Planning counts!  This is a very important lesson for gifted and talented students to learn.  Most of our students feel very capable and able to accomplish most anything they set out to do.  They are so sure of their abilities, often no planning is done in advance.  This leads to a stressful situation or to a disaster.  Yet, time and time again, I see students try to pull off large and important tasks without any planning on their part.

    Perhaps one of the reasons for so much consternation in our world today is that planning isn’t receiving the attention it once did.  I’ve been amazed at the apparent lack of planning in some of our favorite restaurants.  How could a manager forget to order cups for the popular drinks in our drive in that offers discounted drinks which bring in hordes of people each and every day?  How can a restaurant offer a popular seasonal entre but forget to order the dressing particular to that item?  Lately, it seems to be quite easy.  Yes, supply issues are in the news daily…lack of drivers to get the supplies here…lack of raw materials to make the items, etc.

    Yet, I think a check back through the last year would show that poor planning was the original fault.  We found that to be the case with the lack of testing sites and personnel for getting bus drivers certified.  It is as though people ignored the increasing population and rocked along doing business as usual.  Not many people have recognized that we are no longer pacing ourselves along a norm curve…but rather, technology has thrust us into an age of the “J” curve of exponential growth.

    I remember when we first introduced computers into the state Department of Education.  We met to decide what information we could possibly put into these machines that would make life easier for everyone.  We were promised that computers would cut our paperwork down to a small fraction of what we were doing at the time.  Ha!  In the first two years, I watched our yearly audits and governmental paperwork take up twice as much space in our storeroom as anything before.  It should have been a warning to us all!

    Today, we are reading that electric cars and trucks are the new wave and production is starting immediately.  Yet, I have not read about how we are going to handle the problem of pollution from the batteries that will be expended by these vehicles.  Has any planning been done to prevent vast problems which will arise very shortly?  

    I grew up hearing the story about the little Dutch boy who stuck his finger in the hole in a huge dyke which had sprung a leak.  All I remember is the instant solution.  Did he stay there forever?  Did the hole grow larger?  I don’t ever remember hearing a final solution.  Today, the problems don’t seem to be quite so simple.  We have come to a time when everything seems to be interwoven to the point that isolated incidents just don’t seem to be the case.  Yet, we do see many brave, daring, and quick-thinking people react and respond in emergencies.  

    If we can teach our students and us to do better planning, maybe such acts of heroism will not be necessary.  We need to look at things with attention paid to what good can happen as a result, as well as what bad results can happen.  Then, we can start planning for the needs to be met before they arise.    Kay

Quality Counts!

As a teacher, my biggest pet peeve is when a good student turns in work that is not the level of quality that I have come to expect from him. While it is frustrating when any student turns in poor quality work, it is especially irksome when a student typically turns in astounding work and then phones it in for an assignment and gives me something much worse than what I was expecting. I work primarily with upperclassmen, so this happens a lot. Whether it is because that student has just started a new job and doesn’t have time to fully commit to his homework, or because he is graduating soon and having trouble motivating himself, it is beyond frustrating when he turns in something that doesn’t meet his abilities. 

The reason why this scenario frustrates me so much is because those students have conditioned me to expect a certain level of quality in their work, and once it is taken away, it is alarmingly apparent. From a student perspective, it might seem that I am saying don’t hold yourself to a high standard because people will continue to hold you to that standard. While there is some truth to that, it is not meant to be a deterrent to producing high quality work. You will be expected to continue to produce at that high quality level, but you will also be given opportunities that others do not receive because your superiors will realize that you are a worker of high quality. 

In our school there are lots of students who consistently produce high quality work. There is, however, an occurrence that I have noticed trending amongst some of our older students. These high-producers are often the same type of people who like to be involved in a lot of activities. This is great; we love when responsible people hold our student leadership positions and fill our clubs and sports. The problem occurs when these students take on too many activities and responsibilities. While some may choose to stay up until all hours of the night maintaining the same level of quality in all that they do, many find that they reach a point of being overwhelmed. When they reach this point, they then have to make decisions about which activities will take priority and receive the high level of quality, and which will be compromised. Because these students are often the type to hold themselves to high standards and put a lot of pressure on themselves, this can be very hard for them to deal with. 

That brings us to a tip on how to ensure all that you do is high quality. Do less but do it better. This isn’t advice for those producing at average quality; this is for the overachievers. You do not have to be in every club or sport. You don’t have to take extra classes and work an after school job. While you think that you are diversifying your resume and building skills, you might actually just be propelling yourself into early burnout.

 If you find yourself overwhelmed by your commitments, take a serious look at your activities and try to eliminate the ones that are not directly helping you meet your career goals, or bringing you more joy than stress. Not everything you are involved in has to be a feeder activity into your future career field, but if it’s not helping you meet your goals and it isn’t fun, why are you doing it? Taking things off of your plate can help you stay focused on what matters and put your best effort into those things. That is how you maintain high quality work. 

-        Bria

    Quality counts!  I learned this truth from my husband many years ago.  Since I grew up very poor, I did not pay much attention to “quality,” but rather, I concentrated upon “quantity.”   I always stretched my dollars as far as they could go.  It then became one of my husband’s early missions to teach me about how quality counts!

    The lesson I learned was that if you save and buy “quality” clothing, you will not find it wearing out as quickly as the more cheaply made items.  I learned the value of this advice and have been quite happy with the results.  I often receive compliments upon my clothing…only to reply that “this old thing is now about thirty years old!”  Many people can’t believe it.  I often smile as I sometimes wear the skirt I was wearing on the day my first grandchild, Justin, was born.  So, an added benefit to buying quality is that it can stir up pleasant memories when I wear it.

    I have learned the same lesson with purchasing furniture.  Of course, as young married people, we could not afford the “quality furnishings.”  However, if we had been very patient, we might have purchased a piece of fine furniture from time to time…gradually collecting a complete set of furnishings.

