Genius Hour

I have had my class participating in Genius Hour for the past 4 years. I love it. Admittedly, I struggle with aspects of it. One aspect that I have struggled with for a while now is the presenting part. They have no problem creating but, have some ‘issues’ listening to one another when it comes time to present. They all want to present, just not listen. Frustrating!

I Am A Genius!

And when I say ‘I’, I really mean Jon Corippo. In one of his presentations, he explained how he had students giving scores to one another during presentations – American Idol style. So this year when Genius Hour began, the same issues were occurring. Then this past week, I implemented the scoring system (albeit tweaked to better meet my needs).

Scoring

I am using a dual scoring approach. Based on our school’s Speaking & Listening Rubric (a work in progress), I have 5 small whiteboards we use as score cards. 4 score cards are in the audience and 1 is left with the presenters. The 4 audience score cards are – Volume, Eye Contact, Vocabulary, and Clarity. These circulate around the room (1 person scores per presentation per card) so that several students have the opportunity to score after a presentation. The presenter’s score card is Listening.

Did It Make A Difference?

Yes! When a score card came back with a lower score, the ‘judge’ explained what skill the presenter (or audience) needs to practice. There was definitely more ownership on both sides this week.