York School lets kids spend 20% time on anything they want. York School Kevin Brookhouser is a teacher at York School, located in sunny Monterey, California. In 2011, he had a crazy idea. What would happen, he wondered, if students were given the same creative freedoms as employees at Google? For years the tech giant cut its employees a deal: Spend 80% of time on your daily tasks, and 20% on a project of your choosing. World-changing services such as Gmail, Google Maps, and Adsense all came from Googlers enjoying 20% time.
Brookhouser wanted the same for his students. In the five years since he came up with his idea, York School has become one of the most innovative schools in America, and 20Time is the hero that sparked its success. "I've had students come back to me and tell me that their experience was pivotal in shaping their world view," Brookhouser, a teacher at York and its director of technology, tells Tech Insider. At York, that approach is a system where students learn to guide their own education. The Schoenblog: 1st Time #20Time: My Intro to 20 Time Projects. We are around a month into my English 10 20Time projects and I've been trying to share my students' work and my process and progress for #20Time.
This is my first try with 20 Time Projects, and I am loving it. The students who "get it" are doing some of the most meaningful work I've ever seen. Their projects, interests, passions and products have show such a range and great thinking. I have been tweeting out my students's blogs and live streamed some elevator pitches over the past week, which have gotten a great response. It seems like last week's #geniushour chat caught my posts, and I received a lot of questions about my workflow so I decided to start a series of #20Time posts to share the awesome things my students are doing. Today I'm writing about how I introduced #20Time, my goals, and my expectations. Students had freedom for self-directed learning and growth. I also created one running Google Doc to list all of the 20Time class work and due dates. 20Time Tasks. 20Time Blog Submission Form (Responses) The Schoenblog: 1st Time #20Time: My Intro to 20 Time Projects.
Nat & Lo's 20% Project – Go Behind The Scenes At Google. How Google’s Airbender Team Accidentally Invents The Future - #NatAndLo Ep 10. A Googler's 20% Project To Ban Elephant Ivory Shopping Ads - #NatAndLo Ep 6. This App Makes Your Phone Buzz When You Approach Places Where Women Made History. For Better Presentations, Start with a Villain. Many executives start presentations about products or initiatives with a vague theme statement, often expressed with as much pith as a puff of smoke: “We have a new focus on customer satisfaction,” or “Our current strategic goals are execution and innovation.” But this approach is not only lacking but lackluster. Did Shakespeare begin Hamlet by saying “This is a play about indecision”? Of course not. Instead of starting with theme, you can make your story more compelling by focusing on its three main actors: the villain, the victim, and the hero.
Villains in business often aren’t animate. In the mind of the consumer, even mere frustration is a recognizable evil. Or the villain could be a transaction that is incomplete or unsatisfying (anything from a faulty product to cold coffee or warm ice cream). This villain-victim-hero framework can be applied across many industries: All told, 42 victims had together borrowed less than $27. This tale simply works, doesn’t it? Genius Hour / 20% Time. AMPed. MrLarge'sBlog | Innovation @ NPHS. Npgametime. Liberating Genius: A Plan for the First 20 Days of School. Viktor Frankl wrote that a person “who can find a why to live can bear almost any how.” Meaning. We search for it. We long for it. We want to matter. Students want it. Teachers want it. If there is one movement I can ask you to join, it is choose to matter. Listen to this show. Important Takeaways How kids, teachers and school have a brand and how to communicate that brand to the world.What Angela thinks about her brother’s tragic suicide and how things could have been different.Can schools make time for this?
Educator Resources Interview Links @angelamaiers. Werner Herzog Narrates the Existential, Emotional Journey of a Plastic Bag.
Internet Catalogue. Student’s project catches NASA’s attention. NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — Jessie Elliott is not your average high school junior. You can see that in her Twitter feed. She has followers in other countries. And at NASA. They’re interested in something else that makes Jessie distinctive: a class project at Noblesville High School. She wants to reduce light pollution, or too much light at night. “Right now,” Jessie says, “especially in other cities, there’s kind of an exponential growth in light pollution.” She’s working with the city of Noblesville to reduce the amount of unnecessary light. As part of a class project for teacher Don Wettrick’s Innovations class, she is developing an ordinance for the city.
The world tends to want “as much light as possible and the cheapest light possible,” Jessie told 24-Hour News 8. As a result, “we overdo it a bit.” Jessie would like to make a few revisions in the lighting guidelines of Noblesville. Why? It is time consuming work. Like this: Like Loading... Advertisement. Genius Hour (Responses) - Google Sheets. 20% Project. Introduction If you read the mission statement of Shanghai American School, we want students to develop a lifelong passion for learning and have the courage to live their dreams. Over the last year or so, the teachers at SAS have been reading and talking about how we can provide these opportunities for our students and help them become learners in the 21st century. This means being creative, curious, collaborative, connective, and critical thinkers. In my own reading and research, I have become intrigued by the research of Daniel Pink, who wrote Drive – The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us.
