Shipped byEducators Resource In Cultivating Genius, Dr. Gholdy Muhammad presents a four-layered equity framework-one that is grounded in history and restores excellence in literacy education. Muhammad's Historically Responsive Literacy Framework is essential for all students, especially youth of color, who traditionally have been marginalized in learning standards, school policies, and classroom practices. The framework promotes four learning goals-or pursuits:• Identity development; defining self; making sense of one's values and beliefs• Skill development; developing proficiencies through reading and writing meaningful content• Intellectual development; gaining knowledge and becoming smarter• Criticality; developing the ability to read texts to understand power, authority, and oppressionWhen these four learning pursuits are taught together-through the Historically Responsive Literacy Framework- all students receive profound opportunities for personal, intellectual, and academic success. Muhammad provides probing, self-reflective questions for both teachers and students as well as bibliographies of culturally responsive text and sample lesson plans across grades and content areas. Special Shipping Information: This item ships separately from other items in your order. This item cannot ship to a P.O. Box. This item may be subject to additional processing days. ITEM IS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR EXPEDITED SHIPPING You may initiate a return for unused items within 30 days, if the items are in original packaging with all original materials included with the shipment.
Image 1 of 68 from gallery of Casa de las Estrellas Waldorf School / Salagnac Arquitectos. Photograph by Andrés García Lachner
Image 7 of 22 from gallery of Ecoara Waldorf School / Shieh Arquitetos Associados. Photograph by Fernando Stakuns
Last week I was scouring the internet for some more inquiry ideas for my classroom when I came across Genius Hour. One word ... hooked. And inspired. And motivated. (I was never good at limiting my words). ;) Sufficed to say, I KNEW it was going to happen in my classroom. In a nutshell, Genius Hour is something that happens in your classroom for one hour a week. During this time, students research and complete an inquiry project based on their passions - really digging deep into what motivates them. The actual inquiry question does not have to be tied to the curriculum expectations because so much of what they will do does fit the curriculum ... and more ... so much more. They will be learning research skills, refining their organizational skills, reading nonfiction articles, developing questions, writing, preparing a project, and presenting. And best of all ... they will be engaged. So, I got started immediately. I started researching it more in depth (check out the genius hour link in the first paragraph to get you started with so many FANTASTIC ideas and resources). I started making up resources to use in my classroom, and I started planting little seeds of excitement within the classroom. I told my students I had a big secret for them ... one that would be revealed on Friday ... and one that would change our classroom ... one that would change every student. Boy, were they hooked. The second they came into the school on Friday they asked when they were going to find out the secret. Our Genius Hour will take place every Friday in our classroom, during our Language Arts block. I set up this space on our blackboard (who uses blackboards anymore?) to act as our bulletin board launching pad during our passion projects. I set it up during their break, so it was up when they came back into the classroom. When it was time, I told them all was about to be revealed. I gave each student a sticky note and asked them to close their eyes and think about something they were really passionate about. Something that they would do forever if they could. I then had them write that thing on the sticky note and put it up on our bulletin board. I then showed them the "Pep Talk" video by Kid President. LOVE it. It fits so perfectly with our classroom motto this year - "Be More Awesome". I asked them how they thought this video ties into their passions and we had a short discussion about it. I then showed them this video (found on Genius Hour). It's actually geared to teachers, so I wouldn't use it in a classroom with younger students, but it worked well with my students, and it told them exactly what to expect during Genius Hour. I then handed out a second sticky note and asked them to "refine" their passion a bit. Alter it so that it was something they could create an inquiry project on - something they could create a question about and complete research on (we have already completed inquiry projects in science this year, so this concept wasn't new to them). I also reminded them that this was just a brainstorm phase, and they weren't tied to what they wrote down on the sticky note. When they were finished, I had them put these sticky notes up on our bulletin board, too. I handed out a duotang and notebook to each student to keep track of their sheets and notes during the project (bright yellow, of course). I then gave them their brainstorm sheet and asked them to answer the questions. On the back of the sheet they were to brainstorm ideas they were passionate about, and projects they could complete based on these passions. This one below is one of my favourites because this is a young man who is quite difficult to engage ... and he was so excited about this he drew out a full diagram in only a few moments. After a few moments of brainstorming, I allowed them some group time to discuss the ideas they were thinking about. My class LOVES to talk, so I've found if I build that time in for them, we are all a lot happier. We then filled out a reflection sheet I made for the end of each Genius Hour. Because I wanted to keep the sheet the same for each Genius Hour through the session, some of the questions didn't apply this time, but will in our upcoming genius hour blocks. I've uploaded a copy of the handouts I used, and the bulletin board letters I made to google docs. You can grab them by clicking HERE. I left the day of the week and project timeline blank so you could add in your days / timeline. Note: this is a PDF file, so it isn't editable. If it doesn't quite work for you, you are more than welcome to use some of these ideas and create something that does work for you. Although I like to share ideas and activities I've done in the classroom, I'm a HUGE advocate of doing what works for your classroom - you know your students the best, and know what drives them, so please change things around if you feel your students need it, or add in your own genius ideas to inspire your students. :) For homework, I asked my students to talk to their families about our Passion Projects and come back with two ideas they could work with. Over the week, I will talk to the students and approve ideas so that we can get started on our projects during our next Genius Hour next Friday. If you haven't heard about Genius Hour, please check out the link I gave at the beginning ... I promise you - you will be motivated. My students are SO excited, to say the very least. One of my students asked me at the end of class if he could decorate his folder. Of course I told him he could. When I came back from break, I found out that he had done this on his break. A success, I'd say. When I was dismissing the bus lines at the end of the day, one of my "less motivated" students looked and me and said with a smile, "I think I'm going to like Fridays now". Well ... enough said. Happy Sunday!
