Celebrating Passion, Wonder & Inquiry

Welcome. We are happy you are here!

Thank you for your interest in The Genius Hour Guidebook. We are so excited that it is now available, thanks to a partnership among ourselves, Routledge/Eye on Education and MiddleWeb. This book was written to help you understand what Genius Hour is (especially those of you teaching in the middle years), why we are passionate about it, and, of course, how to take the steps to implement it in your classroom.

We (Gallit Zvi and Denise Krebs) have been learning about Genius Hour since 2011. We’ve shared with colleagues at our own and others’ schools and at conferences in three different countries. Mostly, though, we’ve shared with our students – students from kindergarten through college level. Students who are becoming fearless learners, ready to tackle problems and make the world a better place.

Denise Krebs & Gallit Zvi

We love Genius Hour for students because it’s the kind of learning needed in our world today. No longer is the teacher a dispenser of all knowledge, but students must be entrusted to make learning their own. Students need to do the hard work of critical thinking, creating, and contributing.

We, and the Genius Hour community, have discovered that Genius Hour is a powerful tool to help construct a positive climate of learning. Every aspect of our classrooms began transforming as we gave Genius Hour a go.

We would love for you to take the plunge too. Become the chief learner. Embrace the joy of learning in your classroom.

Our book contains a lot of ideas from our friends implementing Genius Hour in their classrooms and we are grateful for their input! We recommend you follow these fantastic educators on twitter. You will find their Genius Hour tips throughout our book and we’ll be promoting their voices here as well.

Joy Kirr @JoyKirr
Hugh McDonald @hughtheteacher
Sherri Edwards @grammasheri
Robyn Thiessen @robynthiessen

Something happens whenever a book goes into production. In the months before the release date, the conversation between authors and editors has to stop. The author finally has to say to the production team, “OK, we are finished. You can take it from here.”

Though the content of The Genius Hour Guidebook took a breather while it was being printed, the conversation within the amazing Genius Hour community has not stopped. That’s one of the things we love about Genius Hour – it is the beginning of a lifelong professional conversation. Genius Hour teachers continue to grow and develop, seeing student learning blossom in their classrooms, and forming PLN’s to support the work.

We want to keep the conversation rolling for the readers of our book as well. That’s why our super publishers helped us create this GeniusHourGuide.org website. It can be a place for us (Gallit and Denise) to share those things that we kept wanting to add when our editors had to tell us, “It’s too late. Remember, you said you were finished.”

Besides the additional information we will post here, there is something more important going on. We want this website to be a place for further discussions about Genius Hour. We hope you will join in by leaving a comment or question or by sharing your stories with the community. You can comment on any post you see. We’ll be listening. Together we’re smarter.

Please subscribe to the website and also engage with us on Twitter:  Denise tweets at @mrsdkrebs and Gallit (rhymes with delete) tweets at @gallit_z.

We hope that both The Genius Hour Guidebook and this companion website will help you introduce and implement Genius Hour, as well as lead you to new and exciting learning experiences for you and your students.

Thank you for joining the Genius Hour movement!

Denise and Gallit