Example Projects including Genius Hour

This is a presentation that was shared recently with Teachers at College Heights. The slides include links to a number of video descriptions of sample projects. We had some great conversation around different elements of PBL we could roll into existing projects or use to build new ones.

One of the example projects that got a lot of buzz here was the genius hour video. Its worth checking out #geniushour (aka Passion Projects, aka 20% time, aka FedEx Projects) if you are interested in launching an inquiry project and want students to own the process of developing a question, conducting research, and sharing their knowledge. I think the whole set-up provides a great avenue for Teacher experimentation as a Teacher can really get creative in finding ways to guide the project and teach the process while giving a great deal of student choice in the content (which isn't always possible or ideal ;). To that end if you are curious about genius hour I'd totally recommend searching the hashtag #geniushour, the work of Joy Kirr, or catching Gallit Zvi at the Spring Fling.

What's important to you as you consider reiterating a project you've run in the past? What do you work towards when creating new units or projects? What examples have you found helpful along the way?