For my Science Education Methods course, my class was tasked with devising a "Genius Hour Project" that we found meaningful and would impact lives. Personally, I looked inward at my classroom placement and quickly realized that a large majority of my students would be moving, fidgeting and overall uncomfortable in class after sitting long periods of time. Now, recess only lasted so long and the same can be said for their Gym class, therefore, I thought of a research question that would combat this issue: What can be used within the classroom throughout the day that would help students work out any built-up energy?
In regards to my classroom, this idea flourished and since, I have devoted an hour each Friday to allow my students to work on their passion projects or Genius Hour projects. So far, I have had a variety of lessons taught by my students to their peers and they have been incredibly successful. Genius Hour is an inquiry based project that allows students to explore what they want to after devising a research topic and project; this leads to presentations, demonstrations and exploration in the classroom!