John Cloud starts his article by asking the question, “Is it possible to cultivate genius?” This question leads to arguments on whether it is nature or nurture. This is asking whether genius is genetically inherited, or are geniuses the products of stimulating and supportive homes. Cloud then goes on to talk about a psychology professor at the University of California named Simonton, who tries to nail down exactly what he means by genius. Simonton says that geniuses are the result of both good genes and good surroundings. He also says that geniuses tend to be “open to experience, introverted, hostile, driven, and ambitious.” Cloud also talks about an author, Gladwell, who wrote about the topic of geniuses. Gladwell writes in his book that we need “a society that provides opportunities for all.” He believe that people, especially kids deserve a chance to show how hard they can work. However, Cloud says that we need to do more to recognize and not separate high-IQ kids. He concludes by say genius can be very hard to detect. Simonton talks about how Emily Dickinson put in a lot of work to get many poems published in her short life. I think both Simonton and Cloud believe that it takes hard work to be a genius which is what Cloud was trying to show throughout this article.
After reading this article, I am able to use this information in my learning and academic life. This can mainly apply to my Genius Hour Project. I found out that it is important to put in work to my learning and academic life. By putting in work, I will be able to improve and have success. If I surround myself with a positive and supportive environment, it will also help me to excel in my academics. Overall, I will put in the time and effort into my Genius Hour Project because I want to be able to improve my learning and academic life.
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Ken Robinson talks a lot about No Child Left behind in his TED Talk. He talks about how kids are different from each others. Ken says one of the main ways to have students engaged in learning is to spark their curiosity. This relates perfectly to the concept of Genius Hour. Genius Hour allows kids to research topics that they find to be interesting and are curious about. This is a perfect way to spark students curiosity. Ken says the curiosity is the engine of achievement. He also goes on to talk about how teaching is suppose to be a creative job. The teachers who allow their students to do a Genius Hour project are succeeding in the creative part of their job. Overall, I find that a lot of Ken Robinson’s views relate to the concept of Genius Hour.
I agreed with a lot of Ken Robinson’s views during his TED Talk. I strongly agreed with him when he said the teachers should spark student’s curiosity in the classroom. I find it important to allow kids to learn on their own, especially about topics they are genuinely interested in. While doing Genius Hour this year, I found that I enjoy researching my chosen topic. Since I was able to choose my own topic, I was more engaged in learning about it. The author of this article, Michael Michalko, says that a genius thinks productively, not reproductively. Michael says that geniuses tend to think of many different responses that can be very unique. He believes that it is important for a genius to have the willingness to explore all approaches. Michaels interpretation of a genius is different than other conventional definitions of a genius. Normally people see geniuses as people who have a high IQ or got a high score on their SATs. Many people think that people who have a high IQ should be involved in science and art. Geniuses us creative thinking when it comes to problem solving. They do not only think of the common answers to a problem. Instead, they go above and beyond to think of alternative and unique answers. They think productively not reproductively.
Genius Hour is a good way to find the genius within yourself. For me, it encourages me to think outside of the box to find more unique answers. Not only can I apply these strategies to my Genius Hour project, but I can also apply it to other classes and problems that occur outside of school. In Emanuella Grinberg’s article on CNN titled, 'Genius hour': What kids can learn from failure, she starts off by explaining what genius hour is. Then she goes on to talk about the positive attitudes that both teaches and students have about genius hour. Including genius hour in our educations helps to promote student driven learning which teaches students how to learn on their own and not be dependent on their teachers. Most students enjoy the freedom to learn about what they want instead of being assigned a topic With genius hour, failure is an outcome that is acceptable and provides a learning opportunity for students. Knowing that failure is an acceptable result, students are able to push themselves and take more risks as they are doing their projects.
After reading this article, I learned more about genius hour and the importance of taking risks and learning from them. When it comes to setting goals, I learned that it is important to commit to the goal and follow through with it. While I am doing my genius hour project, I want to remember to commit to my goal and try my hardest to be successful. The article also showed me that by doing a genius hour project, I can learn how to be more independent and learn more on my own. Most importantly, the article was a great reminder that failure is an acceptable result. I think this is very important to remember when doing my genius hour project because not everything is going to go my way and I need to know that I can learn from failure. Risks need to be taken and I need to push myself to take them and not be afraid to make mistakes. During the months of October, November, and December, I have set a goal for my Genius Hour project that I plan to reach by January. My main goal is to get a larger group of students involved in Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). The first step I want to take in reaching my goal is to research other school’s FCA programs and see what they are doing to be successful and get more people involved. Once I find different ideas from other schools, I will bring the information to our group that meets every other week about FCA. From there, I want to incorporate the new ideas into our program to make it more successful and involve more people. With the help of the website I created, I want to get information out to a larger group of people.
In our group, we plan and organize different events and community outreaches that we think people would attend and have fun at. As of right now we have several different events set up for the future. One big event that is in the works and about to take place is Fields of Faith. This event will be a great start to reaching my goal. At Fields of Faith, I plan to take pictures to upload to my page. After Fields of Faith, I want to continue organizing big events that get more of the community involved. I will post the events and the outcomes of the events on my page to spread the word about what Kingsford’s FCA program is doing and how we are impacting our community. |
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