MY GENIUS HOUR PROJECT

Week 1 - Module 2 - Kick Off

Three things immediately came to my mind when thinking about the Genius Hour Project. Number one was to relearn French, number two to refurbish a wooden patio set and three to start a vegetable garden.

1. Relearning French

As a student in Germany I had to learn a second foreign language (1^st was English) in 7^th grade. My choices were French and Latin. I chose French because I always loved the sound of the language and my older sister was already learning it and couldn’t wait to start myself. Unfortunately, I did very poorly in the class. The teacher told my mom during P/T conferences that my pronunciation was absolutely beautiful, but I was failing my quizzes/test because I did poorly on the grammar / writing sections. Dropping a class in Germany is not an option so I had to stick it out for four years in secondary school, one more year in Business school and 2 more years at the community college in the US equaling seven years of French. Sadly I haven’t used the language for over 30 years. I always regretted not keeping up with it. Now that I have taught a foreign language myself, I think I would do much better the second time around.

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2. Refurbishing a wooden patio set

I have always loved working with my hands and creating things. In my younger years I was a knitter, a sewer, I still paint all the rooms in our house, I love scrap booking and working in the yard. We inherited a wooden patio set that was painted in a dark red. It has been sitting in our yard for four years now under a plastic tarp, waiting for me to do something with it. There are three issues here 1) Time 2) feeling overwhelmed and 3) how do I do it? I have never refinished furniture. Since we are still quarantined here time should not be an issue anymore, and I think my biggest fear is not knowing how to do it. When I’m finished is it going to look as I envisioned it? Or is it going to be an absolute fail?

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3. Starting a vegetable garden

Every year I want to start a vegetable garden, but I am always the busiest at work when the planting season is in full swing. I would enjoy just going into the yard and picking whatever vegetable or herbs I need to prepare a meal. My vision is to have raised beds. I have similar concerns as with the patio set. The only other problem is I would rely on help from my husband to create the raised beds. This is something that would be to difficult for me to do. I know he would help if I ask, but he job requires him to be outside all day and the last thing he wants to do is to continue to work in the heat.

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Decision time:

And the winner is..... drum roll please

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Number 2. I selected this one as my Genius Hour Project as I know this is something that I can do on my own and my entire family will enjoy the finished project over many years (if it turns out OK 😊). I am pretty excited to start this project. Knowing that there is a timeline and grade attached to it, I am confident I will finish it!

 Week 2 - Module 3 - Routines

Even though we are on summer break and no alarm wakes me up, I still get up every morning at 6:30. It helps that my husband makes breakfast for me and I am forced to get up! During the summer break I usually have a routine in order to accomplish things. I normally work out or work in the yard in the morning to beat the summer heat. I will apply the same reasoning for my Genius Hour project.

I have spent about a week now on my Genius Hour project. Because I already had a morning routine, I didn’t really notice any changes when it came to including this project into my routine.

 

The pile of furniture in our backyard

Before I started with my project I did some research since I never refinished furniture. I needed to know what tools and safety devices are needed, what chemicals are used to remove the old stain, and what stain I need to use for this particular wood while taking into consideration that this is furniture will be stored outside. I also needed to learn how to use the recommended tools and what precautions to take when using the chemicals and stain or paint.

First I looked at a Youtube video explaining the process and what I need to do to prepare the furniture prior to staining  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Meszu5W_k and also a video highlighting the biggest mistakes and misconceptions about staining wood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfeAxUfoEdE. I also took a piece of wood from the furniture to Menards and got advice from an associate in the paint department. He walked me through the process as well and gave various recommendations.

 

Tools I need to clean the furniture

Once I completed my pre-work I collected the tools and safety gear needed. I also decided that I was not going to move the furniture from the outdoors to the garage, because the sanding would cause a lot of dust. My husband taught me how to use the sanding tool.

 

Removing the tarp

    

to find the treasures

After removing the tarp from the furniture we realized that we had two different sets of patio furniture. Feeling overwhelmed I decided to focus only on one set and see how it would turn out before I work on the second set. I chose the love seat and the two armchairs.

 Week 3 - Module 4 - Elevator Pitch

 Elevator Pitch

  Week 4 - Module 5 - Expect the Mutiny

The hardest part for me when I work on a project is the prep or grunt work. It is something I really do not enjoy, but realize it has to be done. I think this is why it took me over four years to start refurbishing the patio furniture, because it needed to be cleaned and sanded. Now painting – I love to paint. I always paint the interior of our house, so I was really excited to start the painting on the furniture. I was able to clean and sand the furniture outside, but now had to move it in the garage so it would stay clean. I also needed to protect it when I started painting. Unfortunately, the weather was not playing along. The weather was so humid that it was impossible for me to paint it. I was getting frustrated that my project was not moving along. Finally, we had a few low temperature and more importantly low humid days and I was able to apply the primer. What I did not expect all the nooks and crannies!! 

