Oh, fucking hell, Allyson. I'm so sorry.

About to head off to an all-hands meeting for CJ's Search and Rescue team. Apparently fundraising hasn't brought in what is needed to keep the team afloat and we need to figure out what to do. He loves this SO MUCH, I'm heart broken at the thought that the team is in jeapardy.

Again, I need a zillion dollars so I can fund the team and travel to all the buffistas (cause, why wouldn't I travel if I had the funds?).

The article about how to talk to kids (the praise thing) is really fascinating. I can absolutely see how that would make a big difference in what kids will attempt and what they won't.

The article about how to talk to kids (the praise thing) is really fascinating. I can absolutely see how that would make a big difference in what kids will attempt and what they won't.

Yeah, I've seen that stuff before, and I make a point of introducing new concepts to my students with something like, "This is a new concept. You're not supposed to understand it immediately. It's something new, and not just a new way of doing old things, but a new way of thinking about how numbers work. You CAN understand it, but it's not the sort of thing that you just immediately understand -- you have to sit down with it for a while and try it out and practice it and frown at it for a few hours before you'll be able to really wrap your brain around it. It is something you can understand, but you have to work for it." I developed that bit after working a few summers with gifted kids -- there were always a few who just didn't know how to deal when they didn't understand something immediately.

Ah jeez, Allyson. Good luck to your family.

I just had a nice surprise -- when I was at work, my mother called and said she was at a board meeting around the corner from my house, and did I want to come have a drink with her at 5:30? (She's staff, not on the board....) I couldn't do it, because I was seeing the stupid apartment, so figured that was that. But when I got home and was making dinner, she called again and said, "Ann says you should come have dinner with us!" So I got back dressed, and thought we would be having dinner at the hotel restaurant with Ann (not that I know who Ann is, but whatever). Yeah, no. I totally crashed the board meeting dinner in jeans. The food was pretty good, though!

there were always a few who just didn't know how to deal when they didn't understand something immediately.

That's my oldest kid. He's still completely resistant to anything that doesn't come naturally or easily.

Good luck to your family, Allyson.

That's my oldest kid. He's still completely resistant to anything that doesn't come naturally or easily.

I was like that, too. The first time I ever had to actually study something in math -- meaning, I didn't understand it in class, so I had to go home and read through the book and work on practice problems until I figured it out -- was second semester of freshman year in college, and it was hell trying to learn how to learn at that age. (It also involved me, in tears, calling my mother, quite a few times. That didn't always go so well. Me: "I don't understand it, and I keep looking at it and I can't figure it out! Waaaaah!" Mom, confused: "But, you're good at math." Me, nearly hysterical: "You're not helping!!!!!!!!") I ended up figuring out that what worked best for me was trying to memorize the proofs -- the proofs were all too long to directly memorize, so the only way to get them solid in my head was the break them down and figure out the logic linking the different parts together. Then once I got that, I figured out that I could skip the memorizing step and just go right to breaking apart the logic.

I keep wanting to go try taking a chemistry class again, since I know that the reason I gave up on chemistry was that I didn't understand it immediately and I didn't know what to do with that.

I'm really glad I had that experience my junior year of high school, because it was really a shock, and a good lesson. Also, he graded on the curve, so I still got good grades, even after not getting everything.

Kristin, thanks for sharing that article! Totally fascinating, and makes a lot of sense.

Allyson, holy shit, that's a lot to deal with all at once.