It is often difficult to make ourselves wait or save.

    These illustrations are a little easier to digest than judging the production of “quality work.”  It is probably true that in our days of little spare time, effort is not easily expended to produce quality.  We can be satisfied with “quantity” very easily.  So, why should our students be any different?  They have many activities and responsibilities that vie for their time just as we adults do.  So how can we get them to desire to produce quality in their work?

    Perhaps we should make an effort to expose them to quality books, art, and museum artifacts.

But exposure is not enough.  We must also share with them our respect for these things which cannot be duplicated.  But even more valuable would be to expose our children to people who are willing to share their own “quality” collections.  I believe it is in hearing the value, the emotional attachments, and the memories elicited as people share these things with us that cause the most interest to be aroused in other people.

    Many of the things I have accumulated over the years as an educator can be shared with my students as special belongings of “quality.”  It is a wonderful experience as I share them with new students each year.  Some of these quality items inspire my students to reach for new heights of accomplishments. I am thankful for that.  And always, sharing these quality works of art, writings, and other miscellaneous things, fond memories are brought back to me.  Thus, I am able to relive many moments of joy.  Oh yes, quality counts!     Kay

     I became a teacher because I didn’t like the way in which I was usually taught.  Most of high school life was fun, but several of the classes were a complete waste of my time.  Ironically, my junior high years were not.  I went to a school at a junior high that had been the local high school.  I don’t know if some of the teachers just stayed with the school, but they taught it like high school.  It was great!  I was challenged, and I learned so much.  Then I went to high school.  The classes were easier, and the only challenge came from my music and honors English classes.  I could do most of my classes during another class because the teachers/coaches just left us to read while they went and watched tape of whatever team our team would play that day. 

   College wasn’t much better.  I only learned two things about teaching in college:  1) never put a spoon in a person’s mouth when he’s having an epileptic seizure, and 2)  horses got rights before children did.  What I learned about teaching, I learned from working at Flower Mound under my mother’s tutelage.

   It became my goal to change education for the better.  Learning is fun.  Why can’t school be as well? 

   Making quality classes is really not as hard as some make it.  The keys are to know the information (including the procedures and answers) you are teacher, read everything the kids turn in, and evaluate it honestly and for good quality.

    Not many teachers are willing to read every assignment, though.  They do have a lot of students.  When I have writing assignments from every 1st – 11th grader in my school, I grade writing assignments for four or five days!  I learn so much about the kids, though.  It is worth every minute!

   Kids are not stupid.  They know when they are being offered high-quality classes and when they are being “endured.”  Many times students new to my high school will comment to their parents that they’ve never been in a school where the kids actually listen to the teachers and where the teachers actually care if they learn.  What?!!  How sad is that?

    I don’t blame the teachers.  I blame the system.  Our nation will pay for the lack of quality in so many of its schools.  It won’t be because we have less intelligent workers.  We have kids who are truly angry at the quality of the education they are receiving.  I meet kids every day who just want to be taught.  They just want to learn.  They desire a quality education that can lead to a quality life.  They are angry.

   It is your job as a parent to make sure your child gets a quality education.  A nice-looking school is not a guarantee of that.  Parents checking out my school ask me many questions.  I expect that.  Know what your child is learning; seek quality.  Make sure your child feels valued and heard by his teacher. If you cannot find quality education where you are, get it from other sources, including yourself!  Your child is worth it!

-        Michelle

Consistency Counts!

Think about the last time you started something new in your life. This might have been exercising, learning a language, or even developing a new skill like knitting or gardening. There was probably some initial excitement that drove you to start strong and dedicate some serious time to the activity. After that initial excitement faded, you either petered out on the activity, or you buckled down and committed to your pursuit. The activities listed above require vastly different materials, skills set, and experience levels, but there is one thing that each activity has in common: it takes consistency to become great at the activity. 

Consistency counts. It’s that simple. If you want to be good at something, you need to be consistent in your pursuit of greatness. The problem is, consistency is hard. It requires hard work to reach for your goals and to go after your dreams. We are not naturally attracted to working hard. Some people have more of an innate drive and work ethic than others, but it is not natural to consistently go the extra mile and put yourself outside of your comfort zone. If you want to reach your dreams it takes consistency in going above and beyond. That’s how you achieve greatness. 

In our daily life consistency is important for more than just reaching our dreams. Consistency in how you present yourself makes you more reliable. At work, your boss will value you if you consistently turn out good work. Your coworkers will value you if you are consistent with how you present yourself. People are not drawn to unpredictable people. We like, to an extent, to know how those around us generally operate. It is really important that we are consistent in our values. If you are known to always have great integrity, people will be quicker to defend you if your character is called into question. 

Consistency can improve all areas of your life. When you are consistent with your studies, you get better grades, when you are consistent with working out, you lose weight, when you are consistent with practicing a new skill, you get better. This can be applied to so many areas of your life. The only problem is that consistency takes time and dedication. So pick a few areas of focus that you would like to be more consistent in, and start working towards your goals. Doing something consistently establishes a routine that will get easier and easier the more that you do it. Start being consistent in working towards your goals. Without consistency, they will always be unreachable. 

-        Bria

    Consistency counts!  If you have ever taken a piece of delicious cake and found its flavor delightful, then you know the disgust which soon overpowers that taste when further bites reveal that the middle of the cake was undercooked.  At that moment, you are well aware of how much consistency counts!

    While this illustration is probably familiar to us all, the lack of consistency within the educational classroom may not be so obvious.  I have seen inconsistency over the years as many fads and movements have plagued the field of education.  Sometimes these happenings were the result of political micromanagement, while at other times they were the result of excellent marketing!  At any rate, the results were the same: inconsistency in educational results.  It has been easy to sell educators “fads and programs” because the profession does not carry the status of medicine or law for example.  I’ve always said, “It will never be possible to see education as a profession as long as we can’t carry our daily work home in a briefcase!”

