How are you smart?

As a classroom teacher I have asked my students many times to explain their thinking. But what I was really asking them to do was write about their thinking. That is hard to do, especially when you're 10.
"Just put your thoughts into words", encouraging teachers say. Nothing. Blank page.
I have learned a few things since my early days of teaching when writing across the curriculum was in style. Some kids have a very hard time explaining their thinking, especially in writing. I know. I have one of those at home.
Now I'm hearing that with the "new" standards in education, Common Core, we are shifting back to writing in every subject. Good grief. Haven't we learned that this kills school for the boys! Have we forgotten about all the brain research and multiple intelligence theory about the way people learn.
In my recent stint in the classroom I spent a lot of time helping kids know how they are smart. One boy had a hard time with academics but he sure could dance. I kept telling him how "body smart" he is. He would grin every time. Or what about the kid who could draw amazing things that others could only imagine? He struggled in math, but you should see his artwork! He's what I call "picture smart". Now the official term for body smart is bodily kinesthetic, and picture smart is visual-spatial. I taught those words as well, but young kids need terms that they understand more easily. These terms come from Harvard's Howard Gardner and the research he has conducted.
Looking at people through the lens of multiple intelligences opens up your eyes. Schools tend to cater to only two of the intelligences; logical-mathematical and linguistic. That's where the three R's come from (reading, writing and arithmetic). Many kids are strong in these areas, but many are not. When our schools tend to focus on a couple of the smarts many don't feel smart at all. Now, I know I'm generalizing and that there are many schools and teachers who strive to make school a place where all feel successful, there are still way too many that do not.
Here's a quick list of the "smarts":

• Musical - music smart
• Visual-spatial - picture smart
• Logical-mathematical- number smart
• Linguistic- word smart
• Intrapersonal - people smart
• Interpersonal- self smart
• Bodily-kinesthetic - body smart
• Natural - nature smart

My sizzler is highly picture smart. He thinks in pictures. I think in words. Sometimes we clash because we think differently. When he needs to express his thinking he has to do it with pictures. It's what comes naturally to him.
The other day when our ES was here checking in on us and what we're learning, the sizzler was trying to explain a scientific concept he learned in his zoology lessons. As he's talking to her he stops midstream and runs to get paper and pencil. "Here, let me show you" he says to her and begins to draw. This is what he drew:

You probably have no idea what this is so let me explain. This is his illustration of a shark's ampullae of Lorenzini and how it works. Huh? Sharks have a really cool feature that helps them detect their prey. The ampullae of Lorenzini are small holes on their snout with which they sense electrical signals from other animals. They can detect slight moves or even heartbeats from miles away. So now look at the sizzler's picture. Can you see the shark? Notice the electrical waves that the prey animal is "sending" to the shark? And what does the shark do? He attacks!
Allowing a child to express his thinking this way honors him and how he is smart. If my son was asked to write out this scientific concept he wouldn't, because he couldn't. He's not strong enough in his linguistic skills to do that, yet. In order to feel smart he must work in areas where he is strong. He needs to convey his thinking with his pictures. It's how he thinks and I think its pretty wonderful!
How are you smart?

Picture book maker

Oliver Jeffers is amazing! He is recent creative influence in the sizzler's life. I could just hug him for inspiring my boy.

What was the inspiration you ask? Watch this

 

 

We watched this video a couple of times. We laughed. We marveled. We thought could we be picture book makers. That is pure creative inspiration flowing. You don't pass that up. You jump in your boat and ride that river!

Hmmm, how should we do it? Do you want to draw the pictures and I will type the words? I ask the sizzler.

Then I wondered if there was a cool app for making books. He loves working with the iPad, let's look.

Well what do you know! I found an app called Book Creator. Perfect!

Now for a story idea. One of his latest obsessions is the Lego ghost train, so I suggested we make a story about the adventures of the ghost train. He loved the idea. We make a good team!

So then I guided him through the process of creating a story board, getting him to think through the plot. Then the fun part started. We went outside and set up the scenes and he took pictures with the iPad. We even set a fire on the tracks!

