Participate and share: Interactive session 
Genius Hour is an innovative way of creating and targeting learning outcomes for students while they choose the content they study. It is always helpful for teachers to try an activity before they assign to their students and this session will give teachers just that opportunity.
Participants will be able to understand how to help students identify appropriate content as well as plan and create the learning outcomes teachers want students to master.
During this session, participants will be immersed in a Genius Hour session and then step back to analyze how it is run.
Participants will use collaborative boards in during the brainstorming section and digital literacy skills throughout the research section. While not utilized in this brief interactive session, there will be additional online tools students will utilize when deployed in the classroom including: presentation tools, design tools, and audio/visual tools.
Teachers will be given a full outline to help guide them through the implementation of Genius Hour in their own classroom. Learning targets include digital literacy, digital citations, presentation design, and oral speaking best practices.
Leaving the session with a feeling of confidence, knowing they have the tools to implement successfully and having gone through the process themselves, will demonstrate a successful Genius Hour.
Genius Hour Immersive Mini-Activity (30 minutes)
Participants brainstorm 10 topics they are curious about
Participants share their list with a partner and add topics their partner had that gave them ideas.
Participants star their top three and add them to an online discussion board so others can see. They add more topics as they get more ideas from everyone.
Participants choose one topic and get 5 minutes to explore the topic.
Participants volunteer to share their research with the session attendees.
Genius Hour - Presentation
Once the immersive part has finished, participants will be shown how to integrate the activity throughout a semester with specific learning targets for each week.
The end result is a TED-Style public presentation of what each student has learned with their topic, visual presentations skills, and oral presentation skills.
To End -
Participants will share their ideas for implementation and create an online community (created solely for this session) in which they can ask questions and cheer each other on.
Edutopia Article 2022: https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-genius-hour-projects-help-students-find-meaning
EdSurge 2018: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-09-19-how-genius-hour-helps-kids-connect-what-they-re-learning-in-school-to-their-future-goals
Edutopia 2015: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/five-minute-film-festival-genius-hour
20-Time.Org - website and book: http://www.20time.org/
School Website: West Ranch: https://www.wrpawprint.com/news/2015/02/11/20-time-makes-its-way-to-west-ranch/
Practical Applications and Experiences in K-20 Blended Learning Environments/ Co-Authored with Tom Driscoll. Chapter Student-Driven Education with Flipped Learning and 20-Time. 2014. IGI Global Publishing. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED564030
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