    It is the teachers in the classrooms who have the burden of being consistent.  Funding battles and political favors will always abound in the world outside of the classroom.  But it is the daily consistency of a good teacher educating his/her students to reach noteworthy, researched, and established goals that make the leaders of tomorrow!  I believe it truly takes a “calling” for such teachers to perform consistently when confronted daily by so many viewpoints and interests which conflict with each other.  It seems that the public often gets angry with rules and laws created by the government and which are enforced through the schools.  Yes, the government sees schools as the agent for change in the social shifts it wants to see take place.  What a responsibility and a liability this places upon teachers.

    Even though I was called upon for quite a few years to make presentations to educators about applying brain research to educational practices, I was careful to point out that I was really trying to be consistent with the educational practices which made the United States number one in the developed countries of the world.  We have fallen from that prestigious position down to 38th in math and 24th in science.  

    As an accredited school with North Central under the Advanced Ed and now Cognia organizations, we are proponents of “continuous school improvement” and “continuous learning.”  Our teachers are expected to teach to the outcomes and benchmarks set as the curriculum of our school.  As long as we keep these outcomes before us and make them our goals for lessons taught, we need not be swayed by “fads” and “slick marketing.”  I have one excellent example to offer here to drive the point home.  Our secondary students who take the ACT have consistently scored 100% ready for college in English.  That is due to the consistency Mrs. Smith has used in teaching her students over the years.  No, we do not teach students “how to take the tests” as some schools do.  Instead, she has developed consistent skills to be taught that make the students educated pupils who are ready for college without any remediation!  That’s consistency!     Kay  

    Parents of gifted kids don’t make mistakes about their child’s intelligence. They don’t make mistakes about how to give them opportunities that will challenge and develop them. The place many parents of gifted and talented make their mistake is in consistency in discipline. It’s not completely their fault either. Gifted kids are fantastic at telling parents what they want to hear.  

   Most teens listen to their parents’ rants with nothing but disdain or remorse. The gifted child is listening intently for loopholes…anything to prove that he is not totally at fault. The parent begins the discipline, but by the end, the parent lessens the punishment because he has seen how his child could make such a mistake, thanks to his child’s efforts to steer him there. The problem is that rarely is what they said they were thinking actually what they were thinking. Unfortunately, many parents of gifted don’t learn of the manipulation until the child has gotten away with it many times.

   Consistency is the key to stopping this cycle. The first thing a parent must do is anticipate what the teen might do wrong. (Bear in mind that I am speaking to the discipline of kids who tend to test boundaries.) Failing a test due to not studying, not completing homework, not doing chores, missing curfew, and talking back are typical discipline issues. A wise parent sets rules and consequences before they happen. By telling your teen at the beginning what your expectations are and consequences for not meeting those expectations, the choice of having that consequence falls squarely on your child’s shoulders. You can lament with your child over his choice to accept those consequences; just don’t give in.

  Of course, there is a responsibility to not make the expectations beyond reach. Dating is a good area for example.  I’ve had several well-meaning parents who have told their children that they cannot date till after college. No matter how great a student the child was, every single one of them hid his relationships from his parents. It is unrealistic of a parent to expect a teen of sixteen years to ignore the desire for a companion… especially a gifted teen!  Here’s the approach that has seemed to work the best: You’re going to have the desire to date. You may not go out alone with a person until you are sixteen. Prior to that time, if you have a significant other you’d like to spend time with, I will allow this amount of time for you to invite him/her to join our family time. Here are my rules about school nights, curfew, and boundaries. Here is my list of consequences should you break the rules.

  I’m not saying that those kids never try anything; I’m just saying that the parents find out a lot sooner and in less embarrassing ways (I.e. finding out at a later date that your child was lying to your face for a period of time.)

  When we are consistent with our children, they become consistent. They know the boundaries and the consequences for infractions, and most turn their focus to consistently looking for ways to excel.

          Michelle

Focus Counts!

    Focus counts!  As a founder of a corporation, I am aware that focus is necessary to keep the original plan on track.  As time passes and things change, it is necessary to take an inventory of just where we are in terms of “the original plan.”  No one can predict what changes will affect that “plan,” but being aware that monitoring is necessary from time to time can help us to modify if needed.

    As new people are added to the corporation, new ideas abound.  To keep the corporation well and functioning, “flexibility” must become the focus.  A rigid plan often becomes a “dead” entity.  Just as planet Earth is a living system in which changes affect many parts of the world, so it is with any system.  We must remember that the only sure thing in life is “change” itself! No one, myself included, ever dreamed we could face such an obstacle as a global pandemic.  (Well, I have to confess that my chemistry teacher husband has been saying for fifteen or more years that viruses were lying dormant, awaiting a time to reappear…that we only think we’ve conquered those dreaded diseases of the past.)  I even heard a report on one of the news channels that someone was found to have a virus from the 1918 Spanish flu.  My paternal grandmother died from that particular flu outbreak!  

    Now, what does that have to do with focus?  Just this: history repeats itself…and being aware of how particular problems were solved in the past can help us solve new phases of it in the future.  There is truly nothing new under the sun.  The problems are the same, the methods for overcoming them have just morphed into robotics, etc.  So, flexibility becomes the key again for attaining success.

    Mrs. Smith has managed to stay focused upon the CDC findings and guidelines during this pandemic.  Many people offer advice, criticism, and thanks…but Mrs. Smith has remained consistent in following as closely as possible the CDC research findings.  Her heart has been broken as has most of ours with the death of our Spanish teacher, Mr. Clark, from COVID.  His exposure came from going to his home in Guatemala during the summer, as was his custom.  But this loss makes us all more determined than ever to keep our focus keenly on guidelines and recommended practices for our LAAS staff, students and families.

