I never tried Passion Time in my classroom but only having two students it probably would not have the effect that it would have in a larger classroom. I think that it is an interesting idea to have students act as the teachers on a particular subject and share with the class. It would also help with their public speaking skills! My students would struggle with this, since there is only two of them and they would not see value in making the other person do all that work when they could just ask in class without all that work. However over all I think on a larger scale it is a good idea, since most students learn better from peers. Peers can also anticipate what their friends would struggle with easier than the teacher in some situations, especially if they grew up together.
I love the way that he describes passion time in his classroom. Student engagement comes to the forefront. I love the idea of students working on something that truly drives them. I also thought that having the hard deadline of 6 weeks is great – students know going in to each project, they must complete it in 6 weeks.
I’ve never tried passion time, but if I were in a classroom, I’d want to try to implement it. I think students would feel like their time is meaningful. I think that finding that phat question might be challenging at first, but by the end of the year, they’d have it down.
If I understand Passion Time correctly, each student can work on a different Passion Time project. I like that idea that the projects are not graded. I really haven't done Passion Time, but I have tried to help my students pursue some activities they are interested in. Last year a student brought a sewing machine from home and make curtains and dresser scarf for her room. The PHAT questions would depend on the abilities of student.
I would have a difficult time getting my students to complete such a project without giving them a grade, they would not see the value in doing it otherwise. At the middle school level they really do not do work just out of curiosity. It still needs to be tied to a grade for them to be motivated to do the project- unfortunately!
I think the passion time would be a great way to hook the kids who are not "school" kids. I am always surprised to know what passions kids have at home. Some are collectors of odd things, love learning history..... Sharing these with others would be a learning opportunity for all, and might help draw some of those kids back into the school setting.
I COMPLETELY agree with you! I bet we've all worked with those kiddos where school just wasn't their thing. Whenever students tell me they don't enjoy coming to school, I always ask them why, what'd they'd rather be doing, and what would make school better for them. The most common answers I get are that they'd rather be working outside, or working on some hands-on project, or doing something that they feel would actually be beneficial to them in the future. Can you imagine their faces if a teacher was like 'Ok, well, that's what we're going to do'?!?! :-)
In our English classroom, the teacher assigned the students to write technical directions for someone to follow to create or do something. They could do any topic they wanted. Most chose to do some type of cooking. One of my students, who is a huge history buff, chose to write step by step directions of how to create chain-mail (like a mid evil knight would wear). I told him I had no clue how to do this, so if he chose this topic he would be on his own, because I would be no help to him. He did it, and it was outstanding. He was passionate about the topic, and not only wrote the directions, but went home and did it--not a full suit, but he created a patch of chain mail that he brought to school to show us how he created it. It was really interesting, and because he was passionate about it, he put a ton of time into it and had a fantastic paper when he was done.
Heather, enjoyed reading about your student who created the chain-mail. Hands-on projects give students who aren't into essays and final tests a chance to shine.
I agree, Passion Time would give those students who don't shine in ELA and math to share what they are good at. All kids have talents and skills and many of our "unmotivated" students pursue them passionately as soon as school is out.
I have not ever thought about passion time but wow! What an awesome idea! Especially with the kids that we teach. i have so many students that don't really care much about reading or math but care a lot about cars or sports. It allows the student to be the teacher of their topic and do an interesting project that they are passionate about. It also allows them to feel successful and I'm a huge advocate of every student finding success somewhere! I wouldn't be able to do 2 45-60 minutes sessions because I only see some of my kiddos that much once a day and some less. But even twice a month I think would be beneficial. My boys would probably pass out from excitement if I introduced this. They get excited when I tell them we are going on a nature walk to pick up trash for earth day! Imagine their excitement to share something they are passionate about. I could introduce it by saying something about how passionate I am about math and then transitioning to what they are passionate about. It would also be a wonderful beginning of the year assignment!
