Wonder Weeks

I came across a graphic created by Amy Mayer on Twitter the other day, and it explains better than I could why there is so much buzz in education circles about Genius Hour, Passion Projects, and 20% Time.  Below is an copy of the graphic, used with permission from Amy:

Student Choice Continuum (new updated) (3)

As teachers, we all strive to insure total engagement from our students. According to Amy’s graphic, the best motivator of student engagement is self-directed learning. A quick look at Twitter and educational blogs will tell you there are plenty of educators who are shifting the focus of their instruction toward this model and sharing a ton of resources along the way.  This LiveBinder created by Joy Kirr is just one example.  While attending the TCEA Convention in Austin, I sat in on a session by Kirsten Wilson called “The Why of Genius Hour” that helped me formulate what I wanted to do. You can find additional resources by joining the conversation on Twitter using  hashtags like #geniushour, #20time, and #passionproject.

The journey will inevitably cause one to cross paths with educators like Will Richardson, who champions the cause that we have to stop talking about “better” when it comes to education and test scores, and start talking about “different.”

I am ready now to do my part to put this education model to the test with my 5th graders.  Beginning this week, they will be totally engaged (hopefully) in Wonder Weeks.  I chose the title Wonder Weeks instead of Passion Project, 20% Time, or Genius Hour because I wanted to narrow the focus for this project since it is my first try at it. Some teachers focus the student directed learning toward something the student is passionate about or something that will right a wrong or change the world. I wanted to start with something that students could engage with easier. For this project, students will be allowed to research anything they are curious about; hence the name Wonder. I struggled with how to introduce this concept to my 5th graders. There are a host of great videos available that inspire and demonstrate students using the inquiry method to do great things, but they just were not the right fit for what I was trying to accomplish. Then I came across this gem from Joy Kirr’s LiveBinder:

Ways To Wonder – Wonderopolis from Wonderopolis on Vimeo.

I wanted a place to curate students responses so I could not only hold them accountable on a weekly basis, but also to allow me to help them find resources.  I explored possibilities with Trello, Padlet, Google Forms, and Popplet. After having some issues with the Popplet site and through a series of emails to their support team, I was finally able to create an account and log in.  I have to say that this is a wonderful tool!  I created student accounts for each computer I have in the lab.  Students are assigned a particular computer at the beginning of the year.  I use this same method for students to access Voki and Animoto.  Students use the log in for their specific computer. I was easily able to create a mindmap with the information I needed from each student.  I then shared the popplet with those 28 accounts. Students will log in with their computer account and contribute to the mindmap, that way I have a visual of all students in the same space. They will also be able to comment on each other’s popples.  I think that is AMAZING! Here is what it looks like:

Popplet Example

I am still experiencing log in problems from time to time, so I have created a back up plan if students cannot access Popplet. Students will be able to access a Google Form by logging in to Edmodo.

I Wonder Google Form

I also wanted a place where students could reflect weekly on their learning. Since all students have their own blog through Edublogs, that is the method they will use. Students will create a new page on their blog called “I Wonder” and spend the last 5-10 minutes of class each week creating a reflective post on how they spent their time.

The proposed timeline for completing this project is as follows:
March 16 – Apr 3 Research
Apr 6 – May 1 Work on Presentation
May 4 – May 22 Presentations

Through this activity, students will learn to formulate a question, research to get information to answer that question, and share what they have learned.

Students will have access to this growing webmix of resources:

 

Each week I will be introducing students to presentation ideas and tools.

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