Giving Children a Voice

Day 10

Today I finally had all my 5th graders start their Weebly blogs!  They were so very excited.  I am sure they are home now designing their blogs.  How powerful it is to give children a voice.

As you know my mission is to create a radical change in education.  I hope students will be excited about taking on a passion project and documenting their journey.  I believe all schools should be giving students time for genius hour.  Genius hour is a movement that allows students to explore their own passions and encourages creativity in the classroom. Genius Hour simply allows teachers to provide students a choice in what they learn and how they learn it during a set period of time within a school day or week. Some teachers allot one class period or one hour per week. Others aim for the 80/20 rule, in which 80 percent of the time is traditional standards-based teaching and learning and 20 percent is student directed.

Wouldn't it be exciting if you were given time to pursue your interests?  I know I would have loved to have been given a choice.  I am hoping that by doing this with my students, I can inspire other teachers in my district to give it a try.  School should be about creating curious lifelong learners.  

If you were a kid today, what topics would you love to investigate?