This week I struggled to decide on a Genius Hour question. In the end I chose "How do I make and care for a terrarium in my room?". I chose this question for a few reasons. First, I have had an interest in succulents ever since I worked at a garden centre a few summers ago and have been very excited about terrarium's since I learned about them (on Pinterest!). However, I have been putting off trying to make my own because although I worked in a garden centre, my knowledge of succulent care is still very limited and I also would have had nowhere to put it.
When we were first told to start thinking about our questions I was stumped! I really did not know where to start. But when we were given the example of the student who had always wanted to run a marathon it made me think about things I have wanting to do or achieve. I remembered terrarium's and wondered if that would be a good place to start. I knew it was something I was interested in, this assignment would force me to devote the proper time to understand the task and, most conveniently, I just finished redoing my bedroom and would be able to personalize my question by making it specific to my own living space.
From here I started making my plan (in my proposal pitch slides I tried to input a timeline from the 'ReadWriteThink Timeline Tool' I used in my PBL badge but unfortunately I couldn't figure out how to insert a PDF so I made my own instead). Before I can start the hands on aspect I need to understand a little more about terrarium's. So, I decided my first step will be to research different types and styles of terrariums as well as what is involved in making them. I decided that having a solid foundation will give me greater success so my second step is to look into terrarium care online speak to the owner's of the garden centre where I used to work. Finally, once I've gathered enough information and made decisions on what I think will most appropriately suit my bedroom I can take the student approach and start looking for the most financially efficient stores that sell the products I am looking for. And lastly, I can use my newfound knowledge to carefully create the perfect terrarium for my freshly redecorated bedroom!
As a teacher candidate it is my responsibility to make sure I keep up with my timeline goals. However in a classroom it would be more difficult to ask the students to ensure they are completing each step on their own without reminders. If it were my classroom I would have the students log daily or weekly journals(depending on the guidelines of the Genius Hour assignment) to ensure they are achieving their goals. A journal would also help them write down and adjust any problems they may experience.
One of the things I'm enjoying most about this Genius Hour project is learning how to use the many applications offered by Google! If I were to implement a Genius Hour project into my own classroom I would utilize these tools (ie. Draw, Slides, etc) during the planning and execution phases. I would also use Powtoon for classroom activities. Although I am not fully aware of how it works yet I found it very interesting to play around with. It's a unique way for students to present their ideas and encourages creativity!
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