I have been trying to figure out how to make our daily
experience at school more like genius hour. In my science and
history classes I have wanted to experiment with “researcher’s
workshop.” I want to allow students to choose their topics,
based on the essential concepts and skills in the Core, and then
let them loose, exploring and researching topics of their
choice. My idea is different than a typical research paper.
Students have always had some topic choice when they write a
research paper. So, what was different about my new idea? I
asked my students to find a topic ala Carl Rogers, who said: “I
am talking about any learning in which the experience of the
learner progresses along this line: ‘No, no, that’s not what I
want’; ‘Wait! This is closer to what I am interested in, what I
need’; ‘Ah, here it is! Now I’m grasping and comprehending what
I need and what I want to know!’” My request was simple: Don’t
start your research until you get to that third point–”Ah, here
it is!” Then enjoy asking and answeri