You can watch a synopsis of his ideas in this video. You will need a VPN to watch the YouTube clip. So – what does this have to do with a project in Humanities class? I was lucky enough to experience this two summers ago during a technology workshop. So, with this project, students will have the chance to learn about something of their own choosing. How will the 20% Project Work? The SchoenBLOG. The Complete Guide to 20% Time (and Genius Hour) in the Classroom. It’s been almost a full three years since I told my students they would have 20% of their class time to work on whatever project they were inspired to create. Since then I’ve learned so much from my students and our amazing community of 20% time and Genius Hour teachers. I have tried to share this journey, the ups and downs, through blog posts, video interviews, a 20% time MOOC, and most recently my book, Inquiry and Innovation in the Classroom.
Now, as I begin moving forward into other projects and seasons of new work, I want to make sure that any teacher looking to start 20% time or Genius Hour with their students have a complete FREE resource they can dig into and get the nuts and bolts of how to make it happen. The Course: The Complete Guide to 20% Time (and Genius Hour) in the Classroom When you sign up for this free email course you’ll receive the following: Sign-Up For the Free Course Here You’ll receive the entire course over the period of 7 days. Module 1: Why 20% Time? Enjoy! A.J. Juliani — Teach Different. How Professors Can Bolster Inquiry in College Using K-12 Tech Tricks. Coverage of technology in higher education often stops at whether Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) can be an effective way to educate hundreds of thousands of students cheaply, or focuses on the newest app to help students track their classes and homework. Much of the technology marketed to universities targets administrative tasks, things like registering students or sites like Blackboard and Moodle that make it easy for students to check assignments and download readings.
But especially in a seminar setting, some professors are using technology in ways that mirror some of the forward-thinking practices of K-12 teachers who are known for applying inquiry-based methods, accessing low-cost technology that’s easy to use and making the subject relevant to students’ lives. “It was a way of opening up by bringing into the classroom modern Jewish thinkers who are engaged in modern Jewish thought,” Koltun-Fromm said. Katrina Schwartz Katrina Schwartz is a journalist based in San Francisco. CQ 037: Do teachers need a Genius Hour too? – Classroom Questions.
CQ 037: Do teachers need a Genius Hour too? – Classroom Questions. 20-Time In Education Inspire. Create. Innovate. Final Portfolios: Ending the Year with Meaning. All in all, this year was tough but I made it through. I learned a lot about culture, society, and religion. Society shouldn't determine who you are as a person because who [can] judge us? We as individuals can only judge ourselves. (Excerpt from Long Nu's Final Portfolio) The end of the school year is a time of conflicting needs. One way that I attempt to help make meaning of a year, give students the final word about their learning, and achieve a collective sense of completion is by assigning a portfolio project as the final major assignment of the year.
Portfolio Overview With or without access to technology, final portfolios are opportunities for students be creative as they reflect on, describe, analyze, and interpret their own work and learning from the year. This class has really made me think about where I fit into the world, and how I can use my position in the world to incite change. At first I never knew stepping out of my comfort zone would make me feel like a new person. What is Genius Hour? - Genius Hour. What is Genius Hour? Genius hour is a movement that allows students to explore their own passions and encourages creativity in the classroom. It provides students a choice in what they learn during a set period of time during school. It’s not easy to determine where the idea was originally created, but there are at least two events that have impacted genius hour.
Genius Hour Origins The search-engine giant, Google, allows it’s engineers to spend 20% of their time to work on any pet project that they want. The idea is very simple. Another origin of genius hour projects came from the book Drive by best-selling author, Daniel Pink. Each week, employees can take a Genius Hour — 60 minutes to work on new ideas or master new skills. Genius Hour in Education The same genius hour principles apply in the classroom as they do in the corporate environment.
By Angela Maiers and Amy Sandoval. Many teachers are raving about the autonomy that students are finding in their classes, including myself. Blog. Teachers Using Trello: How To Foster Genius In The Classroom. D’aww… the feeling is mutual, guys. Are you smarter than a fifth grader? Surely not these Geniuses, because they’re using Trello to answer the tough questions. The concept of Genius Hour has become a popular mechanism for educators to encourage their students to explore their interests.
To avoid gaps in learning, much of the US curriculum is standardized. The Genius Hour movement, however, is a great way to inject open ended exploration into different aspects of our world. The basic concept is that for one hour twice a week, students explore a topic of their choosing. They research the same topic for 12 one hour sessions, before presenting their findings on a medium of their choice. Paul Solarz is a 5th grade teacher who is passionate about adapting tech in the classroom, and is constantly innovating with his budding Geniuses.
