Passion Projects, Genius Hour, 20 Time - Whatever You Call It - Part 4

WHEW! The last few weeks of school are always a whirlwind! We finished school on Friday, May 22nd. The last two weeks are full of finals, MacBook collection, and awards ceremonies. We stay busy, busy, busy!

We decided to do Genius Hour presentations after our final because those 3-4 days are always limbo days. Teachers end up babysitting and playing movies, so I was grateful to still be able to work and keep order in my classroom. However, there were some cons to trying to use the last few days ...

PROS: 

• The class was still working.
• This project was a fairly large grade, so they had to make it a priority.
• We could still keep order in the room.
• I don't feel like I wasted any of my class time for the year!
• It gave students a reason to show up. 

CONS:

• Not all students felt it was important enough to come to school for this project.
• It left a few with substantial zeros in the grade book.
• I'm the yearbook teacher, and yearbook issues caused interruptions to our presentations several times.
• Other teachers allowing students to roam the halls interrupted us a few times (before I put a warning on my door!).
• My students were very antsy with the constant hum of noise outside the door. It was hard for them to focus.

All in all - I will still be using Genius Hour presentations as the assignment for the last few days of school. I plan to announce this in August! It was a great relief for me to know I still had something planned and important going on in my classroom.

The Projects

I learned a lot from my first year of Genius Hour, and I look forward to revamping it for my classroom next year. Overall, I had many impressive projects (& my standards were set HIGH), and I was extremely proud of my kiddos! I was also very sad as I realized I had to send my eighth grade babies off to high school! I had numerous mediocre projects, but I did see areas where I could improve in guidance of struggling students. 

With all of the business going on inside my classroom and out, I forgot to take pictures! I took a few on the first day, but I forgot anymore after that. 

I begged to keep this mural, but the student wanted it. Her essential question was "What inspires me?". She used various art techniques to create this mural about life and things you learn along the way (follow the person at the bottom as they grow from a baby to a man). 

This student researched how taste buds work and why different people taste things differently. She taught the class about sub-tasters and super-tasters and put the lesson into action with a few blindfolded taste tests!

Another student wanted to know how food varies from culture to culture. She created a recipe book with meals from around the world, and she also brought in a few recipes for the class to try!

This student investigated what effects yoga has on the human brain. As a part of her presentation, she taught the class a few yoga poses as she explained how that pose affected their brain and body.

There were so many cool projects! I'm kicking myself for not taking more photos. Thankfully, there is always next year!