This course provided me with two new ideas that I have begun to incorporate into my teaching, genius hour and infographics. I enjoyed learning about these because it was something new for my students to do, besides the usually Google Slides I often have them make, or group posters and presentations. The ability to read about how fellow classmates used both of these activities into their own classrooms was extremely beneficial to myself. It helps to know that you are trying something that works, and that I didn't have to worry about it not working in my classroom.
I will say the discussion posts to me were not beneficial to comment on another classmates post. I often found myself just wanting to agree with what they said, because I honestly felt the same way. I felt as if all I was doing was giving positive feedback, and then waiting to receive the same. It felt more like I was just typing up my own responses, and instead of doing that into a paper format, it was just put onto an online discussion. Discussion to me means more constant communication, back and forth, not just read and post. I do wish there was a time when we met online and did an online chat about the topic. I think the immediate feedback would have been helpful. Overall, I can say that this class made me refresh my blogging skills, as well as create new forms of assessment. It was a challenge at times, and often felt as if I wouldn't get it done but I did. I hope that this will cause me to continue researching more ways to use assessments in my classroom, and not just stick to what I know. I had never heard of Genius Hour before this module. Nothing about it seemed familiar, yet as I went through the module and began to read more about it, I really enjoyed the entire idea behind it. Genius Hour gives students an option to be creative in the classroom, and create something within a certain assigned time frame. Projects expand upon what they are/have learned in school, but goes beyond the normal project ideas we are use to as teachers.
For my Genius Hour I decided to tackle the question of "how to make a t-shirt quilt." I chose this because my Clothing 2 students are currently finishing up their first quilt, and after spring break we will be moving onto Recycled Sewing Projects. My students fell in love with quilting (basic mind you), and a fellow teacher stopped in to show me a t-shirt quilt she made for her daughter. My students saw it, and I knew I needed to eventually find out how it was made so I could give them the option of making one for their end of unit project. Overall, I loved the format of the Genius Hour. It was so easy to follow, read and document. I couldn't believe how much better I felt knowing I only had to tackle one thing each day. I found that I was spending more time focused on watching one video, versus constantly switching and searching for another one. It also helped me realize the importance of planning, because I often just get and idea and run with it. My goal is to use this Genius Hour project in all of my classes. I want to use this as a final project in my Baking classes, seeing as we do not get to cover everything students want to learn. I feel that this is a more detailed and scheduled assignment, than what I have been giving in the past. I use to have them make any baked good, do a powerpoint, and all that basic "project" formatting. But after going through this, I know that this gets right to the point, and it will be wonderful for me to follow along (using GoogleDocs) and keep them more focused on just one question. I could even have the entire class answer one question, and see how many projects come up from it. I am super excited to use this! |
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