Figuring out how to tap into your student’s various passions can go a long way toward motivating students to learn. But how can you adopt this student-centered effective teaching strategy?
Today on TeachHUB.com, frequent contributing writer Janelle Cox, also an East Coast-based educator, tells website visitors how to recognize students’ passions using a technique called Genius Hour.
Genius Hour is a time-honored classroom technique in which students explore their own passions, share them with their classmates, and therefore become that much more invested in the educational process.
Genius Hour does require that students brainstorm their own projects (and generally, there is no due date or deadline). Some sample projects include:
- How to throw a football like a quarterback.
- How to make a bow for your hair.
- How to create a website.
- What is makeup made of?
- How does a plane fly?
These projects are worked on for approximately one hour per week, until completion (keep in mind the no deadline mandate).
What do you think of Genius Hour? Have you tried in your classroom?
Creative Literature Projects Students Love
Regardless of whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, sometimes it’s hard to get students engaged in classic literature. Let’s face it: “The Great Gatsby” simply isn’t great to everyone: Some students will inevitably find the text boring and outdated.
So how does a good English teacher get kids engaged with a book like “The Catcher in the Rye”?
We recently listed out some time-honored tips for engaging kids with classic texts, including:
- Throw a “Great Gatsby” party
- Make a “Fahreneit 451” mug shot gallery
- Have students make “Romeo and Juliet”-type masks to attend a Capulet party
- And more!
What do you do to put an extra twist to your assignments and lesson plans?
