Motivation (or the Lack Thereof)

I've gotten to thinking about achievement and motivation with Gifted kids. A number of the students I'm working with this year really struggle with this and it seems worth-while to explore why these kids, for whom learning is "so easy", should struggle so with getting their learning for school completed.

From my reading (in this case, largely from the Alberta Special Education department) and my experience around giftedness, some of the factors around lack of motivation or achievement may include: perfectionism, a lack of clear relationship between effort and outcome, low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, and a sense of low personal control over one's own life. The factors that contribute include emotional issues, inappropriate curriculum, poor self-regulation concerns.

It has been suggested that positive reinforcement and relationships with adults make a difference, along with interest-based curriculum, a focus on strength, self-selected topics, mutual respect and addressing real-world problems.

In would be great if these gifted kids could select and shape their own topics and outcomes and make the learning as real to their specific and immediate needs as possible.

This year, with gifted kids, I have seen some shut down because of motivation - if they can't see the point, they won't do it - I would go so far as to almost say - can't do it. They will have to believe it is important and interesting before they put in any time at all. It is a different challenge from students with your regular need for learning services - these children can learn, they just won't. That is, they won't learn what we say is important on a timeline that we say is reasonable. They are often very very bright and are learning lots, but it is what is important to them and on their own timeline. Much like adults.

Often gifted kids are computer wizards, or read everything, or dance or sing, or play an instrument or make movies or cartoons - but it is really hard to get them to do school work. Because in their mind (and in reality) school work is "fake-work" or "busy-work". It is practise for real life and these kids would rather skip practise and engage life the first time around. They are generally capable enough to make that work for them. Sadly, most of our educational system is not geared to their needs and forcing them to do it our way often will only cause them to disengage.

When I think of motivation and gifted kids this way, not as rebellion or laziness, it makes a lot more sense to me. They may the be unconventional or perceived as unreasonable, but as George Bernard Shaw put it: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

Home Schooling With Joy

Sarah Bennett is one of the founders of HCOS, a homeschooling mom, the mother of gifted children and a member of the schools Gifted Committee. This article is included on our blog site with her permission and was originally included in the HCOS newsletter, January 2010. Thanks Sarah, for your inspiring thoughts. Carmen

by Sarah Bennett

Ecclesiastes 8:15 talks about joy accompanying us in our work through all the days of our lives. I love that idea. And I also think it’s central to homeschooling. How can we teach without joy? How can our kids learn without joy? What is the point of carrying on, day after day, if there is no joy in the work that we do?

I think that things start to fall apart when joy is left out of the planning process. I’ve experienced that myself. We had a minor homeschool crisis about six weeks ago. I wasn’t having any fun. My thirteen year old daughter was definitely not having any fun – and I was ready to send her off to school. I even checked the bus routes to see what time she’d have to leave the next morning.

We ended up in that place because my planning had left joy out. Instead, I had more goals. I knew that Abbie was academically capable of the work. I also knew that it fit into our schedule. And it was good work; worthwhile work. Work that would prepare her for things to come. Unfortunately, my view was too narrow. It was my husband who pointed out the error and steered me towards a solution. Instead of sending her to school we decided that for six weeks we would radically change everything. We shelved everything except for math and then supported and encouraged Abbie as she worked on a project. She spent those weeks writing and researching and now she’s putting everything together in a website. Beyond all of the school related stuff she learned while completing her project, she was able to experience joy in learning again. Her excitement was fun to watch. She has delighted in her project.

I allowed the boys (9 and 7) to work on their own project during this time. We did a big unit study on our back yard. We used photos (many of them were actually taken by Jacob) of animals and birds that live in our yard, they painted, wrote poetry, wrote a story, researched habitats and animal behavior, looked at how God designed each animal to survive in this environment, learned about Christian stewardship of the environment and drew out food chains. All of this was scrapbooked and best of all…it was fun! They boys took great joy in their project and you can see the pride and joy on their faces when they show someone their book. This was a great reminder to me about how simple it really is to approach our homeschooling in a way that cultivates joy. Having fun and being joyful in our work doesn’t mean that we don’t work hard , it just means I have to be a little more creative.

I don’t want my kids slogging through their school work. I don’t want my teenager up late every night trying to complete her work. I don’t want my kids to miss out on the opportunities that time and flexibility have opened up. And so, as I plan to get back to the rest of our subjects in the new year, I’m making sure that joy is a central component of our studies. I’m a goal oriented person, so this is hard for me. I’ve had to sit back in the past six weeks and look at where we’re at academically and where I’d like us to end up by June – and then I ask myself why. What happens if we don’t finish our math book? Well, the kids are ahead in math so nothing would actually happen if they didn’t finish their math books. Nothing. We could spend the rest of the year playing math games and doing puzzles and they still wouldn’t be behind (“behind” what, anyway? That’s a whole other conversation). Just writing down that we could play games for the rest of the year and not finish our math books actually makes my eye twitch. I’m not sure I could handle that. But, knowing that we could toss it all and still be just fine gives me a sense of freedom and flexibility. It means that if an opportunity to go out and do something cool comes up I can jump on it and go – we can enjoy it, without worrying about whether we finished math or not.

