Genius Hour or 20% Time is a strategy for teachers to use in the classroom to allow students to explore their unique passions and interests. Teachers aim to set aside a set amount of non-structured time to allow for creativity and student choice, usually resulting in a final product or project. 

There are many benefits to incorporating Genius Hour or 20% Time into your classroom. When implemented at Google, results showed that employees were more productive. Genius Hour allows for students to delve deeper into a subject that interests them which makes them more engaged and empowered learners. When students know that they are going to have to present and share their progress with their peers, it creates pressure to go the extra mile. Many teachers grade the process, and not necessarily the final product. This is in stark contrast to how students are typically graded, and students usually find this to be a relief. It is a great way for teachers and students to differentiate. Since not everyone is tasked with the same exact assignment, students and teachers can change up how information is being learned and presented. Students tend to learn better when doing something hands on, as opposed to just listening to a lecture. The project-based aspect of this idea encourages mastery and lifelong learning. This model also is more reflective of what their future workplace tasks will look like, giving them experience and practice for what is to come. 

There are a few potential hurdles that are associated with the Genius Hour concept. The first is how you will grade the project or process. Luckily, the website LiveBinders provides a number of rubrics that can be used: https://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=829279. Most teachers decide to grade the process, as opposed to the final product. 

Another obstacle is getting faculty and parents onboard with the idea. You can address this by sending letters home, inviting them into your classroom, posting updates on your blog, and inviting them to the student presentations. 

You will also have a few students who just don’t feel like doing this type of project, and don’t take advantage of the set aside time. The key to help get them involved and interested is to speak with them personally about their desires, and link it to the project. You can do this by talking to them about their lives, and try to uncover their true passions (which maybe they didn’t even know they had!). 

I use Zoom on a regular basis in my class, which is completely virtual.

I have found that Zoom has many benefits. Students can come to class using their computer, phone, or tablet. They can connect from anywhere that has internet, not just their homes. Zoom allows students to see my face and hear my voice, which increases relationship building. I like that students have the choice to share their video, share their voice, or write in the chat. Students who are painfully shy can still participate without using video or the microphone which leads to increased participation. Zoom allows me to share my screen so I can navigate the internet and they can follow along. I can also create slideshows to show them, share music, and show videos all in one spot. The chat feature allows me to push out links to websites and videos, surveys, exit tickets, and any outside sources I deem applicable. Zoom also has an annotate tool where I can write and mark up the screen like a teacher would a blackboard or smartboard in a regular classroom. Zoom also allows me to record my lessons and share them to the class so they can listen to them again, or listen for the first time if they were absent. I can create breakout rooms to facilitate small group work, and create polls during class to check for understanding (formative assessment). Students can also raise their hand, react with an emoji, or grab the microphone to speak to everyone. The chat function allows students to ask questions while I speak, answer each other’s questions, or send me a direct message that they don’t want others to see.

Some challenges I have experienced with Zoom involve multi-tasking. When you have a lot of students in a room and they are typing questions in the chat box, raising their hand, and wanting to come on the microphone while you are simultaneously teaching, it can get overwhelming. With time, practice, and experience I have gotten better at managing all of these things at once. Some challenges that still remain have to do with participation. Most of my students sign in to class but do not turn on their microphone or video. My goal is to develop relationships with students, and help them develop relationships with each other. When you can’t see and hear everyone, this diminishes that. Also, when students do not have their mic or video on, you can’t really ensure that they are even there, let alone participating. There are always a few stragglers who don’t sign off after class ends, and you know that they have most likely walked away from their computers at some point and have yet to return. I’ve been working on making my lessons more interactive and less lecture-based in order to reel them in and keep their interest.

Twitter has many benefits as a tool for building professional learning networks Below are some benefits of using Twitter for this purpose:

1. Ability to collaborate with teachers all over the world
2. Receive professional development on a daily or weekly basis
3. Find immediate results to a question
4. Access to experts in the field
5. Personalization of topics and people you follow
6. Promote digital citizenship in your own classroom

Here are some drawbacks to using Twitter for PLN’s:

1. Privacy concerns
2. Information shared may not be backed by credible sources
3. Maintaining and updating social media can be time consuming
4. Social media can become addicting
5. Can decrease the quality and quantity of face-to-face interactions

Despite some of the cons, I believe Twitter should be used as a form of professional growth in education. It is time consuming and monetarily restrictive for school districts to recruit professionals to come in for professional development days during the school year. The access that teachers have to Twitter allows them to find answers to their questions instantaneously. They can also connect with teachers outside of their own school and around the world to gain a more well-rounded view and advice. Teachers can also connect with experts in their field who may not be available in-person. Twitter also give teachers the ability to create a network that is personalized to their needs and subject area. Instead of generalized information, they can hone in on specific information and people who would support their continued learning.