*This product is for EDUCATORS, not students **You will need a copy of Cultivating Genius in order to use this product If you want to grow as an educator, Gholdy Muhammad's book Cultivating Genius is one of the best places to start! These slides provide an outline and structure to facilitate an interactive teacher book club as you learn along with your colleagues. To preview the book club idea before purchasing, watch this video https://youtu.be/er2ubiU9DO0
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Inside this post: Why we chose to use a nature-based homeschooling approach for preschool and curriculum ideas for you to do it with your kids. "Keep tracing the letters," I urged, knowing we were near the breaking point. I should have stopped. I knew we were headed into meltdown territory, but I was determined. "Slow
The latest issue of Scientific American Mind, which I read during a vacation last week (yes, I'm an exciting guy), takes on the subject of genius. "Genius" is one of those freighted words, something we consider exceedingly rare and overwhelming innate. But after reading SciAm's package of articles, one of my takeaways is that genius
Wildschooling. A new term to me as a life-long homeschooling parent. What is wildschooling and how we encorporated it into homeschooling.
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Ever been delighted to stumble across a book that provides startling new insight on something familiar? That’s what happened to me with the book Cultivating Genius. [This post contains Amazon affiliate links. When you click on those links to make purchases, Brave Writer receives compensation at no extra cost to you. Thank you!] When I […]
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What are the causes of success? At first glance, the answer is easy: success is about talent. It’s about being able to do something – hit a baseball, play chess, trade stocks, write a blog – better than most anyone else. That’s a fine answer, but it immediately invites another question: What is talent? How […]
Until last year, I dreaded winter. Winter, to my gardening, barefoot self was a season of eternal inconveniences, discomfort, and grayness. After leaving Colorado, our winters spent in Hawaii went largely unnoticed, other than better waves and whale-watching. I didn’t skip a beat in our daily excursions, so our nature-based homeschool rhythm had a chance to really take root. When we came back, our first winters were an exercise in patience--and I didn’t enjoy them very much at all. I did, however, notice what a big dent that season left in our outdoor lifestyle. And I knew something had to change--specifically, my mindset about winter. I spent the entire season last year, bound and determined to fall in love with winter. I was tired of it feeling like a holding period during which everything we enjoyed was paused while we waited it out. I wanted us to treat winter like we did every other season--a unique tide, full of its own special beauty--a gift. I learned a lot, and as a result, I went into winter this year with excitement. Though there were many things that contributed to this shift in perspective, there were ten key things that really turned
I found a goldmine of backyard garden wall photos today! I could very well be mistaken, but I don't think these were ever posted. The last time you saw it was probably like this: And then a lot more happened... Decking the roof with 1X6s (notice how much the color of the cob lightened when it dried): Extending the roof framing over the gates: Applying stucco over the concrete block. This particular photo was taken a day after I stuccoed - it looks pretty neat and tiger-stripe-like as it dries. Eventually it all dried to be a consistent, boring gray. Plastering the wall (with clay from Pickard's Mountain - the same plaster in the interior of Margaret's cottage): Plaster detail around the little arched window: The quality of light..... ahhhhhhhh....: This is the view that my nephew will have of the wall, at least for another year. In the above photo, notice how nicely and evenly the edge of the decking is overhanging the end of the rafters- about an inch and a half all the way around. I thought it was a pretty great aesthetic move. After it was all done, I thought to myself: "now what am I going to attach the fascia boards to?" Previously, I had attached fascia into the ends of the rafters, because there was no overhanging decking in the way. I ended up having to go around and attach a block of wood at the end of every rafter as a solution. It was time-consuming, and a great reminder to NEVER MAKE THIS MISTAKE AGAIN. Although a completely different style than the house, I like how they look juxtaposed next to one another: The first layer of the green roof was carpet underlay, from a nearby carpet store dumpster: The next step was to put the impermeable plastic layer over the entire wall, and then wait for a praying mantis to bless the project: The fascia boards went on after the plastic, to lock it into place: Then pool liner sample scraps over the plastic. (And a layer of dumpstered carpet on top of this): And then soil/compost! (which needs to be planted eventually, with sedums).
