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Passion Projects


I have been reading quite a bit about Genius Hour and Twenty Time the past few years.  I have been wanting to try it with my students,  but quite honestly, I was scared.  How would I monitor what students were doing?  How would I grade them? How would I help them be successful? I decided to quit worrying and jump in.  
My dog modeling her bandana that I bought to support my student's project.

I have been trying so hard this year to take the emphasis OFF grades and points and on learning and engagement. It has taken awhile, but I think my students are finally getting it.  I introduced the idea of Passion Projects to my students in December.  The main requirement is that they were passionate about their topic and had a desire to find out something new about that topic.  I also emphasized that the journey was more important than the final product.  How else would I encourage students to take risks?

Because I use stations in my classroom, it was easy to carve out a time for students to work on their projects in class.  Although I do not assign homework students were expected to spend time out of class working on their projects. Of course, since they were "passionate" about their project I didn't really consider it homework.  
Demonstrating the awesomeness of FlexSeal


Some of the projects were a student:

  • trying to train his cat (hasn't presented yet but can't wait)
  • making and selling dog bandanas and donating the proceeds to the animal shelter
  • teaching and blogging about Down Syndrome (her brother has Downs)
  • demonstrating the FlexSeal product and whether or not it lives up to its commercials
  • writing a variety of types of poetry
  • creating a cooking blog
  • raising money for sports equipment for kids in Africa
  • reviewing local restaurants and publishing them in a blog

Let me say this: Not all of the final projects were a success.  Nope!  Students struggled. Students met roadblocks.  Students got frustrated. Some of the end products were mediocre at best.  Yet, I consider the Passion Project itself a success.  Students emailed businesses.  Some even got rejected!  Students tried to cook a dish. They realized they were missing an ingredient.  Students wanted to blog about fishing spots. Parents wouldn't drive them.  You get the idea.  Yet, I know students learned a lot and enjoyed the opportunity to explore something new with no restrictions.  They realized it's okay to fail. It's part of learning.  

Rather than "grade" the students on their final product, they were graded on their "journey" and presentation.  However, I had THEM fill out the rubric.  Let me say this: Students are hard on themselves.  

I have countless ideas of how to make this better next year.  Of course, I will be asking my students for ideas too.  In hindsight, rolling out the Passion Project with my students was MY Passion Project.  Did I struggle? Yes.  Did I face obstacles? Yes. Were the final products perfect? No.  Did I learn something? Yes!  I call that a success. 


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