    No one on our staff desired a shut down time…it demands a 3 to 1 ratio of time for our teachers.  However, I am so proud of everyone’s willingness to put aside personal preferences and comfort so they could help us protect our LAAS families from virus spread.  It took great courage to take this stand when others in the community weren’t so willing to do likewise.  Some have openly disagreed with Mrs. Smith’s call, but most have been appreciative.  So, we all focus now on doing as much teaching and learning as we can virtually, so that we may come back together having weathered the storm.  

Kay

Something that has been a big priority for me lately is finding focus. My brain is very scattered by nature, and when I have a lot of things to accomplish, I tend to jump from task to task somewhat sporadically rather than just finishing on task. This is not the most productive way for me to get things done, so I have been consciously trying to focus on one task to completion before moving on to the next task. I think focus is important in every area of life. It is a practice that you should work on daily because having the ability to focus can greatly improve your life. 

For many students, focus is not innate. It is hard to focus on important things like school because your brain is not receiving the same instant rewards and gratification that it receives when you play a game or talk to a friend. If you think about training dogs, we realize that dogs respond to short actions and lots of praise and reward. While you can train a dog to stay and wait for your next command, it would be very hard to train your dog to sit and listen to you attentively for an hour. Likely they would fall asleep or leave. This is simply not the way a dog’s brain is wired. Unfortunately for us, the same is true. However, unlike a dog, we do have to be able to sit in a class or meeting and focus on a person speaking and be responsible for actually synthesizing that information into a useful take away. This is hard for adults, and it is exponentially harder for kids. 

So if we know this about ourselves, why have we built a society in which you are rewarded for being able to sit through 16-24 years of school and another 30-50 years of meetings? The answer might be that we are gluttons for punishment, or it might be that that is an unavoidable way for us to learn and work. Knowing that this will be a significant portion of our lives, why not take some steps to get better at it? If your job involves moving a heavy box from one part of the room to another, and the first time you do so, you struggle greatly. You might be compelled to join a gym to build the necessary muscles to complete your job. This makes sense, right? Similarly, if your job requires a specific license or certification, you would obviously obtain the appropriate training and documentation necessary for your job. If your work requires business formal attire, you wouldn’t think twice about going out and purchasing the correct wardrobe. These are all parts of being successful in that job. So why shouldn’t we have to have the same level of mastery or practice on our focus?

Focus is something that can be developed without a gym or a trainer or a therapist. You have the power within yourself to start improving your focus today. Add three minutes to your morning routine. Sit up in your bed and think about three things you want to accomplish that day. Set a time on your phone and make yourself think through these things for three minutes. Go over what the tasks are, how you will accomplish them, and when they should be completed. Three minutes doesn’t sound like a long time, but this task will feel like it is going on forever. 

The purpose of this task isn’t for you to thoroughly think through your goals for the day, although that is a nice side effect. What will happen as you think about these tasks is that your mind will want to wander. You will think multiple times about checking to see how much time is left. You might start thinking about what you want for breakfast and what you will wear that day. That is all normal, and it is where the training occurs. When you catch your mind wandering, acknowledge the distraction, and bring your attention back to your three tasks. As you continue to work at this, it will become easier and easier to focus on those tasks. You will find that your mind wanders less, and the time passes quicker. This is how you train your brain to focus. That’s the beauty of focus; it is that simple to add even just two minutes to your morning and you can greatly improve the focus you have throughout the day. If you find yourself easily distracted, give this exercise a try. Today is your day to take control of your focus.

-        Bria

     Having trouble getting your child to take school seriously?  I guarantee you that the problem is focus.  I’m not talking about the focus it takes to compete an assignment or task.  I’m talking about that on which the child/teen is ultimately focused.  We sometimes call it his “vision.”  The child/teen who has a goal… a vision…  focus, if you will… will understand each step to getting to that goal.

    We have long understood this regarding fine arts and sports.  Some parents sign there kids up for sports or lessons to make them more well-rounded.  But there are other parents who see that their child has superior abilities.  Whether the child has the vision, or the parent gives the child the vision, the promise of greatness in the future causes the child to work harder and practice more than any coach or teacher requires and the parent to invest heavily.  Eventually, the child will only continue working above and beyond if he himself has the vision.  We watch child and teen prodigies all the time on the Internet and television. 

   So, why don’t we promote the same pursuit of a vision within education?  It could be that too many of us worked hard and were denied the spoils of that hard work.  Perhaps it is because factors outside our control would not allow us rapid advancement, and we do not want to get their hopes up for a different scenario.  One could argue that the same could be true of sports and fine arts.  That leaves me to conclude that the payoff for greatness in sports or fine arts is tremendously greater than that for doing well in school.  Rock stars and professional athletes do get paid tons more than most Americans.  Do well in school and college, and you get… a job.  Not very glamorous.  For most jobs, it will take years of continued work to reach a status and pay that affords one a better-than-average lifestyle.  Few will attain salaries equal to those in sports and entertainment.

 Bummer.  How, then, do we convince our gifted kids to pursue academic excellence?  The key is to focus on closer objectives.  For Lawton Academy:  a job well-done in elementary earns a position in the secondary program.  Early excellence can net a teen admission to Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics.  Excellence in high school can allow admission to a university of the teen’s choice.  Being in that location can increase the probability of remaining in that location for a career. 

The second key is to help your child/teen understand on what they should focus.  If the focus is money, unhappiness is inevitable.  If the focus is a comfortable living and happiness in one’s community, then that is attainable.  99% of students do not end up in professional sports or entertainment.   Doesn’t it make sense that we should value education for its usefulness in getting us a good education, a good career, and the ability to provide for ourselves and/or family?   This is where modeling a life on content can cause your child to gain a similar vision.  That vision becomes your child’s focus, and he/she does what is required to attain it. 

-        Michelle

Leadership Counts!

Leadership counts!  While it is clear that leadership is regarded as a positive thing, it isn’t really clear what exactly is meant by the terms “leadership” and “leader.”  While we understand the terms “leader” and “administrator” are similar, they are often thought of differently.  Sometimes leader is called the “good guy,” while the “administrator” is thought of as the “bad guy.”  These views usually come about because administration is associated with managerial tasks and technical tasks, and leadership is considered something better.  Often, the leader is seen as the “change agent,” while the administrator is the keeper of “the status quo.”