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About the Book In Cultivating Genius, Dr. Gholdy E. Muhammad presents a four-layered equity framework--one that is grounded in history and restores excellence in literacy education. This framework, which she names, Historically Responsive Literacy, was derived from the study of literacy development within 19th-century Black literacy societies. The framework is essential and universal for all students, especially youth of color, who traditionally have been marginalized in learning standards, school policies, and classroom practices. The equity framework will help educators teach and lead toward the following learning goals or pursuits: Identity Development--Helping youth to make sense of themselves and othersSkill Development-- Developing proficiencies across the academic disciplinesIntellectual Development--Gaining knowledge and becoming smarterCriticality--Learning and developing the ability to read texts (including print and social contexts) to understand power, equity, and anti-oppression When these four learning pursuits are taught together--through the Historically Responsive Literacy Framework, all students receive profound opportunities for personal, intellectual, and academic success. Muhammad provides probing, self-reflective questions for teachers, leaders, and teacher educators as well as sample culturally and historically responsive sample plans and text sets across grades and content areas. In this book, Muhammad presents practical approaches to cultivate the genius in students and within teachers. Book Synopsis In Cultivating Genius, Dr. Gholdy E. Muhammad presents a four-layered equity framework--one that is grounded in history and restores excellence in literacy education. This framework, which she names, Historically Responsive Literacy, was derived from the study of literacy development within 19th-century Black literacy societies. The framework is essential and universal for all students, especially youth of color, who traditionally have been marginalized in learning standards, school policies, and classroom practices. The equity framework will help educators teach and lead toward the following learning goals or pursuits: Identity Development--Helping youth to make sense of themselves and othersSkill Development-- Developing proficiencies across the academic disciplinesIntellectual Development--Gaining knowledge and becoming smarterCriticality--Learning and developing the ability to read texts (including print and social contexts) to understand power, equity, and anti-oppression When these four learning pursuits are taught together--through the Historically Responsive Literacy Framework, all students receive profound opportunities for personal, intellectual, and academic success. Muhammad provides probing, self-reflective questions for teachers, leaders, and teacher educators as well as sample culturally and historically responsive sample plans and text sets across grades and content areas. In this book, Muhammad presents practical approaches to cultivate the genius in students and within teachers. About the Author Dr. Gholnecsar (Gholdy) Muhammad is an Associate Professor of Language and Literacy at Georgia State University. She also serves as the director of the GSU Urban Literacy Collaborative and Clinic. Dr. Muhammad's scholarship has appeared in leading educational journals and books. Some of her recognitions include the 2014 recipient of the National Council of Teachers of English, Promising New Researcher Award, the 2015 NCTE Alan C. Purves Award (honorable mention), the 2016 NCTE CEE Janet Emig awardee, the 2017 Georgia State University Urban Education Research Awardee, the 2018 UIC College of Education Researcher of the Year and the 2018 Emerald Literati Award.
Until last year, I dreaded winter. Winter, to my gardening, barefoot self was a season of eternal inconveniences, discomfort, and grayness. After leaving Colorado, our winters spent in Hawaii went largely unnoticed, other than better waves and whale-watching. I didn’t skip a beat in our daily excursions, so our nature-based homeschool rhythm had a chance to really take root. When we came back, our first winters were an exercise in patience--and I didn’t enjoy them very much at all. I did, however, notice what a big dent that season left in our outdoor lifestyle. And I knew something had to change--specifically, my mindset about winter. I spent the entire season last year, bound and determined to fall in love with winter. I was tired of it feeling like a holding period during which everything we enjoyed was paused while we waited it out. I wanted us to treat winter like we did every other season--a unique tide, full of its own special beauty--a gift. I learned a lot, and as a result, I went into winter this year with excitement. Though there were many things that contributed to this shift in perspective, there were ten key things that really turned
Choose an undesirable or misunderstood animal; create an argument for why this animal would make an excellent pet. Craft an argument for why the person sitting next to you should be honored with …
