Genius Hour: A Reflection

In trying to decide on what to do for my genius hour/passion project, I went through a few different exercises. Initially I was confused and had no idea on what to do, so first I Googled "Genius Hour Passion Project ideas for adults." I found a ton of ideas on Pintrest for adult passion projects, which I searched through to try to wrap my head around something that would possibly work for me. This was a start. Once I had some ideas from here I was able to complete the reflection question exercise. In completing this I found some common themes that I enjoy: binge-watching Netflix, drumming, painting, cooking, organizing, relaxing in the sun, and decorating, just to name a few. OK, so this gave me a few more ideas to brainstorm. Then I came across the "tennis ball" question: the thing that you keep chasing after that keeps coming back to you over and over again. Well there were more than a few things that made this list: that scrapbooking project of our Disney vacation from 7 years ago, the project of composing musical "sound stories" to go along with children's picture books that I had wanted to complete last year, the alternative seating buckets that I had started last year for my classroom and never finished, the refinishing the bathroom cabinets project that I had wanted to complete after painting the kids' bathroom, and the making a marimba from scratch project. As I kept brainstorming I came across a few other interests that I enjoy: quick, healthy, cooking that tastes good, learning how to play the guitar, and writing a useful music curriculum that people can actually use. After this I had a ton of ideas floating around in my head. 

I had to begin to think realistically about what might work. So I decided to try to think about what I really could or could not accomplish. I didn't exactly create a "list of 3" (it was more like a list of 7) but I tried to narrow down some ideas based on what was realistic and from what I had read in some of the passion project blogs. Below is a list of what I have narrowed down for now. 

Option #1: Publish/create my own classroom music materials

An idea that I have been thinking about for awhile is composing sound stories to go along with childrens picture books. This is something that I have been wanting to do for the past two years, but just haven't had the time. I became inspired with this after a friend of mine who is an instructor with the World Music Drumming workshops put together a sound box of musical instruments/sound effects to go along with some books for students to check out and create their own sound story. He worked with his LMC director to provide this resource for students to use at home. I frequently use picture books in my classroom and thought this would be a great resource for kids to have outside of music class. I had thought about creating the sound story and recording it for kids to listen to and follow along with as they read the book. For one of my other tech classes I created a read-aloud sound story with the book "Drummer Hoff," and I loved how it turned out! There are several books that I would love to do this with for my classes. While this seems like a great idea to me, I don't know how different it would be than all of the other digital books that kids have access to now with remote learning. So then I thought about trying to create my own music materials for 3rd grade recorder or 4th grade ukulele incorporating my World Music Drumming knowledge to eventually publish my own book. I feel like many of the materials out there are very confusing or not sequenced well; however, I feel like this could be too overwhelming to accomplish at this point in time. Plus, there are sooo many materials out there, it would really have to be something FANTASTIC to set it apart and be worth it to publish. I don't know if I would be able to complete it in the time that we have with this class. Certainly not the publishing part.

Another, yes, school-related project that I started last summer that I still have yet to complete is the bucket seating for my classroom. I actually began this project last summer after wanting to make more space in my room and still have the ability for students to sit when we are drumming. I had the chairs in my room removed to clear out more space and thought these buckets would be great to have in place of them, but yet again, I ran out of time to complete this project. This is a project I definitely DO want to complete, I have done SOME research on already, and already have most of the materials. I am thinking this might be a feasible option for my passion project.

                                   
Option #2: Refinish the bathroom cabinets
As I have been digesting this concept of my own genius hour (yes, it is taking me awhile to process this whole idea), I started thinking "why not do something non school-related?" There are plenty of projects that I have started and wanted to complete (that 7-year-old Disney vacation scrapbook, for example) but never had the time. This Spring I repainted my kids' bathroom because it desperately needed it. I was very pleased with how it turned out. We still have the old cabinets in the bathroom, but with my daughter going to college I can't really afford to spend the money to replace them. So I did a little research on refinishing cabinets and found this very cool cabinet refinishing paint and kit called Nuvo cabinet refinishing. I have done a little research already, and based on what I have read so far, it seems like a project I could reasonably complete (the pictures look cool at least). This is something that I have been weighing back and forth whether or not to do (definitely a  tennis ball project).
                                   

Option #3: Create healthy, tasty meals with quick prep and little cleanup
Finally, with staying at home more recently, I have also had the chance to cook more, which is something that I love to do, and will usually do even when I am tired. I love watching shows like "Top Chef," "Food Network Star" and "Chopped" to see all of the cool new recipes the chefs create. This year I started a subscription to Hello Fresh to try to have some sanity in my meal preparation during the insanity of the school year. When remote learning began, I continued the subscription because I really did not want to go out to the store and deal with the madness any more than I had to. So far I have really enjoyed cooking these meals and have discovered some very cool recipes. I love being able to cook the recipes from the cards, and then re-create them later with my own ingredients. While I have found these recipes tasty and fairly easy to prepare, many of them have added fat and carbs, which I am really trying to watch right now, as everything I eat seems to become a permanent fixture with me. In re-creating some of these meals I have been able to substitute many ingredients for lower-calorie, healthier options. This has solved one problem, but I have found that it still takes a lot of time to do this. Especially the cleanup part (which I absolutely hate). So one thing I have set out to do is to try to find a healthy, quick way to cool these same meals with minimal time and cleanup. OK, so this is all fine and dandy but usually when people create a healthy meal it doesn't taste so good right? So that is the OTHER part of my food mission: create healthy, quick, tasty meals with little cleanup (maybe one-pot meals?) This might not be a bad idea for a passion project...