When he had all the photos we went inside and learned how to put the photos into his book. I told him I would type the words for his story as he hasn't learned to keyboard, yet. But Book Creator has this fabulous feature where you can put a sound button on the page. Once we discovered this he could do the whole thing on his own. He would decide what to say and then record himself reading the story. He even included fun theme music. It's quite hilarious!

He was so involved in this project. He couldn't get enough. He decided to make a second story. His new author pride was oozing. He was a picture book maker. Yay!

When his friend D "read" the ghost train story he loved it and he couldn't wait to get started on his own book. The inspiration continues.

So, thank you Oliver Jeffers for inspiring my son to be a book maker too!

 

 

Freedom to learn

One of the best things about homeschooling is the freedom to learn in the real world anytime we feel inclined.
So, the sizzler has been learning about trains. He especially likes the old steam trains. He first became interested in the "iron horses" after finding a book called "Death of the Iron Horse" by Paul Goble. His new interests are often sparked by books. He studied the picture of the steam locomotive. He drew pictures of it. He thought about it. Why does he like them so much? He says he likes the way they look. Now, you must know that he tends to like "old" things. Model T's, phonographs and old typewriters are some of his favorite things. He is drawn to the style of things past. I do love this about him. When we visit museums, the old timers who are docents are taken with his interest in things from their era.

Back to trains. Today we went to the train museum in Sacramento. What a gem! The sizzler and his friend D had a blast. There were many steam locomotives (with the balloon smoke stack) for my son to drool over. He taught D and I about the sand dome. In case you don't know it's on top of the locomotive and drops sand down tubes onto the tracks in icy conditions. This helps the driving wheels to grip the track. Huh! Never knew that! He had all sorts of encyclopedic knowledge that he shared with us. We also got to go inside vintage rail cars. The mail car, sleeper and dining cars were a trip back in time. Of course in each car there is a volunteer train history buff. When they see two young ones that are interested boy do they go to town sharing pearls of wisdom. The sizzler will usually share some of his too. The old timers get so tickled when he does that. They sort of look at me like "how does he know this?" He just does.

 

 

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ADHD or Creativity?

Life with S: Part 1
My dear 7 year old son is looking through an encyclopedia as I type. He is so engaged nothing could distract him right now. Does this child have ADHD? His psychologist seems to think so. I'm not so sure.
We've encountered many issues with this extremely creative, smart, energetic, strong-willed boy. He has always been "more". More sensitive, perceptive, intense. He likes things his way and we've duked it out on many occasions. He can be intensely interested in a myriad of things in one day or totally immersed in one. His current interests range from the Civil War to his little milk teeth named ickle and Lardee. In fact, I could just kiss Inhae Lee for her wonderful book "My Milk Toof". It has inspired so much creativity, not to mention reading, for my son.
So, things have been rough at school. He doesn't like the "work". O.K., I know, everyone has to learn to work, I get that, but this kid can really just check out. You can find him lost in his head not paying attention to anything in the classroom. Why? when he's got a much more interesting adventure going on in his head! He doesn't have any learning problems, but he is a closet learner. He won't show you what he knows until he's got it down. He doesn't like to perform under pressure. He can read, quite well, but his teacher doesn't know it because he won't show her!
Right now he is reading The Cat in the Hat. I read it to him earlier and now he is reading it to himself. And he's also drawing scenes from the book and creating his own Voom, that he placed inside his hat. To S, life is a story. If there's no story what's the point?
So back to the school scenario. His teacher is super accommodating but he still doesn't get his work done. When asked why he will say either "it's boring" or "I get distracted". Which is it? Or is it both? On the Conners scale he showed high scores for hyperactivity/impulsivity, defiance/anger and peer realtions. This was true for both the parents and teachers scale. So at least we are both seeing the same things but what does it mean? Doc says ADHD but that just isn't settling with me.
I'm currently reading some research about the coincidence of ADHD and creativity. It mentions individuals like Thomas Edison, Robert Frost and Frank Lloyd Wright as having problems that are associated with ADHD, but we all know they are well known for their creativity.
I'm not saying my kid is in the company of Edison, but is it possible that he's just a highly creative guy acting just the way God made him to be. The jury is still out.
The most recent question form my dear little guy "Where did Dr. Suess get all his creative ideas?" Good question. He probably daydreamed too!