Josh Waitzkin and The Art of Learning, Revisted

I think the best thing I ever created at Pacific University is the gifted education book club meetings. These book discussions take place three times per year, and we usually have a group of six to a twelve participants. This afternoon, nine of us gathered to discuss Josh Waitzkin’s book, The Art of Learning. This book was the topic of a previous blog.

During this afternoon’s discussion, I was able to experience, once again, the notion that the reader tells the story. We each had insights about The Art of Learning that were related to our own personal experiences and/or background knowledge. The sharing of those insights helped push my understanding even further, and I hope I can continue to push my adult students to the edge of their zone of proximal development, or what Josh calls “the outer reaches of our abilities.”

Parents of gifted children should read this book! Here was a chess prodigy “who was scared of the dark and loved Scooby-Doo,” and in this book he calls his father his “best friend” and his mother “the greatest person I have ever known…She has always encouraged me to follow my heart.” Not only is this book an important read for educators, but it is a wonderful model of how to raise and encourage a gifted child.

Here are some ideas and quotes from Josh’s book that can serve as inspiration for any learner:

* “The game (chess) was exhilarating and also spiritually calming….Then, suddenly, the game became alien and disquieting.”

* “I had won eight national championships an had more fans, public support and recognition than I could dream of, but none of this was helping my search of excellence, let alone for happiness.”

* “I recognized that being at the pinnacle in other people’s eyes had nothing to do with quality of life, and I was drawn to the potential for inner tranquility.”

* “Someone stuck in an entity theory of intelligence is like an anorexic hermit crab, starving itself so it doesn’t grow to have to find a new shell.”

Josh Waitzkin is going to be the keynote speaker for the National Association for Gifted Children’s 2009 annual conference, and he will have an important message for those who live with or educate gifted children.

Learning as an “Art”: The Journey of a Chess and Tai Chi Champion

As part of the requirements for my Introduction to Gifted Education course, I have my preservice and inservice teachers watch five movies from a list of several dozen. While watching the movies, they are asked to use the Kingore Observation Inventory to determine ways in which the characters may be gifted. After watching Searching for Bobby Fisher, I was interested in finding out what had become of Josh, the main character of this movie. Josh Waitzkin was a chess prodigy, and Searching for Bobby Fisher was his father’s attempt to describe the journey from young boy to chess champion.

Josh Waitzkin is a gifted person with multipotentiality. Not only did he display giftedness through chess, he later became a Tai Chi champion. I learned from his website that he had written a book, The Art of Learning, and as a professor in teacher education, I was immediately drawn to the title. Several months later, at the National Association for Gifted Children’s Annual Conference in fall 2008, each participant was given a copy of Waitzkin’s book in preparation for his keynote address in fall 2009. Having previously purchased the book but not having read it, I had another reason to read this book.

I sponsor a gifted education book club selection three times per year, and The Art of Learning is my choice for summer 2009. Many of the participants will already have seen Searching for Bobby Fisher, and this book will be a great way for them to learn what became of Josh, as well as to read about the art of learning from the perspective of a gifted learner.

This book speaks to Josh’s ability to maximize his learning through passion, focus, automaticity through practice, intuition, reining in impulsivity, remaining open to continuous learning through a growth mindset, and preparation. While reading this book, I was reminded of others whose ideas have inspired me including: Coach John Wooden (The Pyramid of Success), Carol Dweck (Mindset), Jane Piirto (The Pyramid of Talent Development), and Art Costa and Bena Kallick (Habits of Mind).

You are the Friend I Will Cherish Forever

This post is a departure from my usual discussion about a significant book I’ve been reading. This past weekend I shared in the celebration of life of the woman who was my best friend in high school, and the synchronicity of events that took place will forever be a part of my most cherished memories.

I met up with Sue’s sons the evening before the memorial service. We laughed and cried as I shared high school stories her sons had never heard. I was struck by what beautiful men her sons are, and I know why Sue was so proud of these young men and the fathers they had become. When going through her apartment, they had found a manilla envelope with my name on the outside and a card on the inside that she had planned to give me one day. Sue had always called me her “Forever Friend,” and now this card was proving that even after her death I was learning just how much I had meant to her. Here is what that card said:

YOU ARE THE FRIEND I WILL CHERISH FOREVER
Once in a long while,
someone special walks into your life
and really makes a difference.
They take the time
to show you in so many little ways
that you matter.
They see and hear the worst in you,
but don’t walk away;
in fact, they may care more about you.
Their heart breaks with yours,
their tears fall with yours,
their tears fall with yours,
their laughter is shared with yours.