US Department of Defense. (2017). flickr. Retrieved April 3, 2023, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/39955793@N07/36334911114/in/photolist-XmMVbJ-oC6pQa-bQsACt-8xz2W3-qbYLqn-ouu9NC-AUiqwx-rmedix-RKn3Nw-oY3js3-oUzXjZ-oC5nZa-2mybF1C-oZPwdv-6XczjF-oVwzvA-SfAKdb-frPiRx-NynnRY-DUdYBu-wP1oiW-SPYfPv-2jeGNE8-aWjxYT-oYR5eF-rSPPxu-BXqVGx-oMjCos-2454gDG-wyQcHA-i6VoVk-QZi7Yp-i6J5jq-rTA1Vo-uKLQ6s-oj2axX-wkbXvt-pfcYTA-wZNFrm-wZKg6J-wZpkaU-xhsNM6-wZMXJw-8vqjaA-xeYa63-wZkuSs-oavpCQ-wk9G3t-wk6YuT-wZuKCx/.

I can see a lot of benefit to using flickr in my classroom. It is a great place to search for images to incorporate into my powerpoint slides, as well as a source for images to create worksheets and infographics. I like the option to filter by copyright restrictions so I know that I am using the image with written permission by the original content creator.

I would use flickr with my students in several ways. I would incorporate it into a lesson about digital citizenship and copyright laws. I think it’s important to give them sources to use for all future projects they create. They could find and use these images to create posters, add to blogs, create slideshows, and even screencasts.

I chose the above photo to share because we do a unit in class about technical schools, and several of my students want to become welders. They could use photos like this in their final projects where they create a presentation that explains what their future career goals are, and the steps they are going to take to achieve them.

The third article I used in my research is entitled, “Using Padlet For Collaborative Learning,” by Inma Beltrán-Martín. This was published in The 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances in 2019. 

Beltran-Martin describes the six main uses of Padlet as being research resource gathering, class resources, class diary, FAQ, brainstorming, and online dialogue. She conducted her research by using Padlet in a masters class for secondary education. The author’s main goal in using Padlet in her master’s class was to introduce reflection in her student’s daily activities, and have them interact with one another in order to improve the quality of their craft (in this case: teaching). She had them participate in Padlet activities specific to the six uses stated above. She then gave the participants a survey using a five point scale to rate their satisfaction with Padlet. The category that ranked highest among the students was Padlet’s ease of use, followed by their comfortability in sharing answers. They remarked that it helped them understand further what they were covering in class, and it allowed them to easily work together with classmates. Padlet enabled them to work better in small and large groups, allowed for the instructor to follow along in their progress and comment when necessary, and encouraged student reflection on their own learning. Overall, everyone agreed that it was a positive experience and only further reinforced what was being taught in class by encouraging collaboration. 

Beltrán-Martín, I. (2019). Using Padlet for Collaborative Learning. 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd’19). https://doi.org/10.4995/head19.2019.9188 

The second article I chose for my research is entitled, “Enhancing Classroom Engagement Through Padlet: A Case Study.” It was written by in 2020 by Megat Mohd. Zainuddin, N., Mohd Azmi, N. F., Mohd Yusoff, R. C., Shariff, S. A., & Wan Hassan, W. A. It is published in the International Journal of Innovative Computing.

Their study focused on increasing engagement and participation in an e-learning environment. They pinpointed some of the barriers that prevent students from actively participating in class such as difficulty speaking, being shy, and fear of interaction or providing comments. I often encounter these barriers in my online class as well. The study used 39 students in a post graduate business statistics class. Students were given tasks to complete using Padlet outside of class, to supplement the discussion. Afterwards, they were given a questionnaire to provide feedback on their experience. The majority of students found Padlet to be a motivating tool to complete tasks, interact with other classmates, and encouraged interaction and completion of tasks together. They felt “encouraged and supported by their colleagues in completing their assignments.” They felt inspired and eager to complete assignments, and it even increased competitiveness among one another to contribute more and accurate information. 