    The sources of power are often viewed as: “administrative power is delegated and official” while “leadership power is achieved through prestige and personal influence.”  In reality, neither administration nor leadership is better than the other.  Only when an individual possesses both is he fully powerful in terms of the model used by Getzels- Guba.

    One of the earliest studies on styles of leadership was done by Max Weber.  The three styles of leadership are: (1) Traditional: given to someone because people expect leadership from him, not because of the official organization structure; (2) Charismatic: acquired through his own personal qualities of popularity or personal magnetism; and (3) Rational: a leader only through his official position in an organization. He follows rules, regulations, and policies and expects others to do the same.

    Other leadership styles include authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire.  These terms are often replaced with directive leadership, nondirective, and joint determination styles. But virtually “all research agrees that the most effective leadership is that which values participation by group members, stresses both goal achievement and group maintenance, helps to clarify the purposes of the organization, and attempts to bring about greater congruence between organizational goals and individual values.”  (Elementary School Administration Theory and Practice, Faber and Shearron, p. 325.)

    During my professional studies and my career as an administrator, I believe it has been my leadership practices that have brought me most of my success.  I literally have hated the administration and managerial duties that were thrust upon me by the laws, rules and regulations which changed every time a new legislator got a new bill passed.  Yes, it was my role as a “change agent” that brought me the most satisfaction.  Here at Lawton Academy, I have been able to put aside much of the managerial duties and enjoy my role as a teacher who is able to daily work with students to help them change for the better each and every day.  What an exciting vocation I have chosen! I have been blessed with family members who have allowed me such a position by their willingness to take on roles and tasks and duties in ways that allow all of us to be “agents of change.”  Yes, we are truly grateful and blessed!    Kay

I think one of the most important lessons students can learn at Lawton Academy is how to be an effective leader. Leadership is an incredibly valuable lesson for students to develop as they move towards adulthood. Working with predominantly gifted students, we see a lot of innate leadership potential in our student body. There is a desire to be in charge and have their ideas listened to. However, there is frequently a tendency to be bossy or to take over too much control when given a leadership opportunity. This is where we can hone in our leadership skills as we grow. 

The best way for a child to learn effective leadership is by doing. When they get hands-on leadership experience, they can quickly learn what does and does not work. We push our kids to take on leadership positions because it not only builds their skills, but it also gives them great experience that will help them when it comes time for college or job applications. There are so many lessons that students learn in leadership positions beyond how to be an effective leader. There are a lot of important lessons to be learned about how to work with others, how to manage a project or team, and how to inspire people to be productive. 

With the great leadership lessons, also comes some very hard lessons. One thing that some of our students have had to learn is that it is not always fun being at the top. When put in charge of things like discipline or reprimanding, students learn why people don’t often befriend their managers. It can be hard for students to keep their friends accountable for things while maintaining a friendship outside of the club or organization. This lesson is valuable, but it isn’t easy. 

So acknowledging that there are fun components to being a leader as well as tough lessons, why is it important for students to learn how to lead? The easiest explanation is that so many of these students have a natural desire or tendency towards leadership and many of them will end up as leaders in their careers. Another reason why students should learn how to be good leaders is because we truly believe that these students are excelling beyond their peers. These are the types of children that we need to push these kids towards positions of power. Lastly, even if the student does not choose a job in which they lead, the lessons they learn through leadership can help them in any career they choose. 

There are so many benefits to learning how to lead well. The students we work with who lean into leadership set themselves up for scholarships, college acceptance, and job prospects. If you are looking for a way to distinguish your child when it comes to college applications, leadership is the way to do it. While extracurriculars are important, it says a lot about an applicant when they were elected to a position, and they maintained that position. If your child is worried about getting into their school of choice, encourage them to try out leadership. Even if it doesn’t inform their career choice, the benefits will definitely permeate into whatever they do in the future. 

-        Bria

     One of the primary goals of Lawton Academy is to train smart young people to become leaders in their communities.  The type of leader one becomes is of utmost importance.  We make it our effort to model servant leadership, but that type does not come naturally to gifted kids. 

    The type of leader a person is definitely counts.  We see bossiness in our youngest future leaders.  Soon they learn that more people will follow if they gain something from following.  If kids can learn this, why do so many adults forget this lesson? 

    I am a teacher, first and foremost.  I love teaching; I couldn’t stop if I wanted to.  I serve as a principal, as well, not because I love disciplining children, but instead because my mother cannot do it all by herself.  I drive a bus for two hours each morning before school, and I clean on the weekends.  Over the years, I have also been the cook, done secretarial work, and taught all of the fine arts for the secondary.  It’s been nice to grow big enough to not have to do so much!  The point I’m trying to make is that I am willing to do whatever is needed.  A good leader cannot be “above” any job.  He must do whatever is required.

   A good leader leads from the front.  How cliché, huh?  It’s true, though.  If a leader is not willing to do something himself, why should he expect anyone else to step up?

    So, how do you get your gifted kid to be a servant leader?  Well, I would say that the first step is to model servant leadership.  No, that doesn’t mean you should be your child’s servant.  It means he should see you serving others.  Second, your child should never be allowed to think that any job is beneath him.  Worse is the child who thinks he doesn’t have to do a job; he just has to wait out his parents until they do it.  After all, it’s easier to just do it than to fight about it, right?  Wrong!

   Parents have so many built in opportunities to teach leadership:  planning and executing a dinner, hosting a party, redecorating a room.  The more you can expose your child to leadership, the better a leader he will become. 

   The spoiled gifted kid might become a despot.  The disinterested gifted kid might become a leader who’s never around when you need him.  The selfish gifted kid becomes a toxic boss.  Unless your gifted child decides to become a recluse, there’s a really good chance he will become a leader, mostly because gifted people have great ideas.  Teaching him how to be a good one is well-worth the effort!

