Innovation Projects -- Spring 2016

The end of the school year is quickly approaching, but we took one more leap at Innovation Projects this spring.  The last time we did these projects, I was extremely frustrated by Microsoft's Teacher Notebook, as I tried to force it to do something it wasn't created to do.

This time around, I used OneNote Class Notebook and was much happier. Everything was much better organized and I could check work more efficiently and with much less hassle.  If you are in a OneDrive school, I highly suggest this tool for your Genius Hour projects.  I'd be happy to walk through the specifics with you. I also introduced my sixth graders to Sway (a newer piece of the Office Suite) and you'll see some Sway presentations in action below.

As it is, I wanted to get right to the student projects -- the true highlight reel. Here are the best of the best.  Enjoy!

Learn how to cook an over easy egg from this sixth grader.

Here is a Sway presentation about American Sign Language.




Two fifth grade girls teamed up to create this video about the Civil War.

This sixth grade girl created a quiz about dogs on Emaze.  I never heard of Emaze before these projects, but I really like what I've seen from this tool! 

This fifth grade girl taught her class about sign language on her video. 

Here is a 6th grade boy who wanted to hack an iPhone charger.  

This fifth grader taught us how to make a birdhouse. 

I had never heard of EOS life hacks before this sixth grader suggested it for her project. 

Click the link to see a Google slide show about how computers work created by a fifth grade boy.

It was a great year working with these innovators, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them grow, learn, and create this year.  I'm so glad I started Genius Hour projects in my elementary computer classes and look forward to keeping this tradition alive in future years!