My Genius Hour
For my Genius Hour project, I had my students create a small PowerPoint about what they do at home for physical activity. I know that does sound like more of a survey, but they also had to find out what kinds of diseases could be prevented or lessened by being fit. My students also had to research how often a person needs to exercise to benefit their health. They class that did this were my 4th period 8th graders. This class is pretty small with only 15 students. My thinking was to do this on a small scale so they could present. And also, the 8th grade at FMS being their computers with them to every class, so I did not have to check out a class set of computers.
The kids did a good job and focused throughout the time allotted. Many of them found out similar things in relation to preventable diseases, but there were a few who dug a little deeper. The majority of my students, through, their own research, came up with heart disease, obesity, and high blood pressure. They also helped each other with where to look for things. The few who did a bit more researching came up with juvenile diabetes, high cholesterol. One student mentioned stress as a contributing factor in many of the above, and also how it can be lessened by exercise. As a side note, it was good to find out that just about all of my students like to do something to be active outside of school.
For me, the best part of this Genius Hour was the small discussion it generated about how stress can influence blood pressure and cholesterol. We had about a five minute discussion about how exercise can reduce stress to counteract those. One of the main things they wanted to know is what plaque as it relates to cholesterol, and how was stress was unhealthy. I really liked this part, because I do not think I would have had this conversation had we not done this. They seemed interested and attentive.
I think, if I did it correctly, that Genius Hour would work well for PE. As I have said before, my job is to keep them active for as much time as possible. I like the Genius Hour idea. It's short, simple, serves a purpose, and does not take more than one class to finish. Also, I can loosely control what we are trying to become experts on as it relates to physical education.
Hi Max,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about your Genius Hour and how you adapted this inquiry based learning structure for your P.E. class. From your description it does sound like this would work well for your class because it is short and simple, aligned to the new Health standards and also provides students with choice and opportunities to engage in inquiry.
If you can please email and upload to your google folder your Genius Hour assignment and pictures of your student products that will provide evidence for the assignment for me to review and will also give ideas to our colleagues in the class.
Thanks,
Dawn
I love the way you brought awareness to your students and their physical activity improving their health. It is so important for children to learn and get in the habit of making healthy choices early in life. Unfortunately, many do not learn home. It's great that they have you to help them along the way! :)
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