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'
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