went well about your first project in IWS?
• Why do you think this went well?
• What do you think could have gone better? 
• How could this be improved next time?
• Is there anything you would remove from the project? 
• What would you replace it with? If this is something that was assessed, how will your replacement task be marked?
• Is there anything you would add or expand on?
• Are there any other changes you would like?

After making thoughtful notes on these things, please meet with the rest of the IWS students. As a group, share your thoughts. Discus changes until you come to an agreement. Develop a written report for me that describes the changes you, as a group, agree you want to see and how they can be brought about.

Rubrics for Various Activities

Hi all,

Remember, you pitch presentation is due Monday, Feb 17. Here are the links to some important rubrics.

Project Pitch Presentation Rubric
Work completion form
Ted Talk Reflection Rubric

No Idea What to Do?

Check out this doc with suggestions by grade and subject area:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gVaz9SpdhAfi5ywUy-WcsPN59KSxDZCZb3YpGDl9oz8/edit?usp=sharing

Twitter Research

Please set up a twitter account. Please follow this link to look at how to set up a twitter account and how to use it for research

https://sites.google.com/a/oshkosh.k12.wi.us/the-genius-hour/project-format/research/twitter-for-academic-research

Use Your Creativity!

As you work though coming up with a topic, please check out these videos.

Questions to help you start

http://files.solution-tree.com/pdfs/Reproducibles_CH/geniusquestions.pdf

Your First Ted Talk

Here is the first Ted Talk choice

"The Power of Passion"

or

"How Simple Ideas Lead to Scientific Discoveries"

What to do...

You need to develop a question!

Please follow these criteria from https://sites.google.com/a/oshkosh.k12.wi.us/the-genius-hour/project-format/problem-formation when coming up with the topic you will study:

Project Formation

• Projects must be Problem/Solution oriented.  The problems can be mechanical, social, practical, etc.  The goal here is to create a problem with a built in purpose. 
• The problems must be complex. If your problem has an answer, it is likely too simple.  There will likely be a number of potential solutions to the problem; they will discover one of them. The only exception may be complex problems that are scientific or mathematical in nature.  

Basic Requirements

• You must COMPLETE one project per half semester (see  outline of dates) .To quote Kevin Brookhouser, "Failure is an option, but failure to deliver, is not."
• You may only complete ONE Passion Project per half semester (if you finish early, your problem was too simple. I will be sure to help you avoid that)
• Your project must be problem/solution oriented
• Your problem must be complex

from: https://sites.google.com/a/oshkosh.k12.wi.us/the-genius-hour/project-format

You can try filling out this form for inspiration:

http://files.solution-tree.com/pdfs/Reproducibles_CH/apassiondetector.pdf

What are we doing here?

“Genius is the act of solving a problem in a way no one has solved it before. It has

nothing to do with winning a Nobel prize in physics or attaining certain levels of schooling. It’s about using human insight and initiative to find original solutions that matter. A genius is someone with exceptional abilities and the insight to find the not so obvious solution to a problem; a genius looks at something that others are stuck on and gets the world unstuck” (Godin, 17- 18 Angela Maiers’ Classroom Habitudes...).

This is a good infographic a student developed to explain how his class did genius hour.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/93959560@N07/8598634489/sizes/h/in/photostream/

This is essentially what we are doing, but with some changes.

This includes our changes:

What's in a name?

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/164240717634818781/

This is an elective where students will explore topics they are passionate about. You will research your topic, share your learning, and create a presentation. This class will be assessed and you will get a Grade 9 credit. What should we call it???

Some ideas I have are:

Genius hour: This name is already established to mean time where the individual determines what he or she wants to learn. In its original form it does not include formal assessment. Learning for the sake of learning! 

Passion project: This is also an established name but work called a passion project may be assessed more in school.

Exploration project: What the gr 8s are currently calling their project where they choose the topic.

Independent Studies Project

PBL elective

.... other ideas?

Steps in deciding...

1. Please take 5 min to come up with all the names you would like to call this class. Please write these on sticky notes.

2. All the sticky notes are put on the wall. Each person reads them all over.

3. Quietly, each person marks a check mark on their top 2 names. The names with no check marks are eliminated.

4. As a group discuss the pros and cons of the names and work on picking one. If the group can't easily agree on one, then the bottom ones are eliminated and the two or three remaining are discussed. Try to come to a consensus.

5. Tell Beth the name of the course she is teaching!


The course outline handout can be found here.