Genius Day: Creating a Culture of Connectedness

Genius Day: Creating a Culture of Connectedness

On Friday, February 16th, I greeted students outside of the school as usual.  But on this particular day, the day before February break, things were different.  Students were literally skipping into school.  I held my ipad and took video interviews of students to capture their excitement around the anticipation of Genius Day that would later be shared in an imovie slideshow.

Genius Hour stems from a Google initiative where employees are allowed to spend 20% of their workweek on a pet project of their choice.  What Google found was that productivity and creativity for their employees increased drastically.  This idea has gained some momentum in schools where students across the country are being given 20% of their school day to explore their own passions.  This is an authentic way to get to know students on a more personal level and also put them in the driver's seat of their learning.

Genius Day is a spin-off of Genius Hour where teachers offer classes on topics of their choice tied to hobbies, interests, and passions.  The goal is for students and teachers to get to know one another on a more personal level as a way to foster connection while allowing students more choice in what they learn.

First graders collaborated on a Lego project.

Preparing for Genius Day:
At a staff meeting in January, I floated the idea of Genius Day to the teachers in my building.  It was important to me that I emphasize that it would be less about the classes and more about creating connections.  As Simon Sinek says, "people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it."  From there, I created a google form for staff to share which classes they would like to offer two weeks prior to the day.  Within the google form, they had to share the title of the class, a brief description, the grade levels it was offered to and the maximum number of students.  Any special space requirements were also shared on the form.  Some of the course offerings included learning to code, bake, and play the ukulele.  Teachers were given a budget to spend on resources for their classes.   Lego sets, baking supplies, and beads, among other materials were purchased using a school Amazon account.   It is important to note that it wasn't just teachers offering classes.  My administrative assistant and the leaders of our before-school exercise program, Boks, taught classes as well.

One week prior to Genius Day, I visited each grade level to explain why we were doing this and how they could go about signing up for classes.   I made sure to emphasize that they are lucky to have teachers who work so hard to design engaging lessons each day and while they are successful, we would love to be able to give them more choice in what they learn.  We also wanted to give them an opportunity to connect with or meet new adults and peers in different classes or grades.

Once the buzz began around Genius Day, I wrote a email blast to families explaining what it was all about and why were doing it.  The days leading up to Genius Day, several families shared how excited their children were.  And just days before teachers were provided with class lists and room assignments. 

Ms. Magee teaches this 4th grader to play the ukulele.

Genius Day:
On the morning of Genius Day, staff members and students arrived to school pretty excited.  At 8:45, I made an all-school announcement for students to begin transitioning to their first class.  However, prior to ending the announcement, my administrative assistant, Robin Slattery (aka DJ Slatts) made an announcement that sounded something like, "This is DJ Slatts coming to you live from Johnson's first ever Genius Day!  Here's a little music to kick off our morning as your transition to your first class."  Justin Timberlake's Can't Stop the Feeling echoed through the hallways as I stationed myself in the center of our school to oversee the transition.

Throughout the morning, I visited classes, taking pictures and short videos to capture the learning.  A parent photographer also photographed some special moments for our school yearbook.  At about 9:30 a reporter from the Metrowest Daily News arrived with a photographer to take some photos and interview staff and students (yes, I tweeted earlier in the week at a local reported inviting him to do a story on Genius Day).   Click here for the news article.

During lunch, a teacher and I created a slideshow that we would share in the afternoon with students.  The entire school gathered toward the end of the day to view the slideshow and share reflections from Genius Day.  My heard melted a little when a kindergarten student stood to share, "Today, I made some new friends."


Post Genius Day:
I consider it an important part of my job to communicate with our community about the learning experiences students have at our school.  I want them to know how dedicated the staff is and how much they truly care about each and every student.   For those reasons, I shared the slide show via social media and in an email to families later that evening.  I thanked our teachers for their willingness to try something new and create these opportunities for our students.  And on March 1st, I will be speaking with parents at an upcoming PTO meeting to share more about the value of Genius Day.   Some of the takeaways and reflections I plan to highlight include:

A 3rd grader helps a K friend.

• Teachers were able to have students view them as more than just teachers - as people with hobbies, interests, and passions.  For some students, they may have found an adult who shares their same interests and will use their name when they see them in the hallway next week.
• Students were able to have a choice in what they learned about that day resulting in them being more excited to come to school.
• The number of students absent from school (for the day before a vacation) was fewer than in previous years.
• A student who was going on vacation to Disney World cried because he had to miss school on Friday.  While I never want a child to be disappointed or feel left out, it was great to know how much he wanted to be in school.  
• Students were able to practice the 4Cs (collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity).
• When we think about every child having a champion, that person doesn't need to be their classroom teacher.  In fact, it doesn't even need to be a teacher.  It could be our school nurse, office secretary, custodian or lunchroom monitor. 
• Most importantly, were happy to be in school connecting with others and enjoying learning.

Genius Day Slideshow