5-Minute Film Festival: Genius Hour
This collection of short videos explores “Genius Hour,” a method that gives students one hour per week to focus on a project of their choice. Imagine what your students can do when they’re able to pursue their interests in the classroom!
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Imagine if you were allowed to use a whole workday every week to explore any project you wanted.聽With no restrictions on your time or what you could do, think of the ideas you could come up with and the things you could learn about!聽In the workplace, this practice is called 20 percent time.聽It first gained widespread notice , but many companies have allowed employees to work on side projects as a way of fostering innovation.
Since it's not often possible for teachers to sacrifice an entire day of schooling to allow for individual creative pursuits, the idea has been reinterpreted in many schools as a "Genius Hour," where students get one hour per day or week to focus on a project of their choice. The practice combines well with classroom pedagogies such as project-based learning and inquiry-based learning. To find out more about what 20 percent time is and how to use it, watch the playlist below!
Video Playlist: 20 Percent Time in the Classroom
Watch the first video below, or watch the whole playlist on .
- by TEDx Talks (16:06)
is one advocate of the Genius Hour method. He calls his approach to projects "." In this TEDxMonterey talk, he explains how allowing students to pursue their own interests can inspire curiosity in other areas of life.
- by (3:09)
If you've never heard of 20 percent time or the "Genius Hour" movement, this cute hand-animated video by Chris Kesler, the founder of , will give you a good overview of what makes an effective school-based 20 percent time project.
- I want to do Genius Hour... now what? by NHS Innovation Class (3:48)
As with any teaching method, there are some challenges to using 20 percent time in schools. In this video,聽, author of the book , talks frankly and honestly about some potential roadblocks you might face along the way.聽
- by (3:50)
All of the students in Kevin Brookhouser's humanities classes completed a project. This cool compilation video shows each student pitching his or her idea. From short stories to film projects to science experiments, these students did it all!
- by (2:33)
Google's Director of People Operations, Shannon Deegan, talks about why the company decided to implement 20 percent time and how it works, giving some examples of products that started as 20 percent time side projects.
- by (6:01)
Video projects lend themselves particularly well to the Genius Hour approach. This amazing student-created stop-motion video was produced for a class project. Watch as Gianni explains the stop-motion process and uses it to explore the life and times of a Lego character.
More Resources for Using Genius Hour in the Classroom
Curious about Genius Hour, in the workplace or the classroom? Whether you're interested in trying Genius Hour for a semester or a year, there is a large community of like-minded teachers ready to help you.
- by Chris Kesler,
- "" by Kaomi Goetz,
- "" by Terry Heick,
- "Turn Genius Hour Into Genius Year" by Jennifer Bernstein, 麻豆传媒入口
- "" by Jennifer Gonzalez,
- "" by Stephen Noonoo,
- "6 Tips for Getting Started with Genius Hour" by Nichole Carter, discussion post on 麻豆传媒入口
- Liberating Genius ebook by Angela Maiers,聽from