Slip Sliding Away

[puppetmaker]

First a short note on my current Icon. It is Fallen Angel and Shi drawn by Billy Tucci. I wish I could draw that well

So after the ice and rain, the wind followed and turned everything into a sheet of ice. They did do a good job of salting and sanding the local roads but side roads are not that safe. I worked on getting down salt on our part of the sidewalk along with our front walk to the house so we are in compliance with a county ordinance that gives you 24 hours after a storm to get your walkways in order.

Time is also fleeting and yes madness seems to be taking control. I know I can get everything done in time and get us packed tonight so we are ready for tomorrow. House sitter is ready to sit and looking forward to our cable channels. Cats know that something is up.

So I have laundry to do and clothes to sew. I can do this! I know I can!

There was an interesting report on NPR this morning about intelligence and how one perceives intelligence. They divided these kids down to two belief set one thought that intelligence was fixed and the other that it could grow (ie You can become more intelligent over time) and they found that the kids who the belief that intelligence can grow had better grades over all but especially in math. They then took the kids who thought intelligence was fixed and divided them into two groups to help them with basic skills. One of the groups was taught that intelligence was not fixed but could grow and the other was given basic study skills. The group that learned that intelligence is not fixed started to do better in school.

Personally I was always taught that intelligence is not fixed and you can always learn something new. I plan to instill that in my daughter which is not going to take a lot of work since she loves to learn new things. Learning is fun and I am enjoying that I am still doing it. I am also a firm believer in the "use it or lose it" part of learning.

I am grateful to my parents for teaching me that intelligence is not fixed at birth.

Comments

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

Reading about Caroline always makes me smile. Always. (I do try not to exaggerate, but I'm pretty sure that Caroline's always made me smile. So if it's exaggeration, it's not by much.)

Keep up the good work, and keep up the good life.

[ex-albee437.livejournal.com]

That is a gorgeous icon. The only sketch I own is one by Joe Staton of Nova. I found it in a flea market for $12.00 (which I thought was nuts!)

I'm always so far away from the cons I'd like to attend, but would love to go to one sometime.

[auryn29a.livejournal.com]

I always thought of intelligence like the max amount of processing power. Like, the CPU speed of the brain. Gaining knowledge is completely different. That's more about i/o speeds and hard drive stability.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Part of this study was looking at the expanding brain and that by using it you can create new connections and synapses thus "increasing" the capsity of the brain.

[bevlovesbooks.livejournal.com]

I love NPR. I heard that same report. After hearing it, I've decided to do a little mini-study of my own. I have a poorly performing kid in one of my classes who scored as the best reader in the class. He said, "I'm smart!" like he didn't know it. Wow. It floored me. I don't know if it will help his performance in the future, but I think it shook him up a bit.

Gotta love those dendrites.

[vysion-of-books.livejournal.com]

Interesting theory. I never realized whether I feel one way or the other about intelligence, but you got me thinking. I was tested years ago in school and always held the results as my static level of intelligence. I hadn't considered it possible to be in flux instead. Thanks.