I was told that the morning had been a hard one for several of the campers. The problem, as usual with gifted and highly gifted learners, had been control...wanting control over everything. The higher the IQ, the more need to head off anxiety by controlling the environment and the people in it. These extremely bright kids know too much. Knowing too much can make you anxious. For example, think about flying on a plane...I try not to, but think about flying on a plane. What if you knew everything about aerodynamics, wind velocity, streamlining, tailspin and the effects and odds of a bird strike? You would not be lulled into a false sense of security by the lack of outside noise, carpeting, a TV set and a comfy (I am using artistic license to prove a point) seat. You are not in your living room. Well, these kids know it. They can tell you more than you want to know about the scariest things on this earth. Remember, these kids like facts. They have no idea that when you put many facts together you sometimes get scary information. We teachers who work with highly gifted kids must remember that their world is a lot scarier than ours...unless you are highly gifted, too. I have never been so happy to be just pleasantly intelligent!
With this information about their morning, I decide to give a very short description of how messy life can be. As is always the case, when I am processing ways to get to these kids, information just pops out of nowhere and it is always exactly what I need. This popped out while I was commenting to a friend on Facebook; on the side of the page was a quote by George Bernard Shaw, "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.” How perfect is that! Succinct. These kids do not like lectures. So, after reading the quote, I decide to start our game time with a game that is only funny to an audience when you make mistakes...when you are not in control. It took them awhile to get used to “mistakes are good,” but they kept trying and eventually no one was upset when buzzed out for a mistake.
The kids wanted to show me their skits for their upcoming talent show; wanting my feedback and suggestions. I can never stress enough how the skills necessary for performance are the exact same skills necessary for survival. So many life lessons come out of the challenges that occur during our improvisation and theater games. Developing the disposition of the artist in these learners is my way of giving them the ammunition they will need to navigate life. So, today was a lot about collaboration and compromise...and they did pretty well with it.
I could see a couple of kids struggling, and I knew why. They needed talent development opportunities and there were none. Tomorrow, I will present an opportunity for one of the boys to direct; his instincts are right on the money, he knows exactly what and how and is desperate to tell everyone, but his gift of direction is interpreted as bossy and controlling. Another camper is a writer, desperate to create stories that are thought out ahead of time and not changing moment to moment as in improvisation. He needs a chance to control the story or he will remain frustrated and disappointed. I will suggest that he write and direct a short one-minute sketch tomorrow, before we lose him completely.
The head of the camp said, “You must be exhausted,” as I was packing my things to leave. The truth is, creative energy begets creative energy. No drugs required. I float about five inches above the ground to my temporary apartment in New York City and feel incredibly lucky to work with such intelligent, future citizens of the world. I remember an old fried chicken commercial from decades ago, where a mother with a strong southern accent talks about how she made this fabulous chicken for dinner, and her little girl proudly pipes in, “...and I hayellped.” I love my job.
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