Once in a long while,
two special friends
have to go their separate ways.

Every time you see a certain gesture,
hear a certain laugh or phrase,
or return to a certain place,
it reminds you of them.
You treasure the time you had with them,
and you thank God that someone
can still touch your heart so deeply.
You remember their words, their looks,
their expressions;
You remember how much of themselves
they gave — not just to you, but to all.
You remember the strength
that amazed you,
the courage that impressed you,
the grace that inspired you,
and the love that touched you.
by Laurie Winkelmann

The card has no handwritten note, but the fact that it was in an envelope with my name on it is a powerful reminder of what it means to be a forever friend.

The service was held in a beautiful Catholic church in South Lake Tahoe. It was a spectacularly sunny afternoon, and the sun lit up the stained glass with the beauty that must have been envisioned by its artist. When the priest asked us to rise for a prayer, the snowcapped mountains were framed by a clear window above the priest. It was the perfect day (Sue’s birthday) and the perfect setting for a celebration of life for a beautiful and dynamic woman.

Many years ago, when a high school friend was setting up an alumni website, he asked us to send photos and information we would like posted on our individual pages. He also asked for a song from our high school days that could play when someone came to our page. I didn’t know why I had him attach this particular song, but despite my blue eyes, I loved the Van Morrison song, “Brown-Eyed Gilrl.” As my husband and I drove past the church on our way home the following morning, I was thinking about all the great times with Sue and how much we had loved each other. I was sharing yet another story with my husband when “Brown-Eyed Girl” came on the radio. Sue was the brown-eyed girl, and the words “…now that I’m on my own…” had new meaning. I laughed and cried to think that this song would no longer be my song, it would be OUR forever friends song.

Happy for No Reason: Take Ownership of Your Happiness

Have you ever come upon a book with a title that was so ridiculous you wouldn’t consider reading it?  That was my first inclination when I received an email message about Happy for No Reason by Marci Shimoff.  So why did I end up buy this book?  The email message was a bulk mailing from Dr. Judith Orloff, intuitive energy psychiatrist, author of many great books including her latest, Emotional Freedom.  Having read Dr. Orloff’s previous books, and having been impressed by her views on positive energy and other techniques for sensitive and intense people, I was willing to read Happy for No Reason.

The subtitle of the book, “7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out,” intrigued me because it suggested that I could be in control of my own happiness.  I decided to purchase two copies so that I could write in the margins of one and encourage my husband to read the other one.  That was a great decision because I have seen both subtle and significant changes in the way we relate to otherwise stressful situations.  

Last week, my husband had a medical procedure that required outpatient treatment in the hospital.  This was a planned procedure that was supposed to take about 2 1/2 hours from beginning to end.  However, due to someone dropping the ball and not providing my husband with an antibiotic prior to the procedure, once he was wheeled into the room for surgery, the doctor noticed the error and sent him back to short stay to receive 2 hours of intraveneous antibiotics.  As if that wasn’t enough, once he was brought back for surgery, the doctor wasn’t able to complete the procedure because his blood clotting level hadn’t been correctly monitored so that if she completed the procedure, my husband wouldn’t have been able to clot quickly enough.  All of these issues could have been taken care of prior to our coming to short stay, so not only did the 2 1/2 hours become a 6 hour experience, my husband also has to return again next year to complete the procedure.

I share this story because at no time were we angry, nor did we harass the nurses who had nothing to do with the issues we faced.  The nurses kept telling us how sorry they were, and that they were amazed by how nice we were.  My husband and I were thinking that it was unfortunate to have had to deal with this situation, but due to having practiced the Happy for No Reason strategies, we weren’t going to get ourselves upset nor upset the people who were trying to help us.  I truly believe that in the past we would have spent those additional hours ruminating, making ourselves more and more miserable.  Now, however, my husband is going to meet with his doctor to see what went wrong, just for clarification for the next time he has this procedure.

