There are only six Fridays left to go for my Genius Hour Project. I plan to bring closure to my project by helping out one of my teachers, Mrs. Bianco, with a used clothing classroom that we started in our school. We hope to open the store sometime next week. My partner and I will run it all on certain days. This weekend I hope to make posters to advertise the store. I plan on doing a few more good deeds that my partner and I have in mind. We hope to take pictures more and possibly a video that we put together if we have the time. We also hope to get letters from the people that we help to prove the deeds that we were able to accomplish this year. At the end of this, the project may be over but I will continue doing nice things for others. I encourage everyone to spread kindness everyday. :)
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STEM is an acronym that stands for Science Technology Engineering Math. Experts say that there will be over a million jobs in STEM related fields in the very near future.The article I chose to read was "Mississippi Students Create Vending Machines to Help Homeless". In Gulf Port, Mississippi, science students have created a vending machine to provide free hygiene products to the homeless.
Robotics students decided to make the machine for a national contest. Their teacher put them to the challenge to create a device that meets a community need by using STEAM research which means science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. Accepting the challenge, the class decided to create a device specifically for the 143 homeless students in their very own district. The machine they created was designed to dispense toothbrushes, toothpaste, shaving cream, disposable razors, bars of soap, and feminine hygiene products. For right now, the machines are token-operated with the tokens given to district counselors. The concept of student-centered learning was highly effective in the success of the students' projects. One of the students who came up with the idea said how everyone involved gathered and brainstormed issues in their community. The prominent issue was students who are homeless. They invented a device that would help the homeless and they would have access to it all of the time. With the students having control over the project, they were able to design a machine that would benefit kids their age in a way that was smart and not too complicated. In the future, the students hope to expand their project in their community by powering the machines with solar panels. They also hope to add a shower that uses rainwater or reusable water. The article written by John Cloud is asking an important question which is, "Is Genius Born or Can It Be Learned"? Cloud is wondering if people could wire themselves to be a genius or if someone has to be born with it. Keith Simonton said that geniuses are the result of both good genes and good surroundings. He also says that geniuses are those who have the intelligence, enthusiasm, and endurance to acquire the needed expertise in a broadly valued domain of achievement and who then make contributions to that field that are considered by peers to be both "original and highly exemplary." How can you tell if someone is a genius? There are IQ tests, but not all are the same. The other way is to be in the right place at the right time. For example, if a man walked into a lab and discovered a new type of mold growing, he would be a genius for discovering that. But if you walked in first, would you be the genius? Personality traits also matter when deciding who is a genius. A genius tends to be open to experience, introverted, hostile, driven, and ambitious. I think that a genius can be learned if you take the time to research and are excited about what you are learning. I want to become a genius regarding my genius hour project. I believe if you put enough time into it and train yourself to be a driven person, then you can succeed and become an expert on your project.
Justin Cowen, a tech guy at my school, gave a speech to the class on his own genius hour project. When Mr. Cowen gave his presentation, he knew about the information he was presenting. He started off by explaining what made him want to obtain a 3D printer and how exactly he got it. He then went on to continue talking about his project and giving examples on how he has shared his project with others. He knew facts about what he was saying and knew how to tell the information to make it interesting for his audience. He kept his audience interested at all times by keeping his tone upbeat. His brought in his 3D printer which enhanced his presentation. He also used the projector off the computer to show us a slide show with pictures and videos. This made his presentation visual and kept his audience engaged. He made everything flow very nicely in his speech. I can learn from his presentation on how to give my own genius hour speech by following his examples. I have to know what I want to say and present it effectively.
People may think that in order to be a genius, you have to be the smartest person in your class with all A’s or be the highest paying worker at your job. Being a genius is not about getting a perfect score on your SATs, mastering a dozen different languages at the age of 5, or even about being smart. Creativity is not the same as intelligence. A person can be much more creative than intelligent or the other way around. Geniuses do not ask “what have I learned from others that can help me solve this?” Instead, they ask “how many different ways can I solve this and how can I look at this differently?”
There are many shared strategies of a genius. They look at problems in many different ways, make their thoughts visible, produce outcomes, make novel combinations, force relationships, think in opposites, think metaphorically, and prepare themselves for change. These many different strategies may help me with my own genius hour project. I have to think outside the box, learn to make things happen, and be ready to change my thought process if something does not go the way I planned. Genius Hour is one hour out of a normal school day that students have the opportunity to work on whatever they choose. This idea was based around the idea of student-led projects so kids are free to be creative and choose what to learn about. It is a project that should focus on what the individual cares about. Failure is an option. If your idea doesn’t work out right away then you should try again. Failure can teach us how we can improve our ideas. When kids know that failure is acceptable, they are more prone to take risks. The freedom of exploring what ever it is a child chooses makes them feel like they should work harder and learn from what they are researching.
For our genius hour project, we intend to spread happiness to others by taking part in selfless good deeds throughout our community. We wish to help out by visiting local nursing homes with homemade treats, helping out at the animal shelter by walking the animals and donating supplies, helping out the salvation army by donating old clothes, and whatever else we are able to do. We want to help our community in every possible way. Our goal is to boost people’s confidence and make them happy. Our genius hour project is 100% free for the most part. We have all the supplies we need: ourselves. We’re just two teenage girls working to make the Breitung Township a happier place one day at a time.
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