Megat Mohd. Zainuddin, N., Mohd Azmi, N. F., Mohd Yusoff, R. C., Shariff, S. A., & Wan Hassan, W. A. (2020). Enhancing classroom engagement through Padlet as a learning tool: A case study. International Journal of Innovative Computing, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.11113/ijic.v10n1.250 

The first source I used in my research for our course project is entitled, “Using Padlet as a Pedagogical Tool.” It was written by Ameera Ali from York University and published in The Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, Special Issue 22: Compendium of Innovative Practice October 2021.

This article follows a teacher in higher education converting her in-person Sociology tutorial class into a completely online tutorial class due to Covid. She found Padlet to be the best platform for student collaboration and engagement that mimicked the work they would be doing in the classroom. She tried three different formats of Padlet with her class: The Wall format, the Shelf format, and the Canvas format, and found them all to be user friendly and interactive. She found that her student participation increased, especially among those who would otherwise not actively participate in the face-to-face classroom. Padlet provided the option to ask questions anonymously, which encouraged engagement. She liked the ability to make Padlet student-led, and her students later remarked that they found Padlet to be more engaging than traditional tutorial classes. Ali referenced eight different journal articles in her research and writing. 

Ali, A. (2021). Using Padlet as a pedagogical tool. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (22).

https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi22.799 

Here is a lesson plan from my College and Career Readiness class that I changed to include a social bookmarking element. My changes to the original can be seen in red: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NLTsQYpKl34KO4zLIBuiytH0JemjeUzl/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=110180692615796585983&rtpof=true&sd=true

I chose this lesson plan to incorporate social bookmarking because I remember thinking, “I have so many resources I want to show them, but they will get lost on a powerpoint slide or pushed out in the chat box.” The use of a collaborative Pinterest board allowed me to not only display the resources I found, but also have them research their own and contribute to the class. They can also save the Pinterest board to refer back to later. They may even have some resources or programs that they are already in that I may learn from as well.

Some things I need to keep in mind before doing this lesson is that the students will need to have a Pinterest account already in order to contribute to the board. I may want to push the directions out in the prior lesson and have them set up an account for homework so we don’t have to lose time in class setting up accounts.

The advantages of this revision are that students will now have resource in one spot to refer to if they decide to not go to college, but still want to receive career training. The disadvantages may be that students will choose not to participate during live lesson, or do not feel comfortable setting up their own account for privacy purposes. Sometimes when they are barely paying attention in class and are asked to go perform a task outside of our discussion, I sometimes lose kids. But overall, it is something I will incorporate because I think the pros outweigh the cons.

I hope to use RSS feeds to both enhance my own learning, and use what I’ve found in class with my students. The ability to have up to date information sent directly to you on a daily basis in a curated way instead of spending precious time seeking it out provides more time for lesson planning and student interaction.

I chose the following five RSS feeds to subscribe to:

“Adventures in Online Teaching” http://adventuresonlineteaching.blogspot.com/– I found this feed useful because it is written by someone who teaches online (like myself) and shares teaching strategies and useful articles that we can apply to our classes on a daily basis.

“Career Advice” http://adventuresonlineteaching.blogspot.com/– This site, as it’s title implies, discusses practical advice for people currently in a career or seeking a career. I teach college and career readiness, and found the information they present to be applicable to my class and useful to my students as they begin their journey into a new career after graduation.

“PBS NewsHour- Education” https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education– This feed is a good source for current events related to education and decisions that law makers are making across the US regarding funding, curriculum, etc. I like to stay up to date with the latest changes being made in our state and across the country.

“Edutopia” https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdksaQxXH13BMeHo09MorBg– This feed provides videos and unique lesson plan ideas to implement in my own classroom.

“Fractus Learning” https://www.fractuslearning.com/– Fractus is a teacher-led blog where educators post new technology tools they are implementing in class, unique lesson plan, and creative assessments.

I came across this student blogging project that sounded interesting: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/student-blogs/

What impressed me is that the many examples she provided could be easily adapted to any grade level or subject. The project that caught my eye was the one pertaining to blogging about a community service project from start to finish. I oversee our senior’s Service Learning Project which is a graduation requirement under Act 158. Students are required to complete at least 10 community service hours in order to complete the graduation pathway. I think that the creation of a blog would help them see what a service they are doing to their community, as well as give other students ideas on ways to help out in their neighborhood. It would also allow me to monitor their progress and provide feedback and motivation as they progress. Students could even work together in groups (if they live close enough to each other) to complete their blog and project. My Senior Success class has a whole unit devoted to the creation of a resume, and ultimately sharing it to LinkedIn if permissible by their caretakers. Including a link to the blog on their LinkedIn account could show future employers their hard work and dedication to their community.