I LOVED your comment about every student finding success somewhere! It just makes me smile :-) However, it also made me think about some of our students' parents and the kiddos' home lives... Whenever I meet with parents before we start an evaluation, one of the questions I ask them is what they feel their child's greatest strengths are, and believe it or not, some of them can't give me an answer. Even after I rephrase my question, tell them it doesn't have to be academically related, and give examples, they still just look at me and finally end up saying something like, "I just don't know. They're not good at anything." Oh my gosh... It breaks my heart.
I have not ever thought about passion time but wow! What an awesome idea! Especially with the kids that we teach. i have so many students that don't really care much about reading or math but care a lot about cars or sports. It allows the student to be the teacher of their topic and do an interesting project that they are passionate about. It also allows them to feel successful and I'm a huge advocate of every student finding success somewhere! I wouldn't be able to do 2 45-60 minutes sessions because I only see some of my kiddos that much once a day and some less. But even twice a month I think would be beneficial. My boys would probably pass out from excitement if I introduced this. They get excited when I tell them we are going on a nature walk to pick up trash for earth day! Imagine their excitement to share something they are passionate about. I could introduce it by saying something about how passionate I am about math and then transitioning to what they are passionate about. It would also be a wonderful beginning of the year assignment!
I have not tried Passion Time. I only have my students 48 minutes each day so some of the author's ideas does not seem to work well with my schedule compared to his, he has the same class all day! But I like the idea and the closest I have come to this is letting my students choose a book to read within a certain genre. A couple of years ago I did not have an idea about a book in the science fiction genre so I asked my students to choose a book and if I approved it the class would read it. One student choose The Maze Runner and the entire class loved it! 2 years ago we read book 1 and this year we read book 2. Next school year we will read book 3, The Death Cure. I like to use book series because if I can get my students hooked on a series by reading the first one in class together hopefully they will continue the series on their own, and some do! I do encourage them to help me select books that the class reads within certain genres. This does generate alot of interest, sometimes more interest than in the books I choose for the class! I also use projects verses tests at the end of each unit/genre and at the end of the year, at times, I have given them a free choice for their project. After doing certain projects all year on the final one they can choose any of the previous ones. There are guidelines to each project but again it helps keep up the enthusiasm at the end of the year!
I do the same with series--read the first together then they can read the remainder of the series on their own. I find, especially with science fiction or very imaginary stories, there is a lot of made up language that once the kids learn it by reading the first book, they do fine with the remainder of the series. This would be true of Maze Runner. I also think of Harry Potter--Griffondor, Slitherin, etc are difficult, made up words, but once my kids were familiar from the first book, they tended to do okay with it for the remainder of the series. Also, once kids get interested in the characters, they want to read on and see what happened to them in future books. It can be very motivating.
Opinion on Passion Time: I think passion time would be great for my students. I don't have 45-60 min. a week to devote to it, but I do have some time each class period that would add up to about 30 min. a week. I plan on trying this next year and seeing how it goes. Some days we may have more time. I do spend the beginning of each class period just socializing with my students and learning about them. I know many of them are very passionate about different things. This would be a chance for me to really get to know them better. I think my students would love the time I give them. I also see a few struggling with what to do, but maybe this would be a time they could explore and discover something they are passionate about.
I’ve never tried it, but I think it’s a WONDERFUL idea. In the book, Solarz says that too many children today go to school, bide their time, and then can’t wait to get home to do something that interests them. That may be true, but I also think that a lot of children today go to school without having anyone at home that actually cares about what they’re doing. Not only does Passion Time provide an opportunity for the student to pursue their personal interests, but it also gives them a valuable connection and relationship with a caring adult who is taking a personal interest in THEM.
I agree.. the connection and interest plays a huge part in the students motivation to complete and remember a project and therefor what they learned from it. So much information taught and learned goes away right after the unit. When the lesson makes and impact and has meaning, its hard for that to ever escape the mind.
When I was reading the Passion Time chapter, Senior Project immediately popped into my mind. It used to be a common graduation requirement for many schools. The kids could pick any topic they were interested in and develop a project over the course of their senior year that showed what they learned or created. They then presented to a committee at the end of their senior year. Even though it was student selected and directed, there were many who hated it. In fact, I do not know of any place that still does them. I wonder if there was more passion time incorporated into the school years leading up to student’s senior year, if they would look at a senior project more positively?
