Assignment 8 - Final to-do list

With only a couple weeks to go until the completion of our Genius Hour Passion Projects, now would be a perfect time to review your progress and make a final do-to list of what you need to accomplish between now and your presentation date. Please answer the following questions in a new blog post by the end of class on Friday, Dec. 1:
1) What is the status of your passion project? Is it done? Almost done? Halfway done? Less than halfway done?
2) How have you documented your progress? What have you taken pictures or video of? Remember, you want to have some kind of visual evidence of your progress and journey.
3) What platform are you going to use to share your project? Will you be publishing it on YouTube? Instagram? Spotlight153.com? Something else? Whatever you end up choosing, you'll want to be able to link to it from your blog so we can all see your work.
4) What has been the most enjoyable aspect of your project so far? What has been the most fun or meaningful or personally satisfying?
5) Do you have any questions about how to complete your project? Is there anything your classmates or I could help you with in order to ensure your project is done by the due date?

      

Assignment # 7 - Documenting and publicizing your project

One important aspect of a Genius Hour Passion Project is its documentation and publication. As you proceed with your project, please be sure to capture pictures and video of yourself which can highlight your journey on the way to completion. For this blog post, please think about and answer the following five questions:
1) What, specifically, are you doing for your project?
2) How many steps or tasks does your project involve? What do you have to actually do between now and the end of your project?
3) Which of these steps or tasks would work well for documentation? What could you take photos or videos of?
4) How do you plan to share and publicize your work? Will you publish a video to YouTube and share the link with friends and teachers? Will you write an article for the Spotlight Media Group for publication on spotlight153.com? Will you create and publish a photo gallery on the Spotlight website or Instagram or some other form of social media?
5) How close are you to being done with your project? Please keep in mind that all projects must be completed before we leave for the holiday break on Dec. 22.  
Please answer these five questions in a new blog post by the end of class on Monday, Nov. 13.
      

Assignment #6 - Next step results

Congrats! You've taken the next step toward making your Genius Hour Passion Project a reality. For this post, please answer the following three questions by the end of class on Fri., Oct. 27:
1) What was your specific next step? What did you do? If you called or contacted someone or some place, who/where/what did you contact?
2) How did your conversation or correspondence go? What new ideas or information or direction do you have for your project?
3) What do you need to do next to keep the momentum of your project going? What are you going to do or create?   

Assignment #5 - Taking the next step

Now that you've identified what your passion project is, why you're doing it, and who it's going to benefit, the next step is to articulate what you need to do to get your project off the ground. For example, if you'd like to volunteer at an animal shelter, your next step would be deciding which shelter to volunteer at and to reach out to them. The most effective way to do that would be with either a phone call or an e-mail where you let them know you're available to help, and ask what it is they might actually want help with.
If you're planning to cook or bake items for the local food pantry, your first step would likely be contacting the food pantry to see what items they might want, and then looking up recipes for those items.
For this post, which is due on your blog by the end of class on Friday, Oct. 20, please state the following:
1) What you're doing for your project
2) What your next step will be
3) How or what, specifically, you will do to take that step
Regardless of your project, you should take your next step by Monday, Oct. 23, as your next post will involve writing about how your next step went and how your project is developing. 
    

Assignment #4 - Genius Hour/Passion Project Pitch

For this assignment, we will be using Flipgrid to make brief passion project pitch videos. Please answer the following questions in your video pitch, which should be no longer than 60 seconds.
1) What are you planning to do for your passion project? Ex: Create a step-by-step video tutorial on how to shoot a basketball free throw OR Spend 5 hours volunteering at the South Hadley Food Pantry and publish a vlog or blog post describing my experience OR Creating a public service announcement video on how people can do a better job at recycling or reducing their carbon footprint
2) How does this project relate to your interests, abilities, or hopes/desires/wishes?
3) Who will your project help? What will it improve or better or fix?
4) What is your next step? What do you need to do to get the ball rolling with your project?
Post your Flipgrid video HERE      

Blog Assignment #3 - Jung Typology Test

As we work to move from brainstorming possible Passion Project ideas to settling on a specific project, having a better understanding of our own strengths, weaknesses, and interests should make it easier to decide.

For this assignment, I would like you to visit this website: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp and take the Jung Typology Test. After completing the test, you will receive a personalized result. Explore the different links about your specific personality and answer the following questions in a new blog post on your Genius Hour/Passion Project blog:


1. What is your type? Provide the initials with percentages as well as the full words
2. What are three characteristics of your type?
3. Do you generally agree or generally disagree with your rating?
4. What are three possible career choices for people of your type?
5. What is one observation about the learning style of people with your type?
6. Who are three famous people with your type?

You may label your responses 1-6 or just write them all in a large paragraph.

Blog Assignment #2 - Commenting on classmates' blogs

Please choose any three of your classmates' Genius Hour/Passion Project blogs to read. You will want to answer the following four questions in the form of a comment below their first blog post:

1) What does it appear your classmate enjoys doing and/or is good at?

2) What does your classmate wonder or want to learn more about?

3) What problem or issue would your classmate like to solve and/or try to improve?

4) If your classmate mentioned one, what do you think of his/her passion project idea? If your classmate isn't sure or hasn't listed a project idea, try to come up with a potential topic idea or field that might make for a good project. For example, perhaps your classmate would enjoy some type of community service project, like volunteering at a soup kitchen or animal shelter, or gathering items like toys or blankets or clothes for a specific charity or organization. Or, perhaps your classmate would enjoy creating something, be it a short film or a five-course meal or a photography installation on a meaningful topic.

Once you post a comment on three of your classmates' individual blogs, please also post a comment below THIS blog post with the first names and last initials of the three classmates you commented on. This will ensure you receive credit for your comments. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks! Mr. B-G

Blog Post #1 Instructions

For your first Genius Hour Passion Project blog post, take a look at the brainstorming worksheet you completed last week. Are there any general patterns or overlaps? Do you see any common themes or ideas? For example, perhaps you noticed you're interested in solving global problems that relate to food security, poverty, and starvation. Or maybe you noticed that you're good at athletics or arts or building things with your hands.
After looking for similarities among your topics, identify your top item from each of the four columns and think about how how you might be able to put together something you're good at with something you wonder about along with something you might like to learn about, improve, or solve. You don't have to decide on anything yet. The purpose is just to let some of these topics and interests being marinating in your brain.
To earn full credit for this activity, please consider all of the above in a post of 150 words or more. FYI, this post is 190 words. To check word count, copy and paste your response into Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or wordcounter.net.