Wow! I am no stranger to the fact that the world is full of amazing people, but the past few days my eyes have been opened wide! When I first introduced #geniushour, I had a student ask a pretty profound question, "Hey Flem'....what are you doing for YOUR Genius Hour?" ... My quick response met with not only a smile but also excitement, as I perked up and said, "My time will be spent helping you all, and letting the world know how awesome the students at Waverly High School are."
Now.... I didn't tell him that the thought was a bit overwhelming, nor did I tell him that I can often bite off more than I can chew...HA! I didn't know exactly where to start (there are so many great networking sites)... BUT....I knew one thing, and that was that I was going to do my very best to put these amazing young people in contact with others around the nation, and even the world, and make sure that I helped give voice to their GALACTIC ideas! Yes, I said GALACTIC! I'm tellin' ya' ... some of the ideas that these special young people have come up with will make your head spin twice, and make your feet dance the jive! NO KIDDING!
I quickly got to work on Twitter... googling anything and anyone that I could talk to and network with about Genius Hour and #20percenttime.... it didn't take long before the Twittersphere (is that even a word?) was dinging my phone as frequently as Santa Clause gets letters at Christmas time! I started researching some of the people that I was hearing from, and that lead me to this jaw dropping site called https://about.me/ (you can check out mine at https://about.me/pennyfleming). It was a bit much to take in at first, and there weren't a lot of directions given on setting up a profile, but I did quickly find out that it is a great place to house your personal information (for instance who you are and what you love....not your phone number, height, weight, social security and mother's maiden name...LOL) and links to all of your social media pages and blogs.
THEN.... the magic started happening. I was able to research others on the same site, find out their professions and their interests, tell them I'd like to find out more info on them and even send them an email. Within just a week, I have made more contacts than I can shake a stick at... I have networked with a professional chef; I have students that are putting together cook books, and even wanting to start a Youtube channel to v-log (video blog) their journeys with new recipes. I have networked with many professional photographers, even those who have substantial credits after their names; I have students that are wanting to learn the ins and outs of photography and are putting together a photo documentary. I have networked with several published writers, poets and musicians; I have several students who are wanting to publish their own book of poems and short stories. I have networked with 'up and comers' in the field of sports, announcers, writers and athletes; I have students that are wanting to make sports safer and find ways to put high school sports on the map. I have also networked with a photo journalist, who travels all over the world and takes pictures for major magazine publications; I have students that are interested in travel as well. The amazing part of this is that many of these people have said 'yes' to being willing to Skype with our class. WOW.....first hand account learning with professionals that are doing and living the kinds of passions that my students are interested in! I'm super excited, and when I told the students the news today, their excitement was contagious as well.
It is amazing opening up the world of learning to these outstanding young people.... I can't wait to see what happens next....stay tuned!
Travel on,
Mrs. Flem'
Monday, March 30, 2015
Sunday, March 29, 2015
You Need to Drink the Water
Hello everyone! I hope you are having a relaxing Sunday evening in preparation for the week ahead. Obviously, you know that I have started a blog, as you are reading it currently.... WELCOME, and thank you for stopping by. I hope you will be checking in on a regular basis to find out what 'shenanigans' are going on inside of my classroom, and what the daily life as a teacher at Waverly High School is like. (hey.....we really don't take part in shenanigans....I was just kiddin' around)....
As some of you may know, I have implemented a new concept in my classroom called Genius Hour. Genius Hour isn't a 'new' concept in general, but it is a new concept at WHS. It is something that hasn't ever been done before....and frankly, I'M SOOOOO SUPER EXCITED!!! If you want to find out more about what Genius Hour is, you can click on the link below my profile, or follow this link to learn more about it: http://www.geniushour.com/. The concept of Genius Hour comes from our friends at Google. They thought, "What if we gave our employees 20% of their work time during the week to work on 'pet projects' they are interested in, that could benefit the company?" The idea took off, and was coined '20% Time'....from this concept great tools such as Google Talk and Google News were developed. The concept is the same in the classroom. If the students master what they need to know in their core subject, Monday through Thursday, then they can take Friday to work on a project that they are passionate about. The response was met with emotions that crossed the board....some were thrilled, some raised an eyebrow as if to say, "She can't be serious...", some were overwhelmed, and some had tons of questions! I spent the week before Spring Break building the excitement of 'being in charge of your own learning'....and then on Friday, I hit them with the idea through a short video that I put together. Questions were answered, and heads started spinning with thoughts of changing the world....EVERY TEACHER'S DREAM!!!