We’ve been able to enjoy a number of opportunities that I probably would not have made time for if we were still following the schedule that we followed for the first six weeks of school. Abbie has had a couple of significant opportunities open up to her. She has started volunteering at the museum. This is a weekly commitment and takes two hours out of a school day. That’s a big chunk of time and yet, I think it’s going to be more than worth it. And she loves it. It’s something she gets excited about doing. The second opportunity is with Taekwon-do. Abbie’s a black belt in Taekwon-do and really loves to teach. Having some extra flexibility means that she has the time to help teach twice a week, train for more hours, and take advantage of other teaching opportunities that pop up during the week. Her instructor teaches at schools as well and Abbie was able to go with him to an elementary school where she worked with a little girl withspecial needs. The look on Abbie’s face as she told me about how she helped the little girl with Taekwon-do was worth every minute we spent away from our school work that morning. It was even worth the drive from West Kelowna to North Glenmore to pick her up afterwards. I reminded myself that I would have said no if she had asked to help teach on a school morning back in September or October. I would have said no. And Abbie would have completed a lot of subjects that day, but she would have missed out on an experience that taught her more than all of those subjects combined and that allowed her to use her gifts to help others. And isn’t that the true end goal? That we learn to use the gifts that God has given us to help others?

My planning process looks a lot different these days. Sure, we’re jumping back in to a lot of the same things we were doing in the fall, but it’s with a joyful heart. We’re changing a few things, cutting back on a few others, and planning assignments and projects that will bring some of the joy back into our school days. Most importantly, I’m purposely planning in a “do the next thing” way. That means that I can still plan, but not for specific dates. And, if an opportunity comes up and we miss an entire day of school (or even just one subject) we can just pick up where we left off the next day and continue on our way without it throwing a wrench into a carefully crafted schedule.

If you’re having trouble finding the joy in homeschooling, my challenge to you is to pick one thing to change in the new year. Is there a particular subject that just sucks the life out of your homeschool? Change it. Turn it upside-down and approach it from another direction. Do something radical. And have fun! Nurture relationships, help your children discover their God given gifts and give them the opportunity to use them.

I wish you great joy in the New Year.

What does "gifted" mean anyway? Part 2

Giftedness doesn't always come in the same package.

Sometimes people have "Upside-Down Brilliance"

"Upside-down Brilliance" is the name given by Linda Silverman to Visual-Spatial Learners. This is another kind of intelligence or giftedness, and one that is often unrecognized. If the description below fits you or your children, check out the Visual Spatial link on the left side of the page to find out more.

How to Spot a Spatial

Betty Maxwell, M.A.

Just for fun, here are some clues to help you recognize those picture thinkers lurking in your environment. Certainly not all traits listed will fit any one visual-spatial learner. Some clues may surprise you!

Picture thinkers may: be lost in space...seethe with impatience (a picture is worth a thousand words and is grasped instantly; everything else is slow motion) ...have terrible handwriting...have a wild imagination...hate timed tests, especially Mad Math Minutes...do math in the head and hate to write any of it out...have the right answers but not be able to show any steps (what steps?)...get math concepts but be poor with math facts and calculation...be good with maps, directions...draw or doodle while you talk... talk engagingly but write meagerly...know what’s on the floors above and below them... know how to get anywhere they’ve been once...ask many questions...be absent-minded, lose everything...be The Mess!...take forever to finish what they’re supposed to do...know material but do poorly on detail-oriented tests...agonize over multiple choice questions; they’re all right in a way...have strong emotions...be able to recite whole movie plots but not summarize...the main idea is a foreign concept...have original ideas, be inventive... may work backwards or start in the middle of a task... have poor phonemic awareness... guess at many words...be better with sight words...be forever late with projects...astound you with flashes of brilliance...think uniquely...search for words and gesture a lot...be rotten spellers...daydream...be computer wizards...be oh! so sensitive...have sudden enthusiasms...be artists, musicians, actors, inventors, , engineers, surgeons, architects, stage directors, physicists, computer programmers, pilots, wealthy entrepreneurs ---or their children!

This information is from the Visual Spatial website.

What does "gifted" mean anyway? Part 1

I’ve had several questions around “how can I know if I am/my student/my child are gifted”. As it is not a simple question, though it seems so, I want to spend a few blog sessions addressing it. By the end, hopefully the subject will have more clarity.

Our Understanding of Giftedness is Changing

I thought I would start by reviewing what BC has to say. This blog is an abbreviation of the information on their website: http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/gifted/whoare.htm.

The BC Ministry of Education speaks about giftedness in the following ways:

“Perceptions of giftedness vary even among gifted education specialists. At one time "gifted" was the term used to describe those students who learned quickly and obtained high scores on IQ tests. … Today "giftedness" is generally accepted to include a wide range of attributes, from the traditional intellectual measures to interpersonal abilities.”

