Genius Hour Reflective Essay

Albert Einstein said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Every student is a genius. Every student has an area of interest that they are passionate about. Far too many times students go from class to class, school day to school day never getting to explore areas of learning that interest them. Students are often passive in their learning as they take in information but do little to apply the information they have learned. Information is retained in order to pass the test but little is used beyond the classroom. What if students were able to pursue what they are most passionate about? How would this affect student engagement and motivation in …show more content…
The concept of Genius Hour is based on a business practice used by Google’s development team. Google allows their designers to spend 20% of their time on projects that interest them, as long as the project could possibly advance the company. Google’s philosophy is that if you allow people to focus on their own passion projects then productivity will go up. Let us apply this philosophy into our classrooms. What better way to increase productivity, motivation, and engagement with our students than to allow students time each week to explore their passions. For one hour a week students would explore their own talents and interests as they read, research, plan, design, create, and produce their own passion projects. Students are provided a choice in what and how they learn during this designated hour during school. “Educational environments that stress student interest, personal choice, firsthand experiences, thoughtfulness, and humanness need to be encouraged” (Henson, 2010, p. 238). Classrooms that value the learning-by-doing approach, project-based learning, hold in high regard human passion, capability, and the ability to make things happen and solve problems anywhere,