​Well, I learned a lot about Genius Hour this year.  Being a first-year teacher, I learned more about what works for me and what doesn't.  I also got a lot of honest feedback from students.  In all, I love the idea of Genius Hour, but it's going to look very different next year.

My goal for Genius Hour was for students to explore culture.  I made a decision to focus on Spanish language proficiency during the first four days of the week, and then allow students to explore culture on the fifth.  I felt that the Genius Hour experience would be hindered if I required students with minimal Spanish skill to try and complete their project in Spanish.  Thus, the tie-in to my subject was through a focus on culture.

Our Genius Hour experience was primarily split into two parts.  During first semester, I tried to promote learning a little about a lot of topics.  I gave students a list of 10 categories of cultural topics ranging from Art and Food to Economics and Government.  By the end of the semester, students needed 15 blog posts - one in each category plus five on any cultural topic they wanted.  I gave them a format for the blog posts that required them to include their resource and a paragraph describing what they learned and why they researched it.

• What worked: students did end up thinking about culture in new ways beyond just food, dance, and music.  They were also able to learn things that were unexpected.  Overall, they gained an appreciation for many of the similarities and differences that exist between the cultures (including ours).  It was also easy to keep track of posts because each student "tagged" their post with the cultural category as well as their name, so I could pull up all of their posts at once to grade.
• What didn't work: STRUCTURE.  This year, I learned that I don't really have it, but I really need it.  This holds true for all of my teaching, not just Genius Hour.  However, Genius Hour was the least structured part of my week, and I really struggled with it.  This is a classroom management issue rather than a GH issue.  I would particularly warn new teachers that they need to be meticulous and hold many students' hands through the process to ensure their success.  My highest students got this right away and took full advantage of it.  They were the ones who got the most out of it and enjoyed it the most.  My lowest students, on the other hand, just wished I would teach class.  Unfortunately, this was a reinforcing idea considering they didn't get out of it what they could have, and so they felt it was a waste of time.  My higher students also noticed the lack of actual learning that seemed to prevail in the classroom.

At the end of the semester, to get buy-in for another semester, I put continuing Genius Hour to a vote.  If I had simply continued Genius Hour as it was, I can almost guarantee the vote would have been a unanimous "no".  However, I explained that the goal and format would be changing to allow them focus on one topic of their choice and complete a project on that topic.  I REALLY turned on the salesman pitch.  In the end, only one class voted not to continue, but the rest of the classes voted by a landslide to continue doing GH.  Since I had informed classes that the votes for all the classes would be tallied and we would all either continue or not continue, I decided to move forward with GH with all my classes (the class that voted not to continue did come around, I think).

Second semester, student chose one topic and then completed a project about that topic.  They had to create something to display about their topic (I purposely left this vague to see what they came up with) and attend a "Genius Hour Fair" where everyone displayed their product and filled out a worksheet about other students' projects.  Their final for the year was to turn in a portfolio that included their initial proposal, a 1-page "What is culture?" paper, a 2-page reflection paper about their experience, a Spanish-English dictionary that listed the key terms of their topic in Spanish and English, and an annotated bibliography.

• What worked: Students got really excited about their project.  Students who cared about their learning and project really went the extra mile.  They also learned a lot about the process of designing and following through with their plan.  Before starting their project, students had to present a well through-out proposal.  Most of the groups split up early on (usually at the proposal stage) once they realized that working in a group would limit them being able to do their project their way (or they were worried about relying on another person), and many students realized that their plans changed for various reasons (not enough information, not feasible, etc.)  It was really cool to see students work these things out themselves and then simply come to me for approval for their changes.  In the end, I had a number of amazing projects - students built websites (I showed students with digital projects how to create a QR code for their display and then scan other codes to see items on their devices), sewed clothes, built models, and cooked food, and learned to dance among other things.  For these students, the experience really paid off.  In fact, a number of my "lower" students had the chance to shine when they brought their projects in - there were a few that all the students were talking about and they had no idea that that particular student could do the things they did!  Parents and students alike seemed very impressed at the Genius Hour fair - Most students put at least satisfactory effort into their projects (though it was obvious many of them slapped a poster together the night before).  However, there were clearly students who turned their "wow" factor on with paintings and displays that went well beyond anything I knew these students could do.  Many students and parents commented on how this experience gave them some unique opportunities with their kids.  For example, more than one Mom commented on how much fun it was to cook with their kids (students were required to work with a "mentor", defined as someone who knew more about their topic than they did) and that their family now had new recipes they ate on a regular basis.
• What didn't work: Again, the issue of structure came in.  There were a number of students who just couldn't get the ball rolling with an idea and wasted a lot of time.  The issues from first semester rolled over into second semester and resulted in sub-par experiences for my students (and me).  However, I would say that second semester was much more successful than first semester and students got more involved in their projects, including my "low" ones.

