Consider the Powssibilities: Genius Hour for Teachers

There is a great moment in The Sketches of Frank Gehry where the architect describes one of the dangers of the design process. We see shelves lined with models: paper, cardboard, and plastic miniatures of his boldly shaped buildings. As he takes model after model off the shelf, Gehry says that a hazard he sometimes encounters is getting too enamored with the model itself. It is easy to see why. The models are sculptural works, attractive to the eye and mind. Gehry's point is that if he is not careful, he could forget the point of the process: to create a building that people will inhabit. Instead, he can be swept up in making these breathtaking objects as an end in themselves.

I was reminded of this while participating in #leadupchat. We were asked by the moderators, Jeff Veal and Nathan Lang, to consider our "why." As educators, what is the purpose or cause that motivates us? Of course, this led to fantastic, inspiring answers from the group. However, they followed that question with a challenge: how do we put the "why" into action?

Now we are getting somewhere.

Sometimes I feel like Frank Gehry when it comes to conversations and twitter chats with other educators. We talk so much about challenges facing education, of potential solutions, of our individual and collective hopes for how to shift our thinking and practice. But I do not always (often?) see action. Like Gehry, I know how easy it is to become enamored by talk of disruption and subversion without putting it into play. After all, I am guilty of this far more than I care to acknowledge.

Back to #leadupchat. On Voxer the other day, I realized something. As I explained my "why" regarding the importance of being a learner and participant, I mused that it would be wonderful as a teacher to have my own "Genius Hour." This has become a popular instructional practice. But what about outside of the classroom? I was pretty sure other teachers would find this interesting, so I tweeted it:

What if Ts had genious hour/20% time as part of their PD plan. Anybody doing this? @ryanbretag @askaouris #edjoy #leadupchat
— scott glass (@sglass771) March 31, 2015

Eight retweets and 11 favorites. Not to mention the people who reached out from schools where they are experimenting with this idea. Not bad for a tweet. 

Now the #leadupchat group wants to move from "why" to action. Perfect. I do not want to talk about ways to adapt Genius Hour. I want to make it happen. I do not want to talk about what could be possible. I want to make the possible happen now. 

Earlier this year, I asked my students to create new words to describe themselves as second semester seniors. I suspected that "senioritis" lacked the nuance and depth necessary to define where they are at in their lives. Sure, we might have over 1 million words in the English language, but we still come across those moments when the right one does not exist. This was my problem earlier this week. Other contributors to #leadupchat were sharing the one word that defined their "why." I was struggling until I remembered, I will just make up what I need. So, here it is: Powssibility, a combination of "now" and "possibility." Or, working to make the potential present. 

Time to get busy.