-        Michelle

Commitment Counts

As someone who has organized a lot of events in her life, I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that commitment counts. There is no worse feeling than putting a ton of effort into a project only to have other people not follow through on their commitments and mess everything up. Unfortunately, this happens a lot in life because people are forgetful and can be unreliable. Whether it be a group project, a team competition, or a co-hosted event/gathering, many of us have experienced the frustration that occurs when someone else fails to commit. 

In our high school, we ask the students to commit to several activities. At the beginning of each year, we always have a few students who get a little too eager and end up overcommitting. We don’t prevent them from doing this because some of them can handle a lot of activities, and those who can’t learn an important life lesson early. The problem occurs when some students are very committed to a group activity and others are not as committed. With team sports, clubs, and committees, things can go wrong very quickly when one or more students do not follow through on their commitments. We see examples of this all the time. It’s hard to explain to a child that something is not going to happen because his friend did not do his part. 

One place in which this happens a lot is speech and debate. Many newcomers to the activity are timid and choose to perform in a partner piece to help with the nerves. I almost always advise new competitors against doing this. What frequently occurs is two brand new students sign up to do a partner piece with someone they just met and have no idea if they can work with that person. Sometimes this can work out, but often we see that the two do not work well together in a scene, or that one person is putting in way more effort than the other person. Partner pieces can be fantastic when both parties are committed to working hard and practicing. Many times as a judge of speech and debate, I find it obvious that one partner is way more invested than the other. This does not make a good piece. 

In team sports, students run the risk of not being able to compete if not enough players show up for the game. After practicing multiple nights a week and buying a uniform for the team, it is scary to think that a few teammates not fully committing can keep the entire team from playing. To an outside perspective, these examples might not seem like a big deal, but to the students who have worked incredibly hard to prepare for competitions, it is huge. Looking at the side of the less committed student, every time that person fails to follow through, he is making an impression on his peers. After a few instances of not committing, that student could get a reputation that will be hard to get rid of. 

In life, people don’t reward those who cannot commit. In a job, those people get passed up for promotions. In a relationship, eventually those people get dumped. In a friendship, a lack of commitment can weaken the bond between friends. On the other hand, committing can bring great things into your life. Committing to a job shows your company that you are loyal, and typically that loyalty is rewarded. Committing in your personal life helps create strong bonds with the people around you. There are so many cases in which committing to something strengthens the viewpoint that others have of you. There is so much good that occurs when you commit to something fully. Start making choices that demonstrate commitment. Show up to that choir competition, make long term plans with a friend or family member, get a job that you plan to have for a while. These actions will help you learn to commit and set you up for future success. 

                                                                             Bria

Commitment is a pledge to a position on some issue.  Or better still, it is to have faith in and loyalty to something beyond oneself…something that will give ultimate meaning, coherence, and goal to life. It is necessary to health, both mentally and physically.

    We have witnessed the commitment of emergency workers and medical professionals during this Covid pandemic.  The news has been flooded with stories of people who put their commitment to someone or something before taking care of their own needs.  I am moved to be a better person by seeing these selfless acts play out before me.  Our students have been discussing the Olympics and many such acts of commitment on the part of our world athletes.  The collective opinion among the sixth grade students in my class was that maybe our nation will pick up the challenge being presented in ads on TV to be a better person, to do an act of kindness, or to support a noble effort to help others.

    But in the little things of daily life, there doesn’t seem to be much effort to commitment.  For instance, no effort is being made by students to pick up their belongings and return them to their lockers or cubbies.  At the end of each day, we see countless students wandering around asking, “Has anybody seen my water bottle?  Has anybody picked up my jacket?  Where is my backpack?”  There is absolutely no commitment to taking care of one’s possessions.  In fact, in these two and a half weeks of school, we have more than twenty jackets, shirts, hats, etc. in the lost and found.  There are countless water bottles ranging from Dollar Store models  to $50 insulated aluminum models just lying around waiting to be claimed.

    The non-profit organizations in our town have been recipients of more than $3,000 worth of wonderful jackets and coats left at school – not claimed by anyone.  We even marked the initials of students in their coats one day so we knew they could  see how to do it if their parents hadn’t helped them do it.  Yet, here we go again on a new school year and a new round of designer clothes and other personal items stacking up in our lost and found.

    We have received many new toys, games, building blocks, Legos, etc. for students to use and to enjoy in classes and in extended day times. I have asked for a commitment to pick up and return the items when play is finished.  I also asked for students to not break them purposely as some have enjoyed doing.  Again, I am seeing a lack of commitment in this area.  So, I am asking parents to make a commitment to us that you will help your child(ren) in these areas.  A judge once blamed the “affluence” of our society as the cause for two brothers killing their parents.  What an atrocity!  

    Let’s work together to help our children make a commitment to value others, to value other people’s possessions, and to take care of and appreciate their own possessions which you  have provided for them.  The end result will be a more efficient and happier student.  Why?  Because he/she will have more time for recess and less time spent trying to find all their “missing stuff!”  It should also help your own family budgets!!  Thank you.  

-        Kay

    Okay, Parents, the advice I give you this week will possibly save you hundreds of dollars.  Gifted kids are interested in a lot.  The activities they commit themselves to, though, are not as many.  Before you take out that second mortgage to buy all the equipment, lessons, and necessary uniforms, it is worth figuring out if the request is an interest or a commitment. 

     Just how do you do that?  Well, unfortunately, your child will swear it’s a commitment, whether it is or not.  Kids want what they want when they want it.  You’ll have to build up to your child being able to determine what is an interest and to what he is willing to commit.  The only way to do that is to make every activity in which you invest a commitment.  This means that your child will have to understand that he is in this activity to the end of the season or year or some designated opting-out point. 

