Gallit’s Snapshot ISTE Presentation on Genius Hour

On June 29, 2015 I had the pleasure of presenting at ISTE 2015.  ISTE, or the International Society for Technology in Education, puts on a major conference every year. This most recent one was in Philadelphia, PA, and I was so excited to be able to share my Snapshot presentation on Genius Hour there.

TMMT-imageSnapshots presentations are meant to be about 30 minutes long and provide quick overviews, or a snapshot, of an educational topic. I kicked off my presentation by sharing the picture book The Most Magnificent Thing – a great way to introduce students to the idea of independent learning. Then I discussed why Genius Hour is important and how teachers can introduce Genius Hour in their classrooms.

The lovely people at ISTE recorded the session and were kind enough to give us permission to present it here. After you’ve browsed the Genius Hour Guidebook site for a bit, check this out!

 

ISTE 2015 Annual Conference – Used with permission

Gallit Zvi

Gallit Zvi is a vice principal and teacher in Surrey, BC, Canada who has taught 4th through 7th grade. Gallit has many years of experience mentoring both Teacher Candidates and experienced teachers and has coached many educators as they implement Genius Hour. She has also been a Faculty Associate in the Education Department at Simon Fraser University. Gallit blogs at Technology & Genius Hour: My Journey as a Teacher and Learner.

3 Responses

  1. Chris Pinta says:

    HI Gallit, watched your ISTE presentation on Genius Hour, loved. I was inspired after reading A.J. Juliani’s book last spring and decided to give GH a try this school year with my sixth grade students. Paul Solarz has been very helpful as I’ve reached out to him a few times. I do use the KWHLAQ and use Trello to help kids organize their thinking, as well as to keep me informed of their activities, however after watching your presentation and perusing your website I’m rethinking as my class moves into round three. I found after completing my second round that I did have students complete a lot earlier than others(as you referenced) and I was stuck trying to push them further, or critique what they did, which isn’t really the goal. As we move into round three this coming week, I’m definitely going to conference again with my class, and try to move them in the directions they feel comfortable going with their genius hour aspirations. Thank you for the inspiration.

  2. Gallit Zvi says:

    Hey Chris,

    Thanks for watching and for commenting! Sorry it took me so long to see this and comment back! Anyway, I know you are doing awesome things (from twitter!)…but what did you decide about Genius Hour? Did you and your students change it up?

    We need an update 🙂

    Gallit

    • Chris Pinta says:

      I definitely changed it and already had two presentations. Students understand that they present when they’re ready; also using they star and polish concept for peer evaluations. Using your presentation expectations from chapter four I put together the rubric I think you’ve seen, shared it with my student’s and used it to provide them with feedback.