My nieces and nephews did this as part of the International Baccalaureate program they were in. One of my nieces senior projects was on dyeing fabric and creating (she has a degree in fashion design now and has created wedding dresses). One of the boys did a project with a Civil War theme. He has a masters in history and has worked at Gettysburg.
I love the idea of incorporating passion time into the classroom. What better way to have student buy in than to let them create and demonstrate something they are passionate about!! Think about it why did we go into teaching? It was what we were passionate about it is what we wanted to be/do. Not all kids want to come to school so if we give them passion time to show others what they are passionate about they will want to come to school a little more because they know they are appreciated and accepted and have self-worth.
I don't have a setting where I can try this myself, but I love the idea. I think most students would be excited by it too, especially if they were allowed to choose the parameters for how they would share their ideas. I like the idea too of keeping an online journal to save ideas students might have while they are pursuing another one. I could see this for my son, who sometimes has some many ideas to follow, he has a hard time seeing one to fruition.
I really like the journal idea too. I think we as teachers, planners, and revisers of our own lessons could benefit from the journal aspect as well. I need to do more written reflections of my lessons and teachings so I have something to refer too when doing the lesson again or looking for a different approach.
I've never tried Passion Time, but I absolutely love this idea. I think the kids would too. I do think the author has the upper hand on this one by having his same students all day all the time. I think for many of us special ed teachers who have small groups throughout the day for intervention type instruction it may be more difficult, but you can always start small. 10 minutes a day to work on or research something of their choice. The after school thing he does is amazing also. I worked the after school program this year, and many times there were students who didn't have homework. This could be incorporated within a program that already exists, not having to make additional time or space. I think many kids would utilize this, and it would push all students to complete school work and still want to work on something and want to stay after school.
I never tried Passion Time in my classroom but only having two students it probably would not have the effect that it would have in a larger classroom. I think that it is an interesting idea to have students act as the teachers on a particular subject and share with the class. It would also help with their public speaking skills!
ReplyDeleteMy students would struggle with this, since there is only two of them and they would not see value in making the other person do all that work when they could just ask in class without all that work. However over all I think on a larger scale it is a good idea, since most students learn better from peers. Peers can also anticipate what their friends would struggle with easier than the teacher in some situations, especially if they grew up together.
I wonder if speech teacher would pair with you to set up some Passion Time.
DeleteI love the way that he describes passion time in his classroom. Student engagement comes to the forefront. I love the idea of students working on something that truly drives them. I also thought that having the hard deadline of 6 weeks is great – students know going in to each project, they must complete it in 6 weeks.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never tried passion time, but if I were in a classroom, I’d want to try to implement it. I think students would feel like their time is meaningful. I think that finding that phat question might be challenging at first, but by the end of the year, they’d have it down.
If I understand Passion Time correctly, each student can work on a different Passion Time project. I like that idea that the projects are not graded. I really haven't done Passion Time, but I have tried to help my students pursue some activities they are interested in. Last year a student brought a sewing machine from home and make curtains and dresser scarf for her room. The PHAT questions would depend on the abilities of student.
ReplyDeleteI would have a difficult time getting my students to complete such a project without giving them a grade, they would not see the value in doing it otherwise. At the middle school level they really do not do work just out of curiosity. It still needs to be tied to a grade for them to be motivated to do the project- unfortunately!
DeleteI think the passion time would be a great way to hook the kids who are not "school" kids. I am always surprised to know what passions kids have at home. Some are collectors of odd things, love learning history..... Sharing these with others would be a learning opportunity for all, and might help draw some of those kids back into the school setting.
ReplyDeleteI agree, more project based learning verses the traditional style might be just what some of those kids need to stay motivated in school!