Chapter 3 is called “The Foundation – Take Ownership of Your Happiness,” and that is what we are trying to do.  The author talks about how complaining is a nasty habit that can cause emotional and physical harm to the complainer.  And who really wants to spend much time with a complainer?  I am trying to be mindful of my reactions, and I am attempting to limit the whining response.  

Parents contact me on a regular basis to get information on how to advocate for their gifted children whose academic needs aren’t being adequately met.  I am now more aware of the impact their complaining has had on their personal happiness as well as on the happiness of their children.  Many of these sensitive and intense children are complaining about their discontent at school, and in turn, many of them are hearing their parents also complain about teachers and the educational system.  Do these kids deserve to receive an appropriate education?  Absolutely!  They also deserve to be taught coping strategies and strategies of the autonomous learner to get their needs met.  Their complaining, and the complaining of their parents sets all of them up for anxiety, depression, and a sent of hopelessness.  

The titles of the following chapters will give you an idea of the strategies that are the focus of this book:

Chapter 1: Happy for No Reason…Really?

Chapter 2: Practicing Happiness

Chapter 3: The Foundation — Take Ownership of Your Happiness

Chapter 4: The Pillar of the Mind — Don’t Believe Everything You Think

Chapter 5: The Pillar of the Heart — Let Love Lead

Chapter 6: The Pillar of the Body — Make Your Cells Happy

Chapter 7: The Pillar of the Soul — Plug Yourself In to Spirit

Chapter 8: The Roof — Live a Life Inspired by Purpose

Chapter 9: The Garden — Cultivate Nourishing Relationships

Chapter 10: The Happy for No Reason Plan for Life

If, as Marci Shimoff says, emotion is contagious, we might as well chose to spread the happiness germ!  I recommend this book to parents and teachers who are the models for bright, sensitive, and intense children.  They deserve to be surrounded by adults who spread happiness rather than the angst of complaining.

Getting to the Heart of Giftedness: Living with Intensity

Always searching for the perfect books for my gifted education classes, I have come upon a new book I will certainly require for my fall course, Social and Psychological Foundations of Gifted Education.  That book, Living with Intensity, is edited by by Susan Daniels and Michael Piechowski and includes chapters from experts in the field of gifted education.

The authors have divided Living with Intensity into the following sections:

Part One: Kazimierz Dabrowski, Overexcitability, Giftedness, and Developmental Potential

Part Two: Understanding Intensity: Practical Applications for Parents, Teachers, and Counselors

Part Three: Still Gifted After All These Years — Lifespan Intensity and Gifted Adults

Part Four: Current Research and Future Directions

My first posting was June 1, 2008, and the topic was “Bright, Sensitive, Intense“.  I have been interested in the “amplified ways of being” of gifted children, and Living with Intensity goes a long way to explain these amplified ways.  If you are a gifted adult, or a parent or teacher of a gifted child, this book is a must read!

Highly Sensitive Kids Deserve to Thrive, Not Merely Survive

Last week I received an email message from the mom of gifted children, and that message reminded me of why children who live amplified lives need our understanding and guidance. That message read:

“I attended your workshops on parenting gifted kids last year and I’m
hoping you can help me with some sensitivity issues we’ve been having!

We have 3 children – Jonathan-11, Maya-8 and Carson -almost 4. I’ve
been doing some reading about hypersensitivity and I think all 3 kids
would qualify in several areas. Actually, my husband and I do, too,
but we’re usually able to cope! The kids’ sensitivities are starting
to clash, and I’m hoping you can recommend some reading materials for
Jonathan to read. He’s capable of reading, understanding and enjoying
a book written for an adult – is there one that you would recommend
over others? He is incredibly sensitive to sounds, smells
(particularly foods), textures (again foods) and he cannot stand to
see people eat. Some days it can be an emotional strain and he is
having a lot of trouble getting to sleep some nights. Mealtimes have
become a constant struggle – if he’s agitated, I’ll let him take a
tray of food to his room to eat by himself, but there have been times
when eating at a restaurant that he will eat with his coat over his
head so he can’t see anything. I just want to help him to understand
and identify the things that bother him, and maybe develop some
coping skills.”

