Google is well known for the 20% time they provide employees to work on something they are

passionate about and believe will most benefit Google. Out of the 20% time, sparked wildly
successful and innovative items such as Gmail, AdSense, and Google Talk. With the evolution of
businesses, innovative procedures also needed to adapt in order to continue to be effective and
supportive. In 2013, Google shifted the 20% time to be more focused in having ideas approved by
the engineer overseeing the team. Googles business model has truly shaped the way we
communicate and interact digitally on a global scale. In thinking about the impact on society,
Googles 20% time only required time and a few simple procedures to implement.
Think for a moment: what part of the school day or area of the building are children most
engaged to actively initiate their own learning? What is it about that specific time in their schedule or
space in the building, that naturally cultivates curiosity or is trademarked by innovation?
What if there was time allowed during the day to allow students to make, research, invent,
reinvent, hack, design, create, manufacture, develop, collaborate, produce, construct, and tinker as
Google gave their employees? Genius Hour is a time carved out into our schedule where all students
get the opportunity during the remediation/enrichment block, to pursue a passionate topic they
choose. What other time in the school day do students get to have the opportunity to choose
something they want to learn, how they want to learn it, and when they want to learn it? Genius Hour
takes away the confines of the state mandated content standards.
The most beautiful attribute of Genius Hour is its ability to not isolate or confine learning to one
subject or skill. It so eloquently removes the limits of creativity and allows users to learn that failure is
often a pathway to success. We believe good thinkers can solve problems and problem solvers can
do anything. It is through this plearning (play and learning) infused environment, we remove the
barriers of what traditional learning looks like and create a new dimension for knowledge to be built
and rooted. While our journey in implementing an innovative idea has shifted yearly and will continue
to shift as our educational system changes, we know our impact and empowerment of the children we
care daily for will continue to echo in the years to come.
Newton-Conover STEM Middle School (NCMS) has made a commitment in allowing students
the freedom to truly choose something they are passionate about. While on this journey they learn
more about who they are, what skills they possess, what career fields are suited for them based upon
their natural talents, and what opportunities cater to their career fields as they continue their
educational journey to high school. Genius Hour at NCMS is two days a week for a semester and
has modules created for each grade-level that are housed on the learning management system -
Canvas. To echo the adaptational changes Google made as its business evolved so has Genius
Hour at NCMS. Any innovative idea takes time to develop.
In 2015, two teachers received a shared district Innovative Grant for $1,500 in hopes of
making Genius Hour an authentic literacy and STEM driven practice at NCMS (Artifact A). Genius
Hour was rolled out for primarily our 6th and 7th grade students during the first semester of the year,
with little parameters other than a few teacher trainings and objective of allowing students to pursue
something they were passionate about. At first, our students were shocked, puzzled, and even
amazed at being given time to invest in a topic they chose. The students had time to develop their
idea and prepare a mini TEDTalk that was less than 5 minutes throughout the semester and had an
opportunity to pitch their idea to the class for feedback. At the end of the semester, classrooms
selected one group of winners to advance on to the next round. A group of review panelists were
selected from local businesses and central office staff to narrow the classroom winners to 10-12
groups to be the final Little REDs winners. The Little REDs winners were all notified the following
week and were assigned a local mentor to help fine-tune their presentation and mini TEDTalk. A
venue for the presentations was solidified and sponsored by our partnering university, Lenoir Rhyne
(LR). On May 5th, 2016 the Little REDs winners greeted all 5th graders and 6th graders in the district
by taking quick photos on the red carpet and NCMS backdrop as students made their way to their
seats in LRs auditorium. Also in attendance were parents, LR educators, and business partners.
Students gave their speeches with passion and fervency as they shared their passionate ideas with
their peers (Artifact B, C). During intermission - attendees received popcorn from our local movie
theatre and a bottle of water. The final speaker was a NCMS faculty member who challenged
students to be themselves, and that being normal is overrated if there is such a thing. Little REDs
winners were then treated to lunch and received a goodie bag to commemorate their hard work. A
week later, the Little REDs presented one more time to the entire 7th & 8th grade classes at NCMS.
Based upon teacher feedback, they wanted modules that could be synonymously delivered
across classrooms and to add a career focus for each grade-level. Over the summer, the STEM Goal
team worked for one day to develop an outline based upon input and feedback from their peers. The
STEM Coordinator continued to work over the summer to develop the modules. The modules were
also shown to the School Improvement Team Summer Retreat in July to obtain feedback and answer
any lingering questions. The week prior to school starting the STEM Goal team met again to ensure
