the Creative Sight

The weeks are counting down and we're nearly at the end of our first Genius Hour period. Students are putting last minute touches on songs and poems. They're polishing book layouts in Adobe inDesign, furnishing virtual houses in SketchUp, and they're practicing their dance moves. As we wrap up week 8 of Genius Hour there a few special things to note. Juniors are BACK! First, is that our juniors have just returned from their nearly 2 week long professional internships with companies and organizations around the area. I was dying to circle up and hear about those experiences, but they already lost time last week and I wanted to give them as much time as they had available. I was also aware they spent a couple of hours debriefing earlier that morning. Spring Is Here Next week is Spring Break! Most students will use that time to take trips, visit theme parks, and relax, but I have heard mention from several students or groups that they still have a little work and practic...

Unfortunately I missed week six of Genius Hour because I was speaking at the LLI Southwest conference. I'd like to give a big shout out to Lausanne Learning and The Oakridge School in Arlington for being such great hosts. I had a blast giving the talk, meeting with other educators and showing some examples of student work, even if I may or may not have had a 102 degree temperature at the time. I was even lucky enough to recruit the assistance of one of my 11th graders that was also presenting at the conference. That being said, back in my lab at Village Tech, the students carried on without me just fine, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that they really don't need me anymore. In a strange way, I'm actually pretty happy about that. Missing Juniors While I missed last week, it was the juniors that weren't around for Genius Hour this week. They were all busy working at their professional internships. They will spend nearly two weeks working in offices, classrooms a...

For week 5, I wanted to give everyone a glimpse at the state of a few random projects. Who better to give an update on projects that have been created and run by students, than the students themselves. So, without further delay, take a look at the following videos and let the students tell you how things are going. In Their Own Words The Music Group Take a look at this first group of students, who are writing and recording their own original music. They're learning about Garage Band, rhythm, everything it takes to produce a music album, and even a little bit about each other.  A&A Design This dynamic duo of design students are creating an interior design company, complete with their own logo. I think the website and company identity they've created are better than a lot of "professional" companies I've seen. Cheese Keep and eye on this guy. I predict he'll be the chef of his own restaurant before he's 30. From his viewpoint, he st...