The Power of Passion

I'll admit, I didn't get it. I had been to Google this past summer, walked through their halls, met with their engineers and public relations team. I saw the great gathering areas, fantastically themed rooms, and even a couple of guys playing ping pong. I guess one couldn't see them doing their 20% time. However, even Google was getting rid of their 20% time. Then I came back and lots of our teachers were talking about 20% time. They called it "Genius Hour" and they were serious about it. It seemed so odd to me, here Google is getting rid of some of this and we were jumping on the bandwagon.

As an organization, we support teachers and students taking risks. If we want to reach new horizons, we believe that often that innovation can come from those closest to the point of impact. As such, I listened and I supported our "Genius Hour" plans. The teachers were excited. They were passionate. They were invested. Simply by following them on twitter and listening to their conversations it was clear that the "Genius Hour" experiences they wanted to explore would have students researching new topics, creating new products and presentations, revising their work, and sharing their insights. Clearly the process of learning would not just cover the Common Core State Standards and 21st century skills, but embed it in every component of the practice. This would not simply be some teacher sharing their favorite theme but rather organized chaos of student-led research investigation. I still didn't get it. It seemed like an awful lot of work and a classroom management nightmare.

Recently I began to see the tweets on our hashtag #dg58learns. Pictures coming from different rooms of kids doing research. The kids in the background too busy to look up and smile at the camera. Children with books, papers, and devices scattered around them on the ground. I walked into a classroom of seven year-olds and the children wouldn't stop talking to me about all the great things they found. I didn't even ask. They didn't know who I was other than just another guy who worked there. They were sure I needed to know everything about this mammal they were researching. It was passion. Their passion. Children so invested in their narrow band of interest that they had a hard time putting the information down. Children reading so much simply because they needed to know it. Creating amazing products because everyone else needs to understand why their thing is the coolest thing in the world.

I get it now. A little slow on the uptake, but I get it. "Genius Hour" is about their curiosity, their passion, their work. While in its infancy, this time has the opportunity to cultivate more learning than perhaps the entire rest of our day. Not that it should be our whole day, but rather that coveted part of our day that makes our work special. The passion and investment of students and teachers discovering those interesting nuggets, analyzing the seeds of newly found information, synthesizing these into unique products are everything we should be about as a learning organization. There is great power when we are passionate. The power to utterly destroy and the power to build amazing things. It is our job to allow the risks that channel our passions to create the innovative works of art that may someday change all of our lives.