This past Friday was our first Genius Hour, and it was so eye opening. Students that would normally struggle to pay attention were engaged, excited and working so hard at research and implementing ideas that you would have thought their learning worlds were opened for the first time. By the hour's end, in both the Sophomore and Junior classes, there were ideas that ran from A to Z. You can find a short list on our Facebook page entitled "An Hour of Genius" https://www.facebook.com/FlemsGeniusHour?fref=nf .... I encourage you to follow the link and like the page. It is because of this, Genius Hour, that this blog was started. It is truly a goal of mine to put my students on the map, and I am working at networking and connecting with teachers, corporate entities, etc. all over the map....letting them know the GENIUSES that we have at Waverly High School.
If you have made it this far....thank you!!! It is vital that parents, community members, administrators, and people from all over buy into the education that our students are getting. We can no longer sit by and let our young people be boxed and pushed into one mold that looks the same. These are young people with visions, with dreams, with ideas....and they are all different. These are young people that learn differently, see things differently, get through tasks at different rates of speed; what a disservice to lump them all together and say, "This is what you are learning, because you have to pass a test." I don't want that for my students. Genius Hour opens up their minds, allows them to think critically, creatively, and individually.
I encourage you to come along with us on this incredible journey! Don't miss out, because WE ARE CHANGING THE WORLD....one hour at a time!
Have a great evening,
Mrs. Flem'
As some of you may know, I have implemented a new concept in my classroom called Genius Hour. Genius Hour isn't a 'new' concept in general, but it is a new concept at WHS. It is something that hasn't ever been done before....and frankly, I'M SOOOOO SUPER EXCITED!!! If you want to find out more about what Genius Hour is, you can click on the link below my profile, or follow this link to learn more about it: http://www.geniushour.com/. The concept of Genius Hour comes from our friends at Google. They thought, "What if we gave our employees 20% of their work time during the week to work on 'pet projects' they are interested in, that could benefit the company?" The idea took off, and was coined '20% Time'....from this concept great tools such as Google Talk and Google News were developed. The concept is the same in the classroom. If the students master what they need to know in their core subject, Monday through Thursday, then they can take Friday to work on a project that they are passionate about. The response was met with emotions that crossed the board....some were thrilled, some raised an eyebrow as if to say, "She can't be serious...", some were overwhelmed, and some had tons of questions! I spent the week before Spring Break building the excitement of 'being in charge of your own learning'....and then on Friday, I hit them with the idea through a short video that I put together. Questions were answered, and heads started spinning with thoughts of changing the world....EVERY TEACHER'S DREAM!!!
This past Friday was our first Genius Hour, and it was so eye opening. Students that would normally struggle to pay attention were engaged, excited and working so hard at research and implementing ideas that you would have thought their learning worlds were opened for the first time. By the hour's end, in both the Sophomore and Junior classes, there were ideas that ran from A to Z. You can find a short list on our Facebook page entitled "An Hour of Genius" https://www.facebook.com/FlemsGeniusHour?fref=nf .... I encourage you to follow the link and like the page. It is because of this, Genius Hour, that this blog was started. It is truly a goal of mine to put my students on the map, and I am working at networking and connecting with teachers, corporate entities, etc. all over the map....letting them know the GENIUSES that we have at Waverly High School.
If you have made it this far....thank you!!! It is vital that parents, community members, administrators, and people from all over buy into the education that our students are getting. We can no longer sit by and let our young people be boxed and pushed into one mold that looks the same. These are young people with visions, with dreams, with ideas....and they are all different. These are young people that learn differently, see things differently, get through tasks at different rates of speed; what a disservice to lump them all together and say, "This is what you are learning, because you have to pass a test." I don't want that for my students. Genius Hour opens up their minds, allows them to think critically, creatively, and individually.
I encourage you to come along with us on this incredible journey! Don't miss out, because WE ARE CHANGING THE WORLD....one hour at a time!
Have a great evening,
Mrs. Flem'
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