    I have met many parents lately who feel that their children should be driving the proverbial bus when it comes to what they will or will not do.  This is absolutely false.  Parents were never meant to be the financiers and chauffeurs for a child’s every whim.  I think two things have contributed to this lack of correct parenting.  The first is the desire not to have one’s child throw a fit and thereby humiliate the parent in public.  We had a cure for that when my kids were young.  “Go ahead, embarrass the fire out of me.  I guarantee, you will not like the consequences once we are not in public anymore.”  The consequences involved anything from a spanking to restriction from items.  Consequently, I can recall less than a handful of outbursts over not getting something they wanted. 

    The second reason is what I like to call “false guilt.”  Some of it comes from the kids themselves, but more often than not, it comes from the talking heads.  They make parents feel guilty for working long hours, for not indulging kids more, for being “dismissive” about issues the kids face throughout the day.  Then the parents bend over backwards to make up for this perceived misbehavior on their parts. 

    I would like to release you from that guilt.  Gifted kids come from gifted adults, and gifted adults are busy people.  It’s okay; it’s what we’re teaching them to be.  You should not indulge your child’s every whim.  Enough said there.  And, you should dismiss some things.  If every time your children fight, you have a family meeting, you are going to be spending a lot of evenings in family meetings.  Sometimes you just have to say, “Suck it up, Buttercup.”  Of course, spend time with your kids.  Of course, don’t dismiss everything.  But don’t feel guilt if you are being pressured to do even more.      

   Okay, now that we’ve got you back in the driver’s seat, let’s talk about how to teach your kids to make a commitment to something. 

1)      Buy the necessities for the activity; make your child “earn” the “wants.” 

2)     Write out the date on which your child can discontinue the activity if he so chooses.  Post it on the refrigerator where you can refer to it should it come up.

3)     Find out as much as you can about the coach/teacher/mentor BEFORE signing your child up.  Then if your child uses the common excuse of “the instructor doesn’t like me,” you will be closer to determining if this is actually the case.

4)     Know that, for gifted kids, a desire to quit is actually a reaction to the fear of failure.  Then teach your child that failure is acceptable, but quitting is not.

5)     Feed some of your child’s lesser interests.  Take him skating at an arena; go fishing at a lake; snorkel at a theme park; go to a music store and ask the owner to help your child pick an instrument on which he would be good. 

   If you will take the time to do lots of interesting things with your gifted kids, you might find that the list of commitments lessens to something manageable… for you and for your child!

                                                                                                         -Michelle

Details Count

And we’re off!! Another academic year has begun, and we are introducing a new study to our kids. The focus this year is based upon a book called Everything Counts. This week’s lesson is that details count.  If you’re new to TriOpinion, Kay, Bria, and I are three generations of educators of gifted and talented students. We each cover the topic of the week in our own method. Kay reflects upon the evolution of the concept over her fifty-plus years of educating. Michelle helps parents of gifted children with the concept. And Bria writes directly to the gifted student (or adult).

   This week’s topic is that details count. That they do! Details are the difference between an 88% and a 92%. They are the reason we gain or lose business, and they cause us to switch churches, hairdressers, and doctors frequently.

    Highly gifted kids love to point out their parents’ and teachers’ “misses” in the details, but they often don’t care about their own. They know they understood the concept, so they are not highly motivated to prove it to anyone else!  Highly-driven teens, on the other hand, care incredibly about the details and will delay completion to make sure the paper or task or job is done perfectly. 

  Parents of a gifted child often have another child who is highly driven. It is important to praise these kids differently. Your gifted child wants praise for his innovation and results, even if the method was not the way that had been prescribed. Your driven child wants you to recognize how hard he worked to do exactly what was needed. The result is going to be good… that’s a given. He wouldn’t allow otherwise. He killed himself to make sure of his success, and your acknowledgement of his hard work is his desired reward.

   Each type of child must be taught to think of others when it comes to the details. The gifted needs to recognize that the path to the result does matter because sometimes it’s the path through which learning occurs rather than the result. The highly-driven needs to learn that perfectionism can cause deadlines to be missed and can generally irritate those with whom he is working.

   We want our kids to both follow directions AND think outside the box. Easier said than done, so take the time to teach your child how to balance the two.

     Michelle

Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had an amazing summer and are excited to start another school year! With all of the distractions and complications that come with educating children during a global pandemic, I know I am excited to be able to return to some sort of normalcy this year. As you know by now, we are starting a new series, and the topic that kicks it all off is, “details count.”

If you have ever been in a position in which you receive a resume as a part of an application, you understand that details are extremely important. In my last role, one of my responsibilities was finding interns for the marketing team of my company. Being that it was a paid internship with flexible hours and a cool workspace, we received a giant stack of applications. Faced with over 100 applications, I cut down the stack in the easiest way I could. I looked at the details. 

The first thing I did was check for grammatical mistakes. While I am known to make a few grammatical mistakes myself, applications with missing words, incomplete sentences, and those who spelled my company’s name wrong in the cover letter, were the first to go.  Next, I eliminated the resumes that did not look neatly put together. As this was a marketing position, visual representation was just as important as the information on the page. On a more personal note, I also weeded out those who got “too creative” on their resumes. I am a fan of personalization, and I think that a pop of color or a nice logo can make your resume stand out. But on the other hand, the resume I received with a distracting, multicolored floral background and the inclusions of a “my favorite podcasts” section was simply too much for me. 

When the stack was at around 30 applications, that is when it got really difficult to narrow it down further. There were some really strong applications in this pile. When it came down to it, the next detail I had to look at was experience. Although it is true that students get their experience at internships, it was hard not to favor those students who had already had at least one marketing-related internship. Eventually I was able to get the pile down to about fifteen resumes to phone interview and then five to bring in for an in- person interview. At the end of this process we picked one person for the job. 