If I were to do Genius Hour this same way in the future, I would make sure I thought through more structure, provided physical resources (such as worksheets), and spend less time on the "general" research.  I would also do shorter projects - a semester seems so far in the future for students.  I would possibly spend first quarter (or one week) researching a variety of topics so that students could explore things that they wouldn't normally explore and discussing those as a class.  Then, I would do one project each quarters - students who want to "go big" could form an idea that would justify three quarter's worth of work and then complete part of it each quarter, resulting in the one larger project.  The Genius Hour fair was well worth all the work put into it, however, and I would make an even bigger deal out of it than I did this year, sending out invitations to parents and families and announcing it at the school.  Next year, though, Genius Hour is going to have a different focus since I need to fine-tune some of my other responsibilities before I can facilitate a less-structured Genius Hour like this.

Now that I have a better idea of what I'm in for this fall when it comes to Genius Hour and 20 Time, I've started thinking about how I'm going to connect it to my curriculum.  There are two main areas that Genius Hour can (and should) be connected to in a Foreign Language class: culture and language.

NOTE: A special "thank you" to Denise Krebs and Señorita Barragan for helping me form and articulate my ideas for this post.

Culture

Through my experience with my Latino Culture class, I have a number of ideas for how to connect their projects to culture.  We spent the entire first week answering the question "What is culture?" and, on the last day, I presented to them the statement: "Culture is us."  We discussed what this meant, which is essentially that we shape the world around us and it shapes us through culture.  Everything can be looked at as an element or product of culture.  Thus, whatever they research should, in some way, have a connection to culture.

This may be an explicit connection.  For example, one of my students is researching NFL stats and how they are computed and used to make predictions.  This is obviously a huge part of American culture.  However, other topics might not be so clearly connected to culture, such as how a cell phone is made.  In this case, I would encourage the student to research the effects that cell phones have had on our culture.  Some topics may even have clearer connections with cultures other than the student's own, such as the belief in the Illuminati.  Of course, in any of these cases, the investigation of cultural implications could be taken deeper as students compare one culture to another.

Since we're somewhat limited in our resources during my Latino Culture class, I'm just going to ask my students to make a connection to culture and write a brief, 100-word explanation about that connection.  During my regular academic classes, though, I plan to go much deeper.  While I still plan to allow students to focus on whichever topic they desire, I think I will devote an specific portion of the project and part of my rubric to connecting their topic with culture.  This won't be the main goal, but will supplement their other activities.  I believe that asking my students to investigate cultural implications of their topic will expand the way that they think about their topic, including considering why it is important, who it is important to, how it will affect them.  I haven't decided how students will present this information, but I imagine that it will likely be in the form of a short essay (two pages) and a component of their final presentation.

Language

This is a bit trickier.  I believe in using Comprehensible Input (CI) for language acquisition - in other words, rather than teaching about the language (grammar and vocabulary lists) or straight immersion that is oftentimes over their heads, we focus on actually using the language at a level they're ready for through the TPRS method of language instruction.  Unfortunately, even I would struggle to research my passions effectively if I was required to do so in Spanish.  In addition, if I were asked to talk about my passions in Spanish, I would fail to express myself freely and effectively and would end up frustrated and discouraged.  With limited language abilities, asking students to engage in Genius Hour at any level using their second language would be just that: limited (if anything!).  This is definitely not how I want my students to feel about their Genius Hour experience.  In particular, let me expand on my thoughts about presenting in Spanish a bit more with an excerpt from a conversation I had with Denise Krebs:

It would be extremely difficult and counterproductive for students to attempt to share their learning in Spanish for a few reasons. First and foremost is fluency - given the in-depth and unique nature of each students' learning, they will likely acquire new vocabulary even in English that they will have to share and explain to others. Even for me, it would be difficult to dive into a specific subject and then try to re-learn how to explain that to others, much less for students brand new to the language. They wouldn't be able to fully express themselves, and their fellow students wouldn't be able to understand them even if they did manage to say way they were trying to. 

