• Course Description

Genius Hour begins with a simple premise: Give your students 80 minutes of class time to learn what they want. They choose the content while also mastering skills and hitting the academic standards. In Genius Hour, students own the entire journey. 

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They choose the topics based upon their own varied interests. It doesn’t have to be a traditionally academic area. They might like fashion or food or sports or Legos or Minecraft or deep sea creatures. Students ask the questions and engage in their own research to find the answers.

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Along the way, they design their own plan of instruction. They decide on the resources and activities. Each student sets goals and engages in self-assessment.  Students will engage in one solo project/product and one group project that will answer questions that impact the world around them. In the end, students decide what they will make and how they will share their learning with the world.

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A word of caution: It’s not a free-for-all.

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Students will  have systems and structures that empower them  to reach their full potential. Even so, there will be mistakes. You’ll have to experiment. But in the end, students are empowered to be self-directed learners, engaging in creativity and critical thinking. In other words, they own the learning.
 

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• Classwork/Homework 
   

Class time will be used to develop ideas, questions, explore passions and create a plan for research and development. Once the initial framework for the course has been established, we will spend the majority of our time in research, exploration, collaboration and implementation of our ideas and hypotheses. Students may need to spend time outside of class working on incidentals or gathering a few materials, but this will be a very homework light class. 

A project will be completed and presented at the end of each semester. Some materials may be purchased by parents depending on what each student or group decides to do. We will make sure parents are aware of any upcoming expenses. Parents may veto a project that is too expensive.

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Sample Genius Hour Projects from TCC Students

• Create a Virtual Reality Tennis Game

• Open an ETSY store to sell handmade goods.

• Write and publish a children's picture book about sensory processing disorder.

• Create a guide with images teaching others how to crochet small animals.

• Discover what directors do and create a movie.

• Create a charity event for a local cause.

• Design a website.

• Design and submit an idea for a new Legos set.