I had the pleasure of meeting with Jonathan’s mother, and it was obvious that she fully understood that he is living an amplified life. I was impressed to learn that even his grandparents were beginning to understand his sensitivities. I loaned the family several books about highly sensitive people, and was happy to hear that they have begun both the reading and the modification of their environment. Here is the message I received from Jonathan’s mom:

“Thanks so much for your help. Jonathan has started reading one of the
books and we’ve come up with some ideas to lessen the intensity at
dinner times. We’re hanging some Christmas lights and candles in the
dining room, moving a cd player in there for classical piano music
during dinner and we’ll dim the over head lights. After you and I
talked, I started noticing that he’s more anxious about coming to the
table, with the fear that he’s going to see / hear something that
bothers him than he actually is during the meal. So, I’m hoping that
if we can just get past this anxiety, he’ll realize that he can eat
with the family without being over-stimulated. I also think that re-
arranging how we sit at the table will help also. I put a hold on
the “Mindful Movements” dvd at the library.”

I’m sure there are lots of “Jonathans” out there who struggle with the stress of living an amplified life. If you are like Jonathan, or know someone who is, I recommend the following books:

The Highly Sensitive Person - Elaine Aron
The Highly Sensitive Person’s Survival Guide - Ted Zeff
The Highly Sensitive Child - Elaine Aron
Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight: What to Do If You Are Sensory Defensive in an Overstimulating World - Sharon Heller
Mindful Movements - Thich Nhat Hanh

Are You a Diver, or are You a Scanner?

I am a DIVER. I find a topic that interests me, and I dive deeper, and deeper, and deeper. I have been diving into gifted education for more than 20 years, and I know I have more diving to do. In fact, at the age of nearly 58, I feel I have just hit my stride in my profession. I can’t imagine pulling up and moving on to a new passion.

While I feel comfortable as a Diver, there are many gifted people with multipotentiality who spend their lives as SCANNERS. According to Barbara Sher, author of Refuse to Choose, “Intense curiosity about numerous unrelated subjects is one of the most basic characteristics of a Scanner. Scanners are endlessly inquisitive. In fact, Scanners often describe themselves as being hopelessly interested in everything (although, as you’ll find out, this isn’t so). A Scanner doesn’t want to specialize in any of the things she loves, because that means giving up all the rest. Some even think that being an expert would be limiting and boring.” So, in the view of some Scanners, my preoccupation with gifted education could be both stifling and boring.

Scanners often get a bad rap from family and friends who expect them to “settle down” and grow up professionally. In college, they often move from major to major, trying any subject that sounds interesting, even if it doesn’t lead to a degree. As Sher suggests, scanners are different kinds of thinkers who are interested in building upon their many gifts and interests. Parents may be frustrated with their gifted adult children who are still searching for that perfect career, not understanding that a Scanner may focus on an area of interest until they have a better understanding of that topic, and then they are driven to move on to another area of interest. It is not important for Scanners to have the deep understanding about a topic that is desired by a Diver.

If you are the parent or partner of a Scanner, and you are frustrated about their unwillingness to make a commitment to a single major, job, or a hobby, be sure to read Refuse to Choose.

Gifted “Mile Marker Series”

I had the pleasure of attending the 2008 National Association for Gifted Children conference earlier this month, and I was able to help showcase NAGC’s great new CD-Rom designed to help parents and educators navigate research and articles about gifted children. Here are is the summary of the “mile markers” from NAGC’s website:

Mile Marker #1: Discovering Differences
Do you have questions about your child’s exceptional abilities and differences? This Mile Marker includes information about characteristics and identification of giftedness as well as dispels some common myths.

Mile Marker #2: Exploring the World of G/T
If you have a good understanding of the “basics” of giftedness and talent development, here is more targeted information about particular areas, such as social and emotional issues, keeping a child challenged, developing organizational skills, and ways to support high achievement at home and at school.

Mile Marker #3: Asking for Directions
If you are ready for expert advice about what to expect in a school – including down-to-earth discussions of different instructional methods, and the vocabulary used by educators – you’ll find that here.

Mile Marker #4: Enlisting Support
You’re at this marker when need to reach out to others in exploring and explaining what might work best for your child. You’ll find suggestions for communicating clearly with your school as you become an effective advocate for your child.milemarker5

Mile Marker #5: Making a Difference
Are you ready to build support for the education of gifted children in your community, state, and nation? Here you’ll find resources to help you organize a local parent group, as well as learn about other opportunities to build advocacy efforts.

