Living With Live Wires

Another important aspect regarding the motivation of gifted children is to help them understand the path of Mastery. Mastery is usually a term used in reference to mastering a task or a standard. It is usually seen as the completion of a task. You have mastered it, so it is now time to go on.

The path of mastery involves relatively brief spurts of progress, each of which is followed by a slight decline to a plateau somewhat higher in most cases than that which preceded it.

A reflection on mastery gives a deeper awareness of the learning process, a longer-term view. We all need to develop areas of  life where we want mastery.

In our story, the teacher knew she had standards that needed to be met. There were limitations of time and several competing needs in the classroom.

But now she also understands that mastery is a path, it is a decision to commit to a practice, such as being a creative teacher in limiting circumstances. It is a practice with intrinsic motivations, you want to practice and you will keep trying even when it seems you are not making any progress, because you understand the experience of the plateau on the path of mastery.

Committing to a path of mastery in your personal life makes it easier to integrate these concepts into the classroom. It becomes part of you and the way that you talk to the children and teach the class. When you develop a longer-term perspective on the learning process it is easier to have more patience with the students who feel frustrated.

And you begin to see new ways to infuse what you already do with more wisdom.

Help Children Find What They Love to Do. 

Teachers must help gifted children find what excites them to unleash their best creative performances. In the investment metaphor, one needs to find an area in which to invest about which one feels some excitement, so that one will do what one can to maximize the value of one’s investments.

Helping children find what they really love to do is often hard and frustrating work. Yet, sharing the frustration with them now is better than leaving them to face it alone later.  To help children uncover their true interests, teachers can ask them to demonstrate a special talent or ability for the class, and explain that it doesn’t matter what they do (within reason), only that they love the activity.  (Sternberg)

Help Children Build Self-Efficacy.

Many people eventually reach a point where they feel as if no one believes in them. Because creative work often doesn’t get a warm reception, it is extremely important that creative people believe in the value of what they are doing. This is not to say that individuals should believe that every idea they have is a good idea. Rather, individuals need to believe that, ultimately, they have the ability to make a difference.

The main limitation on what children can do is what they think they can do. All children have the capacity to be creators and to experience the joy associated with making something new, but first they must be given a strong base for creativity. (Sternberg)

Sometimes teachers and parents unintentionally limit what children can do by sending messages that express or imply limits on children’s potential accomplishments. Instead, adults need to help children believe in their own ability to be creative.

Robert Sternberg has found that the best predictor of success among children is not their ability, but their belief in their ability so succeed.

Note – this is not empty praise or unrealistic expectations of potentials.

Carol Dweck , who wrote Mindset: The new Psychology of Success, a very good resource to read to learn better ways to encourage gifted children. She discusses a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset. She encourages adults to use praise cautiously and correctly.

There are many influences in a gifted child’s life that can contribute to underachievement, – health issues, family, relationships, and school. We will focus on part of the educational experience.

For many gifted children,the ordinary school setting quickly becomes uninteresting and unexciting. The enthusiasm, curiosity, and excitement quickly disappear.

Educational modifications can nurture and restore the motivation zeal and enthusiasm of a gifted child. It is important, though, not to simplistically think that all underachievement and motivation problems can be solved if only the correct educational options exist.

Children’s behaviors are not just random events. All behaviors, even maladaptive ones, are motivated to meet some need.  In order to change another person’s motivation, find something that he want or needs – a motivation that already exists within him.  Then perhaps you can modify and redirect tht motivation.  (Webb)

It is up to the adults to figure out what the child’s motivations are and assist them with redirection.

If a child is already in a pattern of underachieving, it may be necessary to get professional help. What I am addressing is ways for teachers to help have an impact on motivating the gifted child through creative activities.

Today we were supposed to go into the cities to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to have a tour lead by their art teacher. But, the trip was canceled. An Alberta Clipper has been immobilizing most of the U.S. It was 20 degrees below zero and roads had black ice . Tony broke his all-time record for longest commute time yesterday with 3.5 hours on the way to work and 2.25 hours on the way home. His commute takes 45 minutes in good weather without traffic jams. The arctic cold is really taking it out of us. We have had several weeks now of 0 and below zero temps since the beginning of December. Where is that global warming when you need it?

We started our day slowly with our usual chores and breakfast. Sean and Sophie finished up some math assignments and were very happy to complete another math book. They both did a happy dance.

Today I decided to get motivated to do some of the lessons and projects that have been repeatedly put off due to our busy schedule and illness during the last few months. We started a geography program last year that they like, and it is finally time to get back into it. It is called Geography Matters. (do a review of this and have links to the website) We only made it through the units covering, the world and North America lessons last year.  I added a lot of supplemental materials to make more comprehensive and interdisciplinary lessons. We supplemented with Earth science units and U.S. History and cultural studies covering Canada, United States and Mexico. Today we reviewed the work that we did last year to get ready to continue with new units. Our Discovery Education United Streaming subscription is now over, so I signed up for a 30 day trial of United Streaming Plus, Discovery Science for Elementary School and Discovery Science for Middle School. This will help get us started before we have to pay for an entire year subscription. They watched videos about different kinds of maps and how they can be used. It was a helpful review to begin thinking about geography again. They also watched the Magic School Bus goes Cellular for a fun video to support our cellular biology lessons from yesterday.

Lunch and playtime were spent making fudge and preparing for our afternoon activities. I have wanted to do more with our TOPS lentil science books. The experiments are easy, but I usually find that they are very engaging and fun for the kids.  I found one experiment that will combine the subjects we are studying today. It is creative and active, so Sean and Sophie will love it. The experiments in lentil science are done in job boxes. This is cardboard boxes to hold the lentils.  We use (clean, never used, of course) cat litter pans. The exercise involves a review of landforms, creating landscapes and townscapes, drawing a map of their worlds, writing out directions to their map, telling imaginative stories about what happens in their lentil worlds, and writing the story.

We managed to do a little science, art, creative storytelling, mapping, spelling and writing in one afternoon activity. They enjoyed the entire activity including the writing assignment because they were able to write about something meaningful to them – their world that they created. We also prepared for experiments tomorrow by planting wheat and bean seeds and getting everything ready for chemistry experiments.

The tastiest part – we had fudge for a snack! A very special treat. Sean and Sophie kept asking what fudge was because they had never had any.  We talked about the differences between how various candies and cakes are are made. I shared with them the stories of my Mom making fudge at Christmas time when I was young. All the Christmas candy was stored in a breezeway where my nephew and I spent time sneaking candy before Christmas dinner.

Cooking and preparing projects and experiments can take a lot of time, but the payoffs are REALLY worth it!