Bringing Genius Hour to Your School
Course
The Navy SEAL Approach to Genius Hour [8:47]
- Learn five encouraging reflections to prepare you to lead a school in Genius Hour.
- Learn how Genius Hour helps students overcome obstacles and build their inner strength.
- Learn to have the confidence to take on the elite library program of Genius Hour
Even with all of this information at your fingertips, if you're still not convinced you can do this, I want to offer the wisdom I gleaned from a commencement address delivered by Admiral William McRaven, former commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. He spoke at the University of Texas at Austin Commencement on May 17th, 2014. I was at that ceremony because my daughter was graduating with a degree in biology that day. Admiral McRaven offered sage advice for the young, hopeful graduates, moving on, taking on new challenges in life, preparing to change the world, and for this librarian, preparing to lead a school in Genius Hour. Admiral McRaven shared some reflections and five were key to me. These reflections can help you sail into the exciting, if not sometimes choppy waters of Genius Hour.
First and foremost, remember this, that the little things in life matter. Here's how Admiral McRaven explained it. If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that the little things in life matter. If by chance you had a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made, that you made. A made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better. If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. Literally and figuratively, make your bed daily. It's a symbolic way of preparing for what lies ahead that day.
Likewise, the idea of Genius Hour in its entirety may sound like an insurmountable task, especially when you have to guide many classes of students simultaneously. Remember, your goal is to accomplish one task per session and to teach it well by placing the responsibility of the learning on the students. If what was supposed to be accomplished that day didn't quite go according to your plan, there's always the next day. Know that over the course of a Genius Hour project, both you and your students will have accomplished something really big, one little task at a time.
Big idea number two: never underestimate yourself or your students. In Genius Hour as in SEAL training, nothing matters but your will to succeed; not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education, and not your social status. You should never underestimate your students or your own abilities.
Certainly, there's other librarians out there with more years of service than you. There are students with varying levels of life experience, and there are physical and intellectual challenges that may affect your students. With Genius Hour, it does not matter how many years you've been a librarian, or if your students are underprivileged, that they're not as bright as the others, or if they have special needs. None of this matters. Everyone has the ability to succeed in their own way. Heart and determination are all that anyone needs to approach a passion project that suits their interests and their skills successfully.
Which brings us to lesson number three: Remember, you will make mistakes. Sometimes, no matter how well you prepare, or how well you perform, you will still end up as a sugar cookie.
In this case, a sugar cookie is not a delightful baked treat, but rather, it's the Navy SEAL trainee, who, after failing a uniform inspection that they thought they had thoroughly prepared for, has been directed to run fully-clothed into the ocean and then roll around the sand and then to stay in this cold, soggy uniform for the rest of the day. Even if you go to great lengths to make sure that everything is perfect, your lesson may not go precisely as you planned. Parents or faculty may not fully appreciate your intentions for shaking things up, and the outcome may not always be pretty. If that happens, get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward because, as Admiral McRaven shared in reflection, for mistakes make everyone stronger.
When someone messes up in SEAL training, there's this thing called a "circus", where people who need extra training are given two extra hours of calisthenics. Admiral McRaven continued to explain, but an interesting thing happens to those who are constantly on the list. Over time, those students who do two hours of extra calisthenics get stronger and stronger. The pain of the "circuses" build inner strength, it builds physical resiliency. Some of your students, or perhaps even you, might have to work a little harder than others to overcome obstacles. Your obstacles may include a reluctant faculty, a skeptical administration, a group of students who struggle with challenges or even the dreaded fixed schedule. It might make things painful or discouraging at times, and it will test you to your very core, but if you want to change the world, don't be afraid of the "circuses".
Finally, never give up. In SEAL training there is a bell, a brass bell that hangs in the center of the compound for all the students to see. All you have to do to quit is ring the bell. Ring the bell and you no longer have to wake up at five o'clock. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do freezing cold swims. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the runs, the obstacle course, the PT, and you no longer have to endure the hardships of training. Just ring the bell. But if you want to change the world, don't ever, ever ring the bell.
I will not attempt to deceive you. When you attempt to dramatically change the status quo, there might be times when you say to yourself, "What was I thinking? I could just take the easy way out, go back to the old way of doing things, and hang in there until I retire." Like SEAL training, it may feel tough going through it for the first time, but comparatively speaking, starting a Genius Hour does not even remotely compare to the demands of SEAL training.
Admiral McRaven emphasized the fact that a SEAL candidate already has the tactical skills and the physical power necessary to make it through the darkest moment of the mission. And like a SEAL, you too, with your education, your experience, and certification, already possess the skills you need to make it through, to become a warrior librarian with an elite library program that changes your students' world. Let's get started with Genius Hour.
Additional Resources
About the Author
MLA Citation
Rush, Elizabeth Barrera. "Bringing Genius Hour to Your School. The Navy SEAL Approach to Genius Hour [8:47]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, September 2021, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2264415?learningModuleId=2264392&topicCenterId=2247903.
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2264415?learningModuleId=2264392&topicCenterId=2247903
Entry ID: 2264415