Every Monday, I’ll post about discovering genuine hope and authentic answers for living a healthy life. — The waves kept coming. And coming. It if weren’t for the rocky shore, I couldn’t have sat where I was. The water would have come much further. The waves would have calmly died out. Slowed down. Quietly. And then the next waves would have arrived, continuing the pattern. But, there were rocks. There was the shore. The barricade. It’s where the water churned. The waves collided. The ocean roared. These rocks are immovable, but I know they’re smaller than they used to be. The powerful water has acted as sandpaper and the barricade is smaller as a result. Some water gets through. While recently watching and … [Read more...]
Engaging Multiple Smarts to Reveal New Insights
May 15, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — Although it’s helpful to teach and learn about our eight intelligences in isolation, in practice they don’t work alone. For instance, because word smart involves listening, speaking, reading, and/or writing, it’s very rare that we’re not using it. Those of you who are very picture smart probably always have pictures in your mind. They just naturally appear to help you. Our smarts aren’t always automatically engaged. If we choose to use them anyway, even when we don’t need to, we’ll have richer experiences. (Students will have deeper understanding and a longer memory for what … [Read more...]
People Smart + Self Smart = Influential Combination
April 24, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — Last week, I finished an eight-week series about our intelligences where I detailed them for you. The last two are people smart and self smart. A combination of these two in your top four can be internally challenging. Therefore, I’m reposting a slightly edited blog from a year ago. As always, I hope it’s helpful. Share it with others who would benefit. All adults and children have the capacity to develop each of the eight smarts. Some will be stronger than others. Some may remain weak. But, we can and should use them in combinations so even weak intelligences don’t have to hold us back. One of … [Read more...]
Explaining Our Smarts Part 8 – Self Smart
April 17, 2013 by · 1 Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — Howard Gardner’s research that determined we each have eight intelligences has certainly encouraged thousands and thousands of people. I’ve enjoyed writing about each of the eight intelligences in detail these past two months. Today, we finish this series with details about self smart, or intrapersonal intelligence. Although last in our list, it’s not last in importance. The importance of each is determined by our call, passions, and purposes. For some people, this intelligence is key to their success so they’d rate it high in importance. Others wouldn’t. As I explained in their posts, word … [Read more...]
Grieving the Boston Bombings – Practical Insights to Help Process
April 15, 2013 by · 1 Comment
In light of the tragic bombings in Boston today and the loss of life and the number of injured, I thought I’d repost this blog (with some slight edits) from about a year ago. --- Grief is on my mind and it’s probably on yours. And, it’s in our hearts. Fear and confusion may be on your mind and you may notice it in your children, depending on how aware they are of what happened. Would it surprise you to know that understanding how we are smart can help us process grief, fear, and confusion well? It’s true. And, it’s important because grief isn’t well understood. Too often, people can be made to feel they’re not grieving right. Really? Disappointing. If your children have definite intelligence strengths, you’ll want … [Read more...]
Explaining Our Smarts Part 5 – Body Smart
March 20, 2013 by · 4 Comments
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — Each of our smarts, or intelligences, is born into us, but must be awakened by meaningful encounters with people and/or things. My body smart, or bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, was awakened when my parents enrolled me in ballet and tap dance lessons when I was about six-years-old. Prior to dance class, I was certainly moving, but I was clumsy and unsure of myself. Dancing increased my confidence and coordination. I went from taking lessons to becoming an assistant teacher. When I got older, I especially enjoyed softball and racquetball. I also spent years on drill teams and in marching bands. These … [Read more...]
Explaining Our Smarts Part 4 – Music Smart
March 13, 2013 by · 1 Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — We determine how strong people’s intelligences are by looking at both how much interest they have and how much ability they demonstrate. Both are essential for an intelligence to be strong. Interest in music is high in our culture. Just look at the number of iPods in use, the number of people who have downloaded music to their phones, and the number of iTunes accounts accessed regularly. But, not all the people listening to music have music smart as a strength. Are they interested in a variety of musical styles, are they open to discovering new styles and musicians, and do they remember music … [Read more...]
Secure, Content, Healthy
March 11, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Every Monday, I’ll post about discovering genuine hope and authentic answers for living a healthy life. — “He actually called me ‘Fresh Meat’.” I leaned forward and asked, “Seriously? He said that!?” “I know! Can you believe it? So many guys today don’t even hide their intentions. They know I’m newly divorced and they make terrible assumptions.” I asked, “What are you going to do?” Without hesitation, my friend explained why she thought men like this were “so sad.” While sharing, it’s almost as if she had my book, Finding Authentic Hope and Wholeness: Five Questions That Could Change Your Life, in front of her. She confidently declared, “I’m not that kind of woman. I never was. I … [Read more...]
Explaining Our Smarts Part 3 – Picture Smart
March 6, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — Surrounding ourselves with people different from us enriches our personal and professional lives. I’m not terribly picture smart so I’m very grateful for the people in my life who are. To be honest, sometimes they frustrate me. But, that’s when I choose (most of the time) to appreciate our differences. It takes character. Especially before understanding that each intelligence has value, I might have been jealous of creative, artsy people. I might have avoided them because I didn’t like feeling inferior when we did certain things together. I’m not proud of that. I’m just being … [Read more...]
Explaining Our Smarts Part 2 – Logic Smart
February 27, 2013 by · 1 Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — Does anyone drive you nuts by asking questions, questions, and more questions? Do you know someone who needs things to make sense? These people are logic smart. Last Wednesday, I blogged details about what it means to be word smart. Today’s blog will be about being logic smart. Dr. Gardner, the “father” of multiple intelligences labels this intelligence “logical-mathematical intelligence.” Just like with the other smarts, everyone has at least some logic smart ability. When using our logic smartness, we think with questions. We usually ask more questions when we get excited. When we’re … [Read more...]
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