the module accurately reflected the input received and could easily be communicated for teacher
buy-in. The STEM Coordinator met with all grade-levels for roughly one hour to train them on the
modules and how their input has shaped Genius Hour at NCMS for the 2016-17 school year (Artifact
D).
The 2016-17 school year Genius Hour is still completed in one semester by all students, but
has a career focus component to it for each grade-level. The 6th grade uses the free program,
Thrively to assess their top five strengths as individuals. The program allows for students to
investigate 80 different career choices - each career choice states what strengths are suited for that
career. Students look at a career choice that aligns with their strengths and have the opportunity to
watch a video or two showing what a day in the life of that career is like. Thrively then has skill based
options for the student to interact with and develop in an online based manner as well as using a GPS
locator to spotlight local opportunities surrounding that career field. For example, if I am curious
about being an astronaut and have the two or three skills suited for being an astronaut I open that
page. When I open that page, I find videos of what it is like to be an astronaut, STEM skills for me to
tinker with and develop, and local opportunities such as the Science Centers exhibit on space for my
family to visit. Teachers at NCMS use the skills recognized by students to group them for their
Genius Hour rooms. Students walked through modules of developing their ideas either independently
or with up to three per group. We provide them with a guiding project starting with ideas such as:
giving back to the community of Newton and/or Conover, bettering our school by some type of
beautification process, ideas people simply need to know more about, inventing something our world
would be better if it had, or modifying an already working object to make it even better. Students also
have the option of selecting something outside of these guiding project areas as long as they have
teacher approval. Students worked on developing their presentation and mini TEDTalk to pitch to
their classes for feedback and a final pitch. At the end of the semester, classes selected one
classroom winner to advance to the finalist round. Teachers take the information gained from
Thrively to also use it when scheduling for the subsequent year, this data helps teachers know their
students better. In 7th grade and 8th grade, the career focused element was using the NC Career
Clusters assessment developed by NCDPI for Career and Technical Education classes (CTE).
Students took the NC Career Clusters assessment to help identify their top two interest areas and
then dig deeper into what types of career options align with their individual interest areas. Students
then look at the annual openings in NC for that option, the entering wage, the annual wage, and
minimum education required. In 8th grade, students work on looking at options to guide them into a
career trajectory suited for them with the least amount of debt. Students also follow the modules
outlined for their grade-level on Canvas to develop their idea, prepare a presentation, write a mini
TEDTalk, and select one classroom finalist. After all classroom winners were chosen they follow the
same route as students did for the 2015-16 school year: mentors meet to help fine-tune
presentations, dress rehearsal, two presentations one at LR and one at NCMS, lunch out, and a swag
bag for their hard work.
The 2017-18 school year, will take another small shift for Genius Hour based upon teacher
feedback. One direct shift is to have all students create a project, but within the first 9-week reporting
period and not write a formal speech or presentation. Students will create a rough draft of a speech
to pitch to the class and as a class, they will select a classroom winner to advance. During the
second 9-weeks there will time allotted during remediation/enrichment class for the classroom finalist.
Students will report to prepare their mini TEDTalks and presentations. They will still have a mentor
for each group to help fine-tune and prepare them for the authentic audience at Lenoir Rhyne as in
years prior. Students will present their findings in April of the 2018 school year and follow the same
ending results of having a dress rehearsal, two presentations one at LR and one at NCMS, lunch out,
and a swag bag for their hard work. In an effort to work more richly with a career focus in all classes.
All teachers during the second 9-week period, all classes will work through 9 modules either one a
week or will complete them in two and a half weeks (left up to the grade-level to determine its needs)
that will focus on digging deeper into career skills. At the end of the second 9-week reporting period
we will host a career fair for students to sign up to hear from two or three career interest aligned from
either Thrively or NC Career Clusters. Parents will also have the opportunity to hear information
either from archived videos or an after-school meet/greet, this part is still to be determined.
What we consider to be our best practice, will continue to take shape and there will always be
room to improve and grow. We will make strong efforts to communicate in an even broader and more
diverse manner to community stakeholders as well as our rising 6th grade families concerning the
value we place on Genius Hour at NCMS. We will also begin to track data in tested subjects for
those who are Little REDs winners to see the impact of learning in a measure the state places great
emphasis on.

Artifact Link Year

A: Innovative Grant Application Little REDs Link 2015-17

B: Program Little REDs 2016 Link 2016

C: Little REDs Presentation 2016 Link 2016

D: Genius Hour Coordinator Outline Link 2016-17