Asking PHAT Questions “The goal is to have a large enough question to keep you excited and interested for that entire period of time,” Paul explains. Mr. Amelia B. McKie sur Twitter : "#20Time @MrMcMicken @rvhs creative minds! Changing lives.... Isaac Newton mosaic timelapse 32x speed + informational voiceover. 20% Time Trailer 2015. Innovation Reflection Pond: Gazing At Past Student Projects | ideaFM. Looking at my past student projects reminds me of a Koi pond. Letting my students look at past student projects is like bringing your nephew to visit a favorite Koi pond: you can just see them thinking and reflecting and you find yourself both visiting the past and gazing into the future. I’ve always wanted to have a calm spot where my students can gaze at past innovation projects. I’m going to use this post as a “project pond” and continually update it with pictures and links to past student’s projects. Thanks for stopping by. Project #1 2014: Park and Ponder The Need: our parking lot at FVHS was uninspiring, a group of students wanted to make sure that the beginning of every day started off on the right foot.
The Feed: after quite a bit of back and forth with admin and the district (the admin and district were more than helpful in the process) they finished the project over spring break and it looked great. Find out more at the Park and Ponder Twitter account. The Feed: They DID it. Keynotes - Kevin Brookhouser. Kevin is available to speak to your group on a broad variety of topics including Project Based Learning, Digital Citizenship, Online Security, Google's 20% Time in the Classroom, Public Speaking Development, and The Design Thinking Process.
Keynotes The 20time Project: Fueling Future-Ready Students March 17, 2015 Phoenix, AZ March 5, 2015 EdTechTeam Whitecourt Summit Whitecourt, AB, Canada Inspiring Technology for the Math Classroom January 23, 2015 DuPage Valley Math Conference Carol Stream, Illinois Fueling Future-Ready Students American International School of Muscat, Oman Mountain Oaks School Annual Retreat Murphys, California The #20Time Project: Igniting an Innovative Classroom October 25, 2014 Thompson Rivers University Epic Fail: Nurturing Future Ready Minds in the Age of Control-Z October 10, 2014 Diocese of Phoenix Technology SummitPhoenix, AZ Epic Fail: Nurturing Growth Mindset in the Age of Control-Z October 2, 2014 Boise GAFE Festival Timberline High School, Boise, ID September 26, 2014 May 25, 2014. 2014 #20Time projects in 4 minutes. York School 2015 20time Projects Preview. 8 Things to Look For in Today’s Classroom. As I think that leaders should be able to describe what they are looking for in schools I have thought of eight things that I really want to see in today’s classroom.
I really believe that classrooms need to be learner focused. This is not simply that students are creating but that they are also having opportunities to follow their interests and explore passions.1 The teacher should embody learning as well. Will Richardson recently wrote this in a comment on one of my recent posts on what teachers need to be like in our current day and the focus that needs to be on learning: …we need teachers who are masters at developing kids as learners who are adept at sense making around their own goals.
Teachers who are focused on helping students develop the dispositions and literacies required to succeed regardless of subject or content or curriculumThis moment is all about learners having an amazing new freedom to learn, not teachers having an amazing new freedom to teach. 1. What I have missed? Buy Pure Genius - Innovation in the Classroom - Don Wettrick. Genius Hour at Arlington High School. I'm Taking a Break From University... And I Haven't Even Started | Patrick Mott. The time I have been dreaming about since kindergarten was finally approaching. University seemed like a distant eternity from the confines of elementary and high school. Suddenly, everything began to happen so quickly -- prom, final exams, graduation. Then, with what seemed like a blink of an eye, I was a few short weeks from starting the next chapter of my life: Ryerson University.
Everything was in order. My iPhone woke me up with screeching sound of my alarm on August 19. Last year, in June 2013, as I procrastinated studying on the eve of my grade 11 math exam, I tweeted that it was my summer goal to have lunch with Arlene Dickinson. A year later, I walked into Le Select Bistro on Wellington Street in Toronto. We then began talking about how I was only a two weeks away from beginning to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Communication at Ryerson University. Then came the words I have been wishing to hear since I started my company, "There's space in my building. Gallery: Life on Chicago’s South Side. The Antidote to Apathy – From Indifference to Making a Difference | Cruxcatalyst: The Heart of Change.
#BBCtrending: Tunisia’s rubbish selfie trend. Bentley Ad Shot Using iPhone 5s, Assembled on iPad Air. Designing 20% Time in Education. Why the 'no make-up selfies' campaign raised £2m. TMB Panyee FC short film. Crowd-funded Lego car powered by air. Still figuring it out: Tavi Gevinson at TEDxTeen. Kristopher Bronner - "How to Change the World" Alan Watts - What do you desire? IF ONLY FOR A SECOND // Mimi Foundation // EN. Google Search: Reunion.