    Every step of the way the decisions were driven by the details. When I started phone interviews, I was looking for someone who sounded confident and gave strong and well thought out answers. In person, I wanted to see that the person was on time, dressed well, and made eye contact while we talked. Additionally, those who followed up via email after the interview to thank me for taking the time to talk with them definitely received some bonus points. All of the details from application to interview helped the final candidate get picked. 

    This is a good lesson for all of us even outside of an application process. We are constantly making impressions on people. The details are really important. I want to take a quick second to brag about one of our new teachers. Mrs. Gibbs is a new teacher in the 5th/6th Center. This summer when we interviewed her, she was incredibly detail-oriented and organized. Her resume was well put together and told me pretty much everything I needed to know about her. As the interview progressed, I quickly threw out the typical questions I would ask in an interview. She was so detail-oriented and confident that she was answering my questions before I could even get to them. This was very impressive to me, and I knew about three minutes into her interview that I didn’t want to hear from any other candidates. At every step of the process, Mrs. Gibbs was aware that details count. From resume to speaking confidence to follow up, she did things to distinguish herself from other applicants. This is an amazing skill to have. 

    The great thing is, you can start practicing being detail-oriented now. When you get up in the morning, don’t just throw on the first outfit you see. Take a second and look at your options. If something is wrinkled, torn, or stained, maybe that shouldn’t be your outfit of the day. Look at the weather, see what the day will entail, and pick something you can be confident in. When you turn in an assignment, don’t rush to be the first one done. Take a second and really go over your answers. Did you put your name on your paper? How’s your handwriting? Is everything answered to the best of your ability? When you start to really take note of these details, your teachers will notice, too. We love to reward students who understand that details count! Let’s have an amazing school year and pay attention to the details in everything we do!

                                                                                                                        Bria

Detail counts!  I can especially verify this since I am one of those people who hate to fly!  I would gladly drive anywhere, any distance, anytime, just to avoid flying.  Perhaps it is due to my vertigo…but regardless, I do it under great stress.  Yet, no other activity can better illustrate how important details are, and that details do count!

As a passenger on board an aircraft, a person expects the flight crew to check and even crosscheck all the gauges and switches in the cockpit.  But if that were all that was done, we still cannot be assured something will not go wrong.  It is extremely reassuring to me when I see the pilot go outside the plane, kick the tires, check the latches, the wings, the tiles of the plane’s outer covering, and various other odds and ends that are part of the plane’s exterior.

If a problem were to occur during the flight, gauges may not be able to alert the crew because those exterior items are not controlled by gauges.  Thus, the pilot who takes it upon himself or herself to check those areas is paying attention to details…and affording the passengers one more level of safety.  For that I am most grateful!

It is a matter of procedure anymore for a patient about to have surgery to have the spot marked which is about to be operated upon.  This detail became a matter of standard procedure, I guess, after mistakes were made.  Marking the correct leg or arm, etc. is a very important detail which can prevent harm or misfortune.

In general, however, many people refuse to pay attention to detail.  I cringe each time I hear of a fatal crash in which the person did not fasten his seatbelt.  That little detail could have saved the life.  The same can be said for people who do not check the tread on their tires before a long trip.  The excuse used most often for not doing such inspections is, “I just didn’t have the time!”

I guess the most poignant example of a small detail being ignored or not inspected properly in my lifetime would be the explosion of the “Challenger” rocket due to frost forming on a small “o” ring.  I shall never forget the sight of that mishap on live TV as my classroom of students watched helplessly the loss of all those astronauts and our teacher in space. 

No, a misplaced comma or forgotten period may not make the walls fall around us, but not being aware that the tiny things can be destructive can make such calamities possible. Even the Bible speaks of these small things in Song of Songs 2:15: “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.” Note it is not the drought or the mighty flood or the hurricane force winds that destroy the vineyards…but the little foxes. Such is life: often little mistakes in detail cause large calamities in life.

Kay

Rest

The word “rest” will be used by me many times a day, but definitely in two different ways!  I look forward to summer break so I can rest from a very hectic school schedule.  I will lay awake at night thinking and planning how to prepare my students to handle the  rest of the school days of this academic year…tests are finished, and activities are varied from the usual class routines.

    Rest is so necessary for us to recharge our internal batteries which have had a very large drain this past year due to the addition of Covid restrictions and protocol to our regular academic activities.  I can truly say that this has been one of the hardest of my 50+ years of teaching.  I, like my staff, am just happy and proud that we were able to be successful in spite of all the restrictions, etc.

    In commenting on the topic of rest, I would share with parents that many of our students are not getting enough rest at night.  More students than you can believe have shared with teachers that they almost always get up after parents are in bed and watch TV or play on their laptops, phones, etc.  The effects of this habit that we are noting is their inability to stay focused for even the usual twenty minutes we used to expect of children.

    However, I have also heard of many children who are tucked into bed by 7:00 p.m. and they seem to be sleeping twelve hours or more a night.  Maybe that contributes to their excess energy during times when study or quiet thinking is needed.  I suggest that parents study their own children and see how sleep amounts affect them.  I can assure my parents that unlike many other preschools, we do not let the children sleep all afternoon.  I am amazed at how many preschools allow a two to three hour nap.  That is not fair to parents who also need some alone time when such long naps cause the children to stay awake late at night with parents.

    We are going to be tutoring some students who have requested it this summer.  Many of our parents have spent some academic time with their children during the lockdown period, and they are concerned that missing skills are taught to them during the summer.  Others want to get a head start for their children in case we have another rough academic year due to a return of the pandemic.

    I just want to assure parents that we consider our students individually, and we will be working on those missing skills when they return to school next year.  Remember, our view of education is that it is a continuous progress process.  Children don’t progress at the same speed just because they are the same age. We are flexible in dealing with learning.  These are the reasons people continue to tell us, “You are very different than other schools where we have been.”

    Of this one fact I am more than sure…it takes a “rest” period to allow us to recharge and then plan for a successful school year next year for our students.  SOOO….bring on the summer vacation!!!      Kay