The employee at Menards recommended that I use a small roller, but in the end there were many areas where I was only able to use a paint brush. Also crawling on the floor and bending over for two hours just to prime the furniture did a number on my body, specifically my back. I am not as young as I used to be! I discussed with my husband if maybe spray painting may be a better option and the paint job may look better if I use a sprayer. I google what a small sprayer would cost, and it comes to around $ 90.00 – not something I am willing to spend. So rental came to my mind and the closest one available is a 45 minute drive. So, back to using a paint brush. Just thinking about my back again, I am not looking forward to painting!! And I know I am so close to finishing the project.....

          

                                            Furniture pieces with primer

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 Week 5 - Module 6 - We are learners

As I tell my students all the time I am a visual and hands on learner. I like to see examples of how things are done and what the end product may look like. Looking back at my school years, I think that is why I struggled because everything was very text heavy with almost no visual explanation or hands on activities. Even though I felt I did a lot of pre-work such as research using you tube videos or taking to employees in the paint department to get their advice, things don’t always go as planned. There is also more than one way to do things. I relied a lot on my husband, who works in construction, to give me advice how to best tackle a problem. Overall I think things went smoothly, but there are some things I would do differently. I truly can say that I learned from trail and error.

The only time I got frustrated when it is out of my control. With this project it was the weather that was not very co-operative and I was not able to complete this project in house on my terms. I am in the last stages with my project and I have found that I cannot find cushions that fit and I am not willing to spends hundreds of dollars on cushions. Looking back this really should have been my first step in researching. Knowing now that I am having this difficulty, I may have not chosen this project. That is very frustrating that I am so close and can’t find something that fits. I have always enjoyed working with my hands and being creative, so I never really got frustrated with the project itself, but I did feel overwhelmed at times that I thought I bit off more than I could chew. 

If I work with audio components it has to have visuals. I have to see the before and after and have to have step by step instructions. As I am learning how to use CANVAS our new platform that we are implementing next year, I have a very difficult time following written instructions. If I use you tube where the steps are shown I feel less anxious and have an easier time following the steps and am 99 % of the time successful. Non-visual audio such as podcasts are super boring. I start listening but find myself getting busy with other things, hence not paying attention to the podcast. 

The most efficient was when I had “cheerleaders”, my husband and my daughter. My biggest one was my daughter, who is currently working from home and would ask, “So are you working on your project today?”. I think she was more excited to use the patio furniture than I!! She was the one who would give me the kick in the butt when I was feeling overwhelmed and didn’t want to work on the project. I also liked to work on the furniture when my family was around - didn't feel so lonely!

My Dip Chart

                                         

Week 6 – Module 7 - It’s Showtime    

It only took four years, but I finished it!! I’m not sure who is more excited – my family or me.

I really enjoyed creating something with my hands and taking pictures of my progress. Often that is something I forget and now I really have a nice visual to see the progress and to share with family and friends.

I acquired a lot of knowledge during my Genius Hour Project. As a person and learner I should have more faith in myself that I can do things. I shy away from starting something that I have never done before due to fear of failure, especially when I have to financially invest in it. Of course, we all learn through trial and error, but I am a little hesitant when I have to spend money on it.

I learned that if I focus on one project instead of starting five different projects, chances are, that I will finish it. When I started the Genius Hour Project, I was working simultaneously on a digital scrapbook of our latest cruise, a paper scrapbook for my girls, learning how to navigate Canvas, painting doors and window frames in our house and refurbishing the patio furniture. Since the end of May I finished only one project and that is the patio furniture. It helped that I set aside time to work on it and I had a deadline.

If I ever do a similar project I need to be better at planning what this project would cost. I did not take into consideration how difficult it was to find cushions that would fit – and then the prices of the cushions!! Holy cow! The cost of the cushions for the two armchairs and the love seat is going to be approx.. $ 300.00!! If I had known that beforehand I may have not decided to do this project. 

I could definitely see using a Genius Hour Project in my classroom. I tried something similar, but with very little guidance for my students and I was very disappointed what the students turned in. Key for me to be successful was being held accountable on a weekly basis with guiding and thought provoking questions that would highlight my progress. 

I also enjoyed reading everyone's blog!

Original condition	After sanding	Primed	Painted	Finished Product

 Credit: Image

Week 7 – Module  - Reflection

The best part of this assignment was that I was able to choose something that I wanted to do, something that sparked my interest – the product or end result, could be anything that was of interest to me. Since I had that option, the probability of failure was low. Actually, when I saw the end product I felt very accomplished.  As I reflect on the process I learned that I was able to improve on skills such as research, prep work and the actual refurbishing of the patio furniture. Having very few guidelines, but having to post updates by a specific due date was very important and helpful for my success.

Allowing students to choose a topic of their choice is something will keep in mind when I assign the Genius Hour Project to them. This will open opportunities for the students to be successful about a project that they really care about. It is important that they choose something that will be of value to them and that they find value in their work.