There Are Different Types of Intelligence

Gardner's (1983) model of intelligence describes capabilities in seven areas.

• Linguistic: The ability to use words effectively both orally and in writing (e.g., writer, orator).

• Logical-Mathematical: The ability to use numbers effectively and to see logical relationships and patterns (e.g., mathematician, scientist, computer programmer).

• Spatial: The ability to visualize and to orient oneself in the world (e.g., guide, hunter, architect, artist).

• Bodily, Kinesthetic: The ability to use one's body to express ideas; to make things with hands; and to develop physical skills (e.g., actor, craftsperson, athlete)

• Musical: The capacity to perceive, discriminate, transform and express musical forms (e.g., composer, musician).

• Interpersonal Intelligence: The ability to perceive and make distinctions in the moods, intentions, motivations and feelings of other people (e.g., counsellor, political leader).

• Intrapersonal Intelligence: Self-knowledge and the ability to act adaptively on the basis of that knowledge (e.g., psychotherapist, religious leader).

**Gifted students will show patterns of development that exceed their peers in one or several of the intelligences.**

Gifted Characteristics = Above Average Intelligence, Creativity and Task Commitment

After an extensive analysis of research studies of gifted individuals, Renzulli (1986) concluded that giftedness involves the interaction of three sets of characteristics: above average intellectual ability, creativity and task commitment. This interaction may result in giftedness in general performance areas such as mathematics, philosophy, religion or visual arts, or in the performance areas as specific as cartooning, map-making, play-writing, advertising or agricultural research.

Treffinger (1986, p.40) defined the characteristics as follows:

Above Average Intelligence

• Advanced vocabulary

• Good memory

• Learns very quickly and easily

• Large fund of information

• Generalizes skillfully

• Comprehends new ideas easily

• Makes abstractions easily

• Perceives similarities, differences, relationships

• Makes judgments and decisions

Creativity

• Questioning; very curious about many topics

• Has many ideas (fluent)

• Sees things in varied ways (flexible)

• Offers unique or unusual ideas (original)

• Adds details; makes ideas more interesting (elaborates)

• Transforms or combines ideas

• Sees implications or consequences easily

• Risk-taker; speculates

• Feels free to disagree

• Finds subtle humour, paradox or discrepancies

Task Commitment*

• Sets own goals, standards

• Intense involvement in preferred problems and tasks

• Enthusiastic about interests and activities

• Needs little external motivation when pursuing tasks

• Prefers to concentrate on own interest and projects

• High level of energy

• Perseveres; does not give up easily when working

• Completes, shares products

• Eager for new projects and challenges

• Assumes responsibility

*Task commitment refers to the passion and the perseverance that follows when students are involved in problems, topics and projects of their own interest or choosing, in our outside of the classroom. Gifted students are typically committed to tasks that are personally meaningful. A lack of commitment to a task assigned by someone else does not necessarily mean the student lacks task commitment.

Regional Science Fairs

I encourage all you science-minded scholars out there to check out the Science Fair link under "Cool Opportunities". There is a regional science fair near you and the Foundation will walk you through the process and find you a mentor to help you along. Travel! Meet Interesting people! Build a rocket! Learn something new! Enjoy!

The gift doesn't fall far from the giving tree

This week I had a chance to meet the parent of one of the gifted students with whom I am working. What a treat! As we were chatting over lunch, we discussed how similar kids were to their parents - specifically gifted kids.

The conversation reminded me of a quote by Linda Silverman. She states:

"Where one child in the family is found to be gifted, the chances are great that all members of the family are gifted. Brothers and sisters are usually within five to ten points in ability. We studied 48 sets of siblings and found that over one-third were within five points of each other, over three-fifths were within ten points and almost three-quarters were within thirteen points...Parents IQ scores, when known, are usually within ten points of their children's; grandparents' IQ scores are often within ten points of their grandchildren's."

(Silverman, Linda in a paper What have We Learned About Gifted Children, published in 1997)

It seems to me that God knew what he was doing in making families; often gifted people can feel very alone, but right from the start God has put us in relational groups of people that are remarkably similar to us - we have a built-in support group, a group that can spur us on, challenge, debate with and encourage us, sympathize with us, people who have gone down the path we are going, at least to some degree.

I know it doesn't always feel like that - I know I felt so totally different from my family that at times I wondered if I was adopted. True story. I was also the only blond. Very suspicious. Sometimes, when we are in a family and looking at each other from an individualistic point of view we see only the differences - he is musical, I'm into art, she's the brain, I'm more social - but viewed from the outside and as a group, you see how very similar we all are to our family. And it's a good thing. A finger-of-God good thing.

And so, I invite you to join me this week in being thankful for family.

Excuse me, what was that question again?

The formulation of a problem is often more important that its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires imagination and marks real advance in science.

Einstein and Infeld (1938)