DeleteKim-
DeleteI COMPLETELY agree with you! I bet we've all worked with those kiddos where school just wasn't their thing. Whenever students tell me they don't enjoy coming to school, I always ask them why, what'd they'd rather be doing, and what would make school better for them. The most common answers I get are that they'd rather be working outside, or working on some hands-on project, or doing something that they feel would actually be beneficial to them in the future. Can you imagine their faces if a teacher was like 'Ok, well, that's what we're going to do'?!?! :-)
In our English classroom, the teacher assigned the students to write technical directions for someone to follow to create or do something. They could do any topic they wanted. Most chose to do some type of cooking. One of my students, who is a huge history buff, chose to write step by step directions of how to create chain-mail (like a mid evil knight would wear). I told him I had no clue how to do this, so if he chose this topic he would be on his own, because I would be no help to him. He did it, and it was outstanding. He was passionate about the topic, and not only wrote the directions, but went home and did it--not a full suit, but he created a patch of chain mail that he brought to school to show us how he created it. It was really interesting, and because he was passionate about it, he put a ton of time into it and had a fantastic paper when he was done.
DeleteHeather, enjoyed reading about your student who created the chain-mail. Hands-on projects give students who aren't into essays and final tests a chance to shine.
DeleteI agree, Passion Time would give those students who don't shine in ELA and math to share what they are good at. All kids have talents and skills and many of our "unmotivated" students pursue them passionately as soon as school is out.
DeleteI have not ever thought about passion time but wow! What an awesome idea! Especially with the kids that we teach. i have so many students that don't really care much about reading or math but care a lot about cars or sports. It allows the student to be the teacher of their topic and do an interesting project that they are passionate about. It also allows them to feel successful and I'm a huge advocate of every student finding success somewhere!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be able to do 2 45-60 minutes sessions because I only see some of my kiddos that much once a day and some less. But even twice a month I think would be beneficial. My boys would probably pass out from excitement if I introduced this. They get excited when I tell them we are going on a nature walk to pick up trash for earth day! Imagine their excitement to share something they are passionate about. I could introduce it by saying something about how passionate I am about math and then transitioning to what they are passionate about. It would also be a wonderful beginning of the year assignment!
Shaina-
DeleteI LOVED your comment about every student finding success somewhere! It just makes me smile :-) However, it also made me think about some of our students' parents and the kiddos' home lives... Whenever I meet with parents before we start an evaluation, one of the questions I ask them is what they feel their child's greatest strengths are, and believe it or not, some of them can't give me an answer. Even after I rephrase my question, tell them it doesn't have to be academically related, and give examples, they still just look at me and finally end up saying something like, "I just don't know. They're not good at anything." Oh my gosh... It breaks my heart.
I have not ever thought about passion time but wow! What an awesome idea! Especially with the kids that we teach. i have so many students that don't really care much about reading or math but care a lot about cars or sports. It allows the student to be the teacher of their topic and do an interesting project that they are passionate about. It also allows them to feel successful and I'm a huge advocate of every student finding success somewhere!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be able to do 2 45-60 minutes sessions because I only see some of my kiddos that much once a day and some less. But even twice a month I think would be beneficial. My boys would probably pass out from excitement if I introduced this. They get excited when I tell them we are going on a nature walk to pick up trash for earth day! Imagine their excitement to share something they are passionate about. I could introduce it by saying something about how passionate I am about math and then transitioning to what they are passionate about. It would also be a wonderful beginning of the year assignment!
I have not tried Passion Time. I only have my students 48 minutes each day so some of the author's ideas does not seem to work well with my schedule compared to his, he has the same class all day! But I like the idea and the closest I have come to this is letting my students choose a book to read within a certain genre. A couple of years ago I did not have an idea about a book in the science fiction genre so I asked my students to choose a book and if I approved it the class would read it. One student choose The Maze Runner and the entire class loved it! 2 years ago we read book 1 and this year we read book 2. Next school year we will read book 3, The Death Cure. I like to use book series because if I can get my students hooked on a series by reading the first one in class together hopefully they will continue the series on their own, and some do! I do encourage them to help me select books that the class reads within certain genres. This does generate alot of interest, sometimes more interest than in the books I choose for the class!
ReplyDeleteI also use projects verses tests at the end of each unit/genre and at the end of the year, at times, I have given them a free choice for their project. After doing certain projects all year on the final one they can choose any of the previous ones. There are guidelines to each project but again it helps keep up the enthusiasm at the end of the year!
