One way to help students begin thinking about what "Big Questions" they will pursue for their Genius Hour projects and the products they will create as a result, is by encouraging them to move in the direction of their "why." Last year, our college counselors showed the following TEDx presentation to my sophomores with author, … Continue reading Genius Hour: Know Your Why
Remind
If you have been looking for an easy, privacy-ensuring way to quickly communicate via text message with your students and/or their parents, Remind is a perfect tool to do so. Merely open a free account, create classes for each of the periods you teach, and Remind will generate a code for each class. You can … Continue reading Remind
Genius Hour: A Poll
Summer break provides the perfect opportunity for rest, relaxation, and reflection. In addition to spending more quality time with family and friends, I consistently engage in my own professional development by finding books, webinars, or conferences which will help me better prepare my students for life beyond high school. I mentioned in this post that … Continue reading Genius Hour: A Poll
Grit: Ancient Wisdom
Since 2013, over 11 million of us have viewed Angela Duckworth's TED Talk entitled "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance." While her teaching experience and graduate research were indeed fascinating and resonated with quite a few, I couldn't help but think her findings were merely echoes of ancient wisdom reborn for a newer and … Continue reading Grit: Ancient Wisdom
Sir Ken Robinson Podcast
Sir Ken Robinson delivered a TED Talk in 2006, "Are Schools Killing Creativity?" which has been their most viewed talk to date with 25 million of us viewing it online. In 2013, he recorded the following 45-minute podcast for On Point entitled, "On Discovering Your Passions," which could be a helpful resource for teachers, guidance … Continue reading Sir Ken Robinson Podcast
Canva
Canva is an excellent design tool for any and all creative projects. Whether you need to create a blog title, Twitter header, resume, presentation template, or Venn diagram, they have it all--and it's free! Merely go to the website, create an account, find a template you like or choose a generic layout, and start designing. … Continue reading Canva
Digital Natives & Instructional Design
At the end of every school year, I throw out my lesson plans. Some would question that practice by telling me that I should merely tweak which lessons didn’t go well and reuse what did to avoid the time-consuming task of perpetual re-creation. However, I have learned through experience that each new year brings a … Continue reading Digital Natives & Instructional Design
Harkness: Student-Centered Learning
Guest post by Andrew Stacy It is a pleasure to invite teachers who are also passionate about their craft to contribute to this blog. I was thrilled when Andrew Stacy, a colleague of mine in the English department, agreed to write about his use of The Harkness Method, a student-centered approach to deeper, richer encounters … Continue reading Harkness: Student-Centered Learning
Curiosity: The Key to Success
Meet Caine, a 9-year-old from East L.A. whose curiosity has inspired millions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U Why is it that some of our students, like Caine, will follow their curiosity and interests to produce amazing creations or contrivances whilst others flounder or look to the teacher to tell them what to do next? How do we as teachers … Continue reading Curiosity: The Key to Success
Genius Hour 2.0
From Day 1, I was already reflecting on how it could be better. I am one of those teachers who jumps right in and iterates as I go. This was no exception.
naomijaynes.com 