Pure Genius

I am currently reading Pure Genius: Building a Culture of Innovation and Taking 20% to the Next Level by Don Wettrick. I decided to write this reflection a little differently than other book reflections I have written in the past. Instead of taking notes, reviewing my notes, and reflecting; I am going to stop intermittently in the book and jot down some ideas as they strike me! This blog will basically be my notes to reflect upon.

LOVED Wettrick’s discussion about Dave Grohl (drummer for Nirvana and front man of Foo Fighters). Grohl basically says that now people are making music on computers, altering sounds using software. People are winning contests on reality shows that they are just singing someone else’s song on. Musicians need to fail. They need to record, rerecord, play cheap shows with poor equipment. Then, when they do make it – their music is organic and filled with passion, because they have poured their hearts into it. This is not only a great analogy for education, but for many things in life!

I also thought Wettrick’s comparison of education and gaming was brilliant. We often hear that kids and adults alike, love games. I love candy crush!  However, think about our classrooms. If I told all students they had to start at level one. No matter what, even if they had already completed level 22; everyone was starting at one. That’s not how we should be teaching, leading or guiding our students.

Key points from chapter one:

• Innovation Class is one in which students can have time and space to create their own learning experiences and collaborate with experts from around the world. It is also a place where students learn by doing and creating, rather than passively listening to a set of directions and pre-determined outcomes. And although we make sure to meet our standards, the focus is less on compliance and more on self-discovery and the pursuit of curiosity and knowledge building. YES! I love Wettrick's explanation of Innovation Class. This will be very helpful when explaining Genius Hour to parents this fall. 
• Innovation is always a work in progress, always evolving.
• One of the most important steps when problem solving is to ask the right questions. This reminds me of what Dave Burgess said in his book, Teach Like A Pirate: framing everything with the right questions is extremely important. It changes the way your brain thinks about things! Creative questioning helps us change our thinking and frame things as possible instead of just assuming we can't do it.
• Innovation uses a fresh approach to solving real problems with the resources you have and finding clever ways around the resources you don't have...Innovation brings new solutions to problems that arise in a changing environment. This is completely in line with what I tell my students - be solution people, not problem people! Innovative people are solution people by definition. I will definitely share this with the kids and make the connections to solving problems instead of stating them.
• I just finished up Learn Like a Pirate by Paul Solarz. One of my goals for the upcoming school year is to create and foster a student-led classroom. I want students to take ownership and responsibility in our classroom. Wettrick ties this in seamlessly, Students are asked to take ownership of their education. Instead of teachers putting a standard on the board and telling them how to meet it, students are given the challenge to prove they have mastered the required standards. They are also given the freedom to choose the method for completing the projects they choose. My 2nd goal for the upcoming school year - implement Genius Hour! Students will be working towards standards; however, instead of me speaking to them directly and then assessing them on what they heard/learned, the students will be choosing how they are going to demonstrate their knowledge of the standards and content to me.
• Working towards anything important to you means that you have to be willing to fail!

The Puzzle of Motivation by Dan Pink - click HERE! Wettrick suggests this TED video on motivation. Very interesting! Pink talks about the 3 things needed to motivate people: 

1. autonomy - independence!
2. mastery - need and desire to learn more!
3. purpose - doing this for a bigger reason!

This TED video and the research provided in it, support Genius Hour/20 Time tremendously!

Wettrick discusses creating a "Culture of Freedom from Day One". This had a big impact on me. He points out that students are excited the first day of school - they are excited to see their friends, bring in their new school supplies, etc. While building a collaborative classroom community, it is important not to squash that enthusiasm by telling them everything they canNOT do. Spend the first days telling them all of the exciting things that we will be doing in class.

According to Wettrick, there IS NO PLAN! However, there are guidelines:

• Project Based Learning; however, the teacher is not choosing the topic which typically happens in a project based learning environment.
• Students research topic of their choice, personal interest - this is hard for students! Many have not had this type of freedom before. Hold a classroom brainstorming session. Research how to EFFECTIVELY brainstorm. Also, create surveys for the kids to help get them thinking about their passions. Thought - have them research solutions to a local problem or a problem that they can make better. Something to do for our first whole group Genius Hour project. Do one together to model the process?
• Students can work individually or in groups (should be nor more than 3). If students do choose to work in groups, come up with possible "roles" to keep all on tasks. 
• Students must collaborate with outside expert (person from the community, Facebook contact, Twitter, Skype, etc.)
• Project plan? Hmmmm.... Wettrick suggests a project plan for high school Innovation course. Is this necessary in 3rd grade? I am thinking just an end product in mind. Will create some type of graphic organizer for 3rd graders.
• Reflection after each work period, what did they do? What did they learn? What did they find? Blog or VLOG - video blog??
• Presentations (will hold family night at the end of the year).

6 Building Blocks of Innovative Learning:

1. Collaboration: Students need to collaborate with each other and they also need to collaborate with experts outside of the classroom. The real world interactions are authentic and will provide them with real world experiences.
2. Task- Oriented: Often students are extremely excited about the big ideas; however, they then don't know how to go from idea to project. Help them create a list of tasks, goals, and a timeline for completion. Make sure to not only set a final timeline, but a timeline along the way for each task.
3. Daring: Students need to be fearless and be risk-takers! Create a classroom with the freedom to fail!
4. Relevant: In this scenario, relevant means to have students solve real world problems that they can see the benefits of their solutions. Challenge students to create a meaningful project.
5. Reflective: Constantly reflect - students and teacher!!! Reflection helps us to see how to improve and to also correct any misconceptions or mistakes.
6. Ongoing: Some projects have long lasting impacts that go beyond the school year. Some projects just simply can't be finished by the end of the school year. Older students can absolutely follow through on their own, and they should as it is a PASSION project. However, not sure how realistic this is for 3rd grade. Will play this by ear...

Wettrick also discusses social media for both teachers and students. I have decided to again have a daily student "Tweeter". The daily student Tweeter will send out a daily tweet sharing something from their day - a project, something they learned, a picture, something fun or silly, etc. Our class will also use Twitter to connect and collaborate with other classes (Mystery Skype) and experts (as mentors for Genius Hour projects). Our class will also have a Facebook page; however, I will be in control of it for the time being. It is new and I want to do a trial as a class, just as I had with Twitter in the past. Our school board recently approved a new social media policy, so we are still navigating these unchartered waters... I will be sharing a letter with families at open house about our Facebook page (see below). I started to write the pros of social media; however, decided to keep it short and sweet. I would rather discuss it with the parents in person at our Open House. This will give them the opportunity to ask questions and me the opportunity to address them directly.

Click HERE to read my letter to parents about Facebook.