Genius Hour Post One

A virtual field trip an new and excellent way to engage your students without having to spend the money and time on organizing an actual field trip. With a virtual field trip, students are gaining the experiences without leaving the classroom, thus creating an educational and engaging environment for the students as they continue to learn. Virtual field trips allow students to go through at their own pace without feeling rushed by other students in the classroom. For instance, if students are traveling through a museum, some may want to take a little longer on different parts of the museum. When you are going through a museum as a class it is more difficult to cater to each students needs and wants, but when students are virtually going experiencing it, they have more time to enjoy different parts that are more interesting for them. Virtual field trips are great ways for educators to bring in real world connections and make connections to the curriculum as well. 

During our first virtual field trip, we were experiencing genius hour projects and were able to learn about the different types of genius hour projects. Our virtual field trip took us on an adventure of looking at what genius hour is and how to create our own genius hour. Learning about genius hour has allowed me to gain a new perspective when it comes to creativity and engagement in the classroom. By allowing students time to use their creativity and innovative minds, we are creating more productive students, or so I have been told. This is an interesting idea to understand as I have never considered it myself, but according to several resources it is a true fact, ask Google.

The following video allows for another perspective as to why genius hour is beneficial to learning within the classroom.