A little background... Two years ago I decided, with research and the help of my principal, to get rid of homework. This was going to be a completely new avenue for me in my 8 years of education. Upon my research I discovered flipped classrooms, which I now do and believe the learning on my class has vastly improved. My biggest fear with the flipped classroom was what are the overachieving students going to do once they finish their work? I discovered something called 20% Time and as they say, whom ever they are, the rest is history.
Some of the projects my students have done in two years has been so impressive. The school spirit and creativity on display has been awesome! Students have painted the walls, lockers, locker rooms, doors, and even a hearing vent. I've had numerous students learn second languages. I had a student collect books to donate to a children's hospital. This student actually contacted me once she was in high school to let me know she was still doing her project on her own time.
The creativity that 20% time offers can be difficult for some students. Having that freedom in the classroom causes some students stress, but once they find their passion, most continue to excel.
I love 20% time and our genius hour. I have been extremely lucky to have administration that supports this type of learning. With a new administrator coming into the school this fall, I will do my best to emphasize the importance of 20% time.
I look forward to 20% time every year and students now on the first day usually have two questions, where are the books and our we doing 20% time this year? I love answering those question. We ditched the text books, and yes we will be doing 20% time. Just writing about 20% time gets me excited to see what my new 8th grade students will impress me with next school year.
Mr. Gordon!
ReplyDeleteI love that you have begun to blog. I think you will enjoy seeing the transformation of your blog as you continue to reflect on this platform. I think it's great fun to go back to my oldest blog posts and see what I wrote about and how I wrote about it!
Anyway, I have a hint I learned from other bloggers, so I'm passing it on to you now. Add some sort of picture or graphic (preferably your own creation) to each blog post. This does three things - 1) Makes it more visually appealing 2) Makes it "pop" when others have you on their feed (once they start following your blog - I use Feedly) 3) Others can "pin" your post, using the photo/graphic you display.
I hope you enjoy reflecting on this blog! Thank you for writing about 20% Time! If you need help convincing your new admin, you know where to go! ;) Enjoy this next year of yours!
P.S. - You KNOW I had to add this post to the LiveBinder... Once you start labeling/tagging your posts (categorizing them), I'll change the link so it goes to ALL of your posts about 20% Time. ;) http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/829279?tabid=d4fd7521-8a12-2b31-689f-fa89bb534865