That comes back to the particular method I'm using for teaching Spanish - TPRS (hence the title of this blog). One of the fundamental ideas of TPRS is that we don't force output - students will speak and write when they're ready, and forcing output is not only not helpful, but can actually be harmful for students. Rather, they get 100% comprehensible and correct input (listening and reading), and the output naturally comes when students are ready. It's a very different way of approaching language than most people are used to. I like to think outside the box, and these new methods - including 20% time - will take our students to new heights of success! :)
So, then, how can we possibly promote Spanish language skills during Genius Hour and 20 Time?  Señorita Barragan, another Spanish teaching using similar methods for teaching language made the following comment:

I can see this working incredibly in a language/culture survey course, such as your Latino class, or in any other subject really, but I'm having a difficult time wrapping my head around how these two fit within language classes in particular. I find that Genius Hour/20% time could replace any culture-based project or culture study in general, but as far as promoting fluency in the TL, it seems that Genius Hour/20% time may work against that. But maybe I have the wrong idea here! I find it incredible for instilling a desire to learn, for developing a sense of inquiry, and for potentially giving back to the community. For our language classes, all of this also takes time away from time spent in TL. I suppose it's a matter of priority. What are your thoughts on this?
My response was as follows:

This is something I struggled with myself. For me, it does come down to a matter of priorities in education as a whole. While I think learning Spanish is very important, I think that giving students the opportunity to do something like 20 Time is even more important. 
However, that doesn't mean it's impossible to get comprehensible input for students. I'm going to be working on how to do this up until the next school year, but here are a few of my initial thoughts: 

1) I'm creating materials and resources to 'flip' my classroom, which will make the most of my time within the classroom. Not only will students get CI outside of class, but we'll be able to stay in the TL more often within class because students already have the fundamentals down before they come and so class time is essentially "practice" time rather than "instruction time. This more than makes up for one "lost" day. 

2) Students can compile a list of "essential vocabulary" for their topic. Assuming that their topic is important to them, they will likely need to know the "lingo" in order to communicate with other about it in any language. Should they desire to be fluent in Spanish, this would be critical and individualized vocabulary. This is more than just creating a vocabulary list that students will never use - it's personalized for them just as much as when they learn the phrase for "smells funny" because the class wanted to include it in a TPRS story. For instance, I'm not sure I could accurately express myself in Spanish regarding what I do and believe as an educator, so I need to work on that! 

3) Provide activities that allow students to bring your "regular" CI together with their topics, likely using their list of essential vocab. For instance, say they're writing a proposal for what they want to study. Since I choose my high-frequency structures and vocabulary, they should be applicable even when discussing what students want to study. They could easily do a sort of fill-in-the-blank and PQA activity with questions like:¿Qué quieres estudiar? Quiero estudiar (caballos).¿Por qué quieres estudiarlo? Quiero estudiarlo porque (me gustan caballos/son interesantes).¿Qué necesitas para estudiar? Necesito (una computadora).¿Cuánto tiempo necesitas? Necesito (dos meses).¿Dónde buscas información? Busco información (en Google). 
You could make it as complex or as simple as you'd like and still get students thinking about what they're passionate about - in Spanish. During the 20 Time classes, you could ask students questions in Spanish and allow them to respond in whichever language they choose as they're still comprehending and getting CI. Which gives me another thought - wouldn't it be SO motivating for students to realize they can actually communicate about what they want to with the little Spanish they know?
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In sum, no, Genius Hour and 20 Time are not the best ways to promote foreign language fluency.  And limiting student to the use of the foreign language is not the best way to promote the goals of Genius Hour and 20 Time.  However, that doesn't mean that the two are mutually exclusive.  By using the target language whenever possible but keeping it comprehensible and avoiding forced output, students can apply what they've learned to successfully communicate about their experience at the level they're ready for.  I know my students can create a vocabulary list.  I know that they can say basic things about their topic using the things I teach them and the things the things they research on their own.  Would make this a requirement for their final presentation?  Maybe in a limited way (such as a 30-second introduction that they would have the option of reading directly off of a paper), but maybe not.  It does come down to a matter of priorities and each teacher will need to evaluate their own goals and make choices regarding their curriculum.  For me, Genius Hour and 20 Time is an opportunity for both me and my students that I simply cannot pass up.