This valuable resource can be purchased for $24.95 from NAGC’s online bookstore. I hope that parents who can afford an extra $25 will purchase a copy for themselves and one for their child’s school. This is one small way to begin to make a big difference. It is not us against them when it comes to meeting the needs of gifted children, it is all of us together.

Moving Toward a Growth Mindset

More than a month has gone by since I have had both the time and inspiration to create a new post. My latest inspiration is Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

My colleague Mark Szymanski and I have created a visual representation of the Positive Identity Development Process of gifted people (you can find it on our website: teachwithintention.net). At the first level, we begin with four of the commonly misunderstood innate aspects of many gifted people: the amplified ways of being. This includes sensitivity, introversion/extroversion, perfectionism, and curiosity. The next level of this model focuses on the Habits of Mind as proposed by Art Costa and Bena Kallik. And the final portion of our model includes three aspects of a life-long learner: information seeking, problem solving, and creative producing.

While reading Dweck’s book, it became obvious that in my workshops, I needed to add her concepts of the fixed mindset and growth mindset prior to talking about the Habits of Mind. As parents and teachers, we need to be aware of our own mindsets and the model we are providing for children. Dweck proposes that the growth mindset enables children and adults to fulfill their potential while the fixed mindset can cause people to plateau and never realize that potential. Some key findings of her research include:

Fixed Mindset: Intelligence is static. This might cause a gifted child to put little effort into their school work because that effort would make them seem as though they aren’t really gifted. After all, if they are that smart, why should they have to work hard?

Growth Mindset: Intelligence can be developed. Gifted children with this mindset are fortunate because they have a great desire to learn, and they see that their effort impacts their ability.

I appreciate that Dweck shows us examples of her own aspects of a fixed mindset and how she works hard to move her thinking to a growth mindset. For parents and teachers of gifted students, Dweck’s research in the area of praise is particularly important. She cautions us to praise effort rather than intelligence if we want to prevent fixed mindsets.

This book is a MUST for any parent or teacher, but it is vital for those of us who live with or teach children who are bright, sensitive, and intense. Our children deserve adults who can model a desire to learn, a willingness to embrace challenges, and an ability to be persistent in the face of obstacles. There is a greater chance that these wonderful children will develop positive identities if they are encouraged to embrace a growth mindset.

Just Who Will You Be: Living the Authentic You

Living an authentic life is difficult for anyone, but it is particularly difficult if being bright, sensitive, and intense sets you apart from your peers. Gifted students often feel the pressure to excel from either their own perfectionism or the perfectionism of their parents. They feel the pressure to rein in their extensive vocabularies when they are ridiculed by their classmates. They feel the pressure of the media that portrays gifted people as odd balls, geeks, pocket-protector-wearing nerds. They also feel the pressure when their test scores negatively impact the class curve for their classmates.

I recently read the book Just Who Will You Be? by Maria Shriver. She talks about the life-long pressures she felt to fulfill the expectations of others, to measure up to the accomplishments of a mother who founded the Special Olympics and a father who created the Peace Corps. Despite all of her own accomplishments as a journalist, after having to give up her career due to the possible impression of conflict of interest as the First Lady of California, Shriver felt she had lost her authentic self. Actually, she wasn’t sure she had ever known her authentic self.

This small book’s title has had a profound impact on my thinking. Just who am I? Just who will I be? As a professor of education, I work with wonderful people who have chosen to touch the future by teaching. This week I challenged my students to find their authentic selves and bring that authenticity to their classrooms. I asked them to reflect upon “Just Who Will You Be?” This is my personal reaction to that question:

Just Who Will I Be?
I will support and nourish the authentic me and allow her to exist in all aspects of my life. I will be a compassionate person who listens to the heart and words of others. I will be a family member who gives my love freely and without strings attached. I will be generous of my time and resources, but I will set appropriate limits to maintain my authentic self. I will search for little things in life that bring me joy. I will be a person who laughs easily and smiles frequently. I will practice mindful movements and mindful living.
Just who will I be? I will be a work-in-progress who is never quite complete but always growing and improving.

And just who will YOU be?