It has been weeks in the making, but here is the final wrap up of my genius hour experience! Through the creation of my own genius hour, I was able to explore all of the benefits that inquiry based learning has on students at any age! While it was difficult at first to come up with a question and them for my genius hour, I think the end result worked out quite well! I'm looking forward to implementing Genius Hours into my own classroom one day!
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If you have thought about the world and the communities within it, and if you have ever wondered if there is something you can do to make it better, then this is the blog for you! Here I have been documenting my genius hour exploration which looks at finding different ways of making small changes in the world on a daily basis. Most people have the misunderstanding that in order to make a difference in the world you either need to be famous, rich or devoting your whole life to social change. This in fact is not the case. Over the course of the past four weeks, I have been trying to promote a pay it forward initiative that inspires and encourages people to do small acts of kindness throughout their day to put smiles on the faces of others. By reading this blog, you will be able to find ideas to make a difference within your own life and the life of others! Happy Reading.
Up until now, my genius hour goal has been going very well! My involvement on my Twitter and Facebook page has been lacking the past few days, only because I've been so busy with school. With this being said however, I have continued to encourage my friends and family to "Make a LITTLE change" whenever they could throughout their days, and I think that it is starting to pay off. They have been putting in more effort to spread love by complimenting strangers, and buying coffee for people behind them in line. In fact, it seems like my initiative has come full circle. I was in the drive through at Tim Horton's and ordered a medium coffee and a sandwich. When I got to the window to pay the lady said "The man in front of you paid for your food, and then he said Make a LITTLE change! Not sure what that means..." I was thrilled that I had finally started to make an influence. I was even more thrilled that my boyfriend had bought me lunch! Turns out he was was the mysterious man in front of me at Tim Horton's. Either way, it's something! The great thing about this initiative is it acts as a ripple effect! Even though it was just my boyfriend buying me lunch, that act was seen by the lady working at Tim Horton's and hopefully it inspired her to make a difference for someone in her own world! I think the whole point of this Genius Hour is to let people know that it doesn't matter what you're doing, just as long as you're doing something! Even a smile goes a long way :) Here's another video from the famous Kid President to give you some more ideas on how to make people happy!
In my last post I talked about how I have been promoting #MakeaLITTLEchange through Facebook and Twitter! These outlets have been working very well to spread the word about sharing LOVE, and making a difference in the world, through inspiration videos, pictures, quotes and experiences. However, this is not where I wanted to leave this project. Of course I knew in my heart that I couldn't just sit back behind a computer screen and hope for the best, I had to participate as well! Over the past few weeks I have been doing everything I can to share the hashtag #MakeaLITTLEchange, and my Twitter handle @SharingL0V3, in order to continue to spread the word and gain followers in this pay it forward initiative! I did this while also sharing the love! Firstly, I posted over 60 sticky notes throughout the school with inspirational messages, pay it forward ideas, and uplifting quotes on them (as well as my hashtag and twitter handle, of course). In my classes, I encouraged people to take stacks of sticky notes that I had already written up, and leave them around town on buses, doors, and signs. I also asked that if they saw a sticky note that I had previously posted somewhere, to take it, give it away or move it! On white boards throughout the school I wrote inspirational messages along with #MakeaLITTLEchange and @SharingL0V3. With my personal agenda, I have made a goal for myself to buy a coffee for the person behind me in the drive through whenever I can. In order to keep the Pay It Forward initiative moving, I have been asking the Tim Horton's employees to either write "Pay it Forward," or I would hand them one of my sticky notes to put on the coffee! Below are some pictures documenting what I have been doing so far! There is one picture that was posted by a Thames Valley DSB school ("Take what you need. Give what you can.") that inspired me to do the same at our school. In their picture they posted a ton of sticky notes in one place with the hopes that people would take and share the inspiration. This is my goal for the coming weeks! Somewhere in Whelch Hall, I'd like to post 100 sticky notes, and encourage people to take some and leave some...Maybe we can fill the whole hall way! :) What will you do today!? Since my last post, I believe that my pay it forward initiate has really taken flight! As of now I have both a Twitter page and a Facebook page (which you can access through the buttons above)! Both pages seem to be doing well, and I have been trying my very best to stay active and relevant so that my followers will continue to be reminded about what my purpose is. Just to recap, my goal is to do something to better this world. I have always struggled with the thought that there is so much to do to fix this planet, and I didn't have the means to do so. Throughout my teacher education, I came to realize that perhaps my career itself could be an outlet to make a change. I'm shocked to think that I ever believed that I was unable to make a difference when realistically, I will be influencing hundreds and hundred of young, excited, and passionate minds who will grow up one day to change the world in their own ways.
Through this pay it forward initiative, Make a Little Change, I hope to reach people that I otherwise would not be able to through teaching, and inspire them to make small changes in their day to day lives to spread love and happiness to others. At this point in the process, I can confidently say that I have reached at least 150 people through my Twitter and Facebook accounts, whether that be through direct content, or other people sharing and liking my posts. While this is a great start, I still have a lot more work to do! Stay tuned to learn about more ways I have been Making a Little Change, and #SharingL0V3 I am starting to get super excited about turning my Pay it Forward idea into a real, successful movement. To recap, I am hoping to Make a Little Change by spreading love through daily acts of kindness. However, instead of doing it alone, I am challenging my family, friends, peers and community to join and get involved with this initiate! As of now, my goal is to make this challenge viral by creating social media sites and outlets to share encouraging words, pay it forward ideas, and individual's stories of kindness. I am doing this in hopes to showcase solidarity, LOVE, and the idea that even though times get rough, we are all in this together!
So far, I have started my journey by creating social media sites for my initiative, while also starting to spread the word about my idea and what my goals are! I have found resources, and ideas to support my plan, which I will start to implement later on in the process. By next week, I hope to have started to document my acts of kindness, and continue SPREADING LOVE.
What is Genius Hour?
For more information on 'Genius Hour' visit Additional Resources Creating a Genius Hour (G H) project in your classroom is a great way to modify learning in a way that is inclusive and manageable for all students. While it is true that all students learn in different ways, have different interests, and may struggle in different aspects of education, GH allows for every student to do well at something they excel in and are passionate about. This leaves room for ALL students to succeed! Throughout the coming weeks, I will be sharing my own GH adventure with you, in hopes to exemplify the benefits of such a project. Attached below is the very first step of creating a GH, my proposal.
Technology is at the root of 21st century education! While I have yet to master all that there is to know about how our world operates today on a technology based level, I am always willing and excited to learn! Even when things get frustrating or confusing, there is always an end goal that can be reached, which is always satisfying! Here is a little bit of inspiration for this sunny Monday!
As 21st century educators, technology is at the forefront of our existence. It can be used within all aspects of the classroom, while working to provide new and exciting ways to meet content learning goals. Technology can enhance instruction, create different models for teaching, and most importantly make learning exciting!
While these new practices have changed the way we look at education, there are still many responsibilities and precautionary steps we must take to ensure that we are implementing these content-appropriate technologies in a way that is appropriate and legal, in terms of copyright. With technology right at our fingertips, in the form of laptops, cellphones and tablets, accessing information and resources is easier than ever before, however there are rules in place that allow us to take advantage of this properly. As a teacher, it is so easy to use a YouTube video to spice up your lecture, download photos for a slide show, or even encourage your students to do the same. What’s important is to ensure that you are using resources that have allowed you to do so. Creative Commons is a great place to start when looking to access inspiration and share resources. |
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