Fifteen students (half of the crew) stayed late after school for Genius Hour. I was surprised surprised because Genius Hour runs until 4:30; trick-or-treating started at 6 pm. I ran an announcement asking the kids stop stop by and let me know if they were planning on coming to Genius Hour. Even though I heard from about a dozen kids, I was starting to think that maybe the kids wouldn’t show up. It was Halloween and all. When the kids did show up, I was so surprised and really happy.
We held a quick check in, and then I gave the kids the remainder of the time to work. Some kids were excited to go out later that night. I gave them a box of craft items and challenged them to make something from the items in the box.
Storm continued to work on his new sport. He surveyed the other kids to generate a name for it. He is getting ready to present very soon. A group of girls came up with the idea for a robot that serves food:
Another girl worked on finger-knitting:
A couple of boys created a game from the craft items in the box:
Overall, things were much quieter than usual but I think kids managed to get some work done on their projects.
Things we did well: Volume was at an acceptable level. Students were not distracted/ drowned-out by their peers
Things we need to improve: We could use a larger room that does not echo. It should have many computers, room for the kids to work on other projects, have a phone and a smart board.
Ideas for next week:
+Create a brainstorming chart for different ways of sharing or presenting information from finished projects.
+Create a page on my Gaggle blog site for kids to share their Genius Hour projects
+Create a project check-in schedule.
This week:
Monday – Skyla
Tuesday – Storm
Wednesday – Dillan
Thursday – Kenny, Timmy, Will
+Maybe kids create a Genius Hour newsletter to post on the school website?
Life on Planet Genius 
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