My Goals for the Summer!

I know I'm a little late in the week, but I'm linking up with I Heart Grade 3 for Summer Goals!

I am working on my MA in Gifted/Talented (which I will finish in December - YAY). Part of the degree requires that you teach at a Gifted/Talented Summer Enrichment Workshop (SEW). It's basically a half day summer camp for gifted students within the school system where the university is located. Up until this point, I've been completing this degree through a blended program - part online and part Saturdays on campus. I live five hours from campus! I move Sunday to live on campus for the next four weeks. (YIKES) Thankfully, my son gets to come with me and attend the camp!

Each teacher designs a unit around a particular theme. My theme is Medieval Times! I'm very excited about this opportunity,  but I'm also extremely nervous! My BA is in Secondary Education, but my MA is a K-12 degree. I have to teach two classes: a Kindergarten-1st Grade class and a 2nd Grade-3rd Grade. I've  never taught this young before!

Check back throughout June! I'll post to the blog about this experience too.

I take COMPS for my MA the first week of July. These are timed essays. I've never had to complete times essays to this extent before! Especially without notes or knowledge of the specific questions! It's very nerve racking.

I fell IN LOVE with I'm Lovin' Lit's Interactive Notebooks on TPT! I bought Reading Literature, Reading Informational Text, Writing, and Grammar! My Genius Hour project while my students completed their projects was to put these notebooks together. I didn't finish all of them, so my goal is to finish them this summer!

This past August my best friend moved to Pennsylvania! That is where she's grew up, but I miss her terribly! I'm so, so, so excited to be going to see her at the end of July! We're also going to take a trip to New York City. I love travel, new places, and my best friend! Win - Win - Win

My last goal is to REST. These last few months have been a whirlwind dealing with the loss of my soulmate. My son and I have definitely over scheduled ourselves recently to stay busy. The next month will be pretty busy with SEW and two other MA classes, but we look forward to resting in July and enjoying family time.

What about your? What are your summer goals?

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!

Passion Projects, Genius Hour, 20 Time - Whatever You Call It - Part 3

Genius Hour is progressing wonderfully! Every student has experienced a hiccup or two (I'll write more about hiccups and detours in my next post), but Daily Reflections on Google Drive have been a God send! We use the last ten minutes of class for silent cleanup and reflection time. Students are required to answer:

What resources did you use today? (Cite in MLA format)

What did you accomplish today?

What questions do you still have? (What's the plan for tomorrow?)

Is there anything you need teacher help/guidance with?

Other Notes:

Our classes are about ninety minutes long, so students have been warned that if they do not have enough information for strong paragraphs on each response, they are NOT working hard enough or fast enough. I can access their Google Doc whenever it is convenient for me and leave comments. I usually go over reflections in the evening, and I make notes about who I need to make sure I touch base with next time in class. 

We're GROWING plants, DRAWING murals, INVENTING self-casting fishing poles to assist the elderly and disabled, BUILDING photography skills, CREATING profitable YouTube channels, STARTING an online business for charity, LEARNING about electricity, and so much more!

The end of the year always seems to be "blah" for everyone. The year is pretty much over. We're wasting time until the end - trying to wrap up little assignments and finish finals. This year has been especially rough for me. Thankfully, Genius Hour has changed all of that! Students are excited to come to class. We all have a renewed energy inside the classroom. They want to research. They want to read and write and create. I want to see them use these skills. I want to see what they are accomplishing! It's incredible!

Now-

As much as I am loving Genius Hour, we all know it isn't for every student. Not all students are good self-motivators, task accomplishers, or 'follow throughers.' Unfortunately, Genius Hour requires a great deal of self-discipline on the student's behalf to be successful. 

When we started Genius Hour, I met with each student individually to discuss their essential question and end product goals. A few students did not seem motivated and from past history we were concerned about the grade they would receive through Genius Hour. These students were offered an alternate project for the Genius Hour time - Nonfiction Book Studies. 

I have inherited bits and pieces of a nonfiction book set complete with guided reading workbooks. They walk students through making predictions, making inferences, reading charts, ETC. The books are pretty interesting too! Pirates, aliens, race cars, inventions, cooking, animals, ETC. In order to help assure all students could be successful, I offered students the option to complete three guided, independent book studies instead of Genius Hour. (Students who do not meet deadlines in Genius Hour are removed from Genius Hour and placed on book studies without an option.)

The book studies still require use of skills we have learned throughout the year: research, reading, writing, analyzation, vocabulary, comprehension, ETC; however, they help students with a more directed way of learning as opposed to the free, open learning taking place in Genius Hour. 

I don't treat either assignment as "beneath" the other. One is "stupid." They are simply different. During Genius Hour presentations, students who completed a book study will present summaries of the books they read. 

Are you doing Genius Hour? Have you done Genius Hour? I'd love to hear what (if any) alternate activities you used! Comment below or shoot me an email.