I do the same with series--read the first together then they can read the remainder of the series on their own. I find, especially with science fiction or very imaginary stories, there is a lot of made up language that once the kids learn it by reading the first book, they do fine with the remainder of the series. This would be true of Maze Runner. I also think of Harry Potter--Griffondor, Slitherin, etc are difficult, made up words, but once my kids were familiar from the first book, they tended to do okay with it for the remainder of the series. Also, once kids get interested in the characters, they want to read on and see what happened to them in future books. It can be very motivating.
DeleteOpinion on Passion Time: I think passion time would be great for my students. I don't have 45-60 min. a week to devote to it, but I do have some time each class period that would add up to about 30 min. a week. I plan on trying this next year and seeing how it goes. Some days we may have more time. I do spend the beginning of each class period just socializing with my students and learning about them. I know many of them are very passionate about different things. This would be a chance for me to really get to know them better. I think my students would love the time I give them. I also see a few struggling with what to do, but maybe this would be a time they could explore and discover something they are passionate about.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never tried it, but I think it’s a WONDERFUL idea. In the book, Solarz says that too many children today go to school, bide their time, and then can’t wait to get home to do something that interests them. That may be true, but I also think that a lot of children today go to school without having anyone at home that actually cares about what they’re doing. Not only does Passion Time provide an opportunity for the student to pursue their personal interests, but it also gives them a valuable connection and relationship with a caring adult who is taking a personal interest in THEM.
ReplyDeleteI agree.. the connection and interest plays a huge part in the students motivation to complete and remember a project and therefor what they learned from it. So much information taught and learned goes away right after the unit. When the lesson makes and impact and has meaning, its hard for that to ever escape the mind.
DeleteWhen I was reading the Passion Time chapter, Senior Project immediately popped into my mind. It used to be a common graduation requirement for many schools. The kids could pick any topic they were interested in and develop a project over the course of their senior year that showed what they learned or created. They then presented to a committee at the end of their senior year. Even though it was student selected and directed, there were many who hated it. In fact, I do not know of any place that still does them. I wonder if there was more passion time incorporated into the school years leading up to student’s senior year, if they would look at a senior project more positively?
ReplyDeleteMy nieces and nephews did this as part of the International Baccalaureate program they were in. One of my nieces senior projects was on dyeing fabric and creating (she has a degree in fashion design now and has created wedding dresses). One of the boys did a project with a Civil War theme. He has a masters in history and has worked at Gettysburg.
DeleteI love the idea of incorporating passion time into the classroom. What better way to have student buy in than to let them create and demonstrate something they are passionate about!! Think about it why did we go into teaching? It was what we were passionate about it is what we wanted to be/do. Not all kids want to come to school so if we give them passion time to show others what they are passionate about they will want to come to school a little more because they know they are appreciated and accepted and have self-worth.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a setting where I can try this myself, but I love the idea. I think most students would be excited by it too, especially if they were allowed to choose the parameters for how they would share their ideas. I like the idea too of keeping an online journal to save ideas students might have while they are pursuing another one. I could see this for my son, who sometimes has some many ideas to follow, he has a hard time seeing one to fruition.
ReplyDeleteI really like the journal idea too. I think we as teachers, planners, and revisers of our own lessons could benefit from the journal aspect as well. I need to do more written reflections of my lessons and teachings so I have something to refer too when doing the lesson again or looking for a different approach.
DeleteI've never tried Passion Time, but I absolutely love this idea.
ReplyDeleteI think the kids would too.
I do think the author has the upper hand on this one by having his same students all day all the time. I think for many of us special ed teachers who have small groups throughout the day for intervention type instruction it may be more difficult, but you can always start small.
10 minutes a day to work on or research something of their choice.
The after school thing he does is amazing also. I worked the after school program this year, and many times there were students who didn't have homework. This could be incorporated within a program that already exists, not having to make additional time or space. I think many kids would utilize this, and it would push all students to complete school work and still want to work on something and want to stay after school.