The students were very curious about it, with lots of questions. I've decided to create a "Wonder Wall" (pictured below), where students can bank their inquiry questions or Genius Hour project ideas. When they have an idea, they grab a sticky note and a sharpie. They write it down, and stick it on our board. The idea will be saved for later when we're ready to start. It has also helped spark ideas from other students.
I have to say I'm pretty impressed with some of the questions or project ideas they've come up with so far. It's quite a variety from, "Can certain colours make you feel certain ways?" to one student wanting to construct a paper Tupac. It has been extremely interesting seeing what ideas and interests they have. Most of them are things I would have never thought the students would be interested in. Giving them a chance to express this without outward "teacher judgement or suggestion", as been a very interesting and worthwhile experience.
One student wants to explore how to build certain structures in a computer game called "Minecraft". It is a VERY popular game among students at our school. I don't know too much about it myself. In fact, my Genius Hour question was, "Why is Minecraft so popular?". At first I was very reluctant to allow a student permission to purse exploring a computer game during school time. From further research though, it appears that this game is actually very constructive and lots of learning takes place. The bigger question is though, even if wasn't "constructive", should it be allowed as a Genius Hour project? Genius Hour is supposed to be very open, allowing students the time to purse what interests them, no matter how trivial an adult may find it. Where do you draw the line though? This is something that I think I'll learn as we start this for the first time. I suppose I will have to emphasize that the presentation or sharing of what each student learns with each other is extremely important. Hopefully this will temper any pursuits of "less than deep" projects.
I hope to actually give the students Genius Hour time in one to two months. I need to take the time to have us build up the ideas on the Wonder Wall. I also want to teach the students how to use different technology options that they can use when they present their discoveries. Finding the time in an all ready packed school schedule will be the hardest challenge.