Geniuses in the Making

My Students

My students are geniuses in the making who are ready to change the world, and I will do anything I can to help them do just that! Last year, my class received the honor of a surprise visit from Seattle-based CEO, Dan Price, because of letters that the kids wrote to him!

My students are 30 eager, active, friendly, funny, creative, and hard-working 6th graders in Southern California.

They not only learn the necessary and important academics at our school, but we teach seven core values as well. Those values are respect, integrity, cooperation, compassion, perseverance, initiative, and a positive mental attitude. Because they learn these values throughout their years with us, by the time they arrive in sixth grade, they are well-rounded citizens with incredible ideas that can truly change the world with the appropriate encouragement, coaching, and support. Our school values creativity and ingenuity, and we all constantly strive to be better than the year before. Our students are kind, generous, and think about the world outside of our small community. We all love learning, and we love to challenge one another. Students, parents, teachers, and administrators work together to insure that each child is successful every day!

My Project

This year, I'm implementing "Genius Hour" in my classroom. There are many teachers already doing this, inspired by Google's "20% project time." During this weekly time, students will be able to work on a self-created and self-directed project about something that interests them and about which they are passionate. At the end of the project timeline, each student will be expected to present their project in some way. Having access to more technology will allow students to research, create, invent, and display their work. They'll have the ability to communicate with other geniuses (experts in the field that they're studying) by having more access to technology during this time. Students who might be researching similar topics can share devices. With the iPads, students will be able to create multi-media presentations, movies, and documentaries, as well as collaborate and edit one another's work.

Today's students are tomorrow's leaders.

They are entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, inventors, creators, thinkers, authors, and so much more in the making. They must learn to think outside of the box in order to participate in our rapidly changing world. Please consider supporting these amazing students by giving them more access to technology within our individual classroom on a daily basis to help them become learners who take initiative, are self-directed, and have a purpose for learning!