I am writing a response, like so many others it seems, to Michalko's "The Art of Genius" in the 8/98 issue of the Utne Reader.

One quality of thinking like a genious that jumped out at me is the willingness of geniuses to take chances. The ability to move forward, despite the fact that you don't know where you are going is an important life skill. You tend to find clues along the way and may end up with something exciting that you didn't expect. It is often essential to the art of problem solving.

Many times in my math classes I have had students freeze up on problems because they were unfamiliar and didn't know how to go about solving it. The truth is that they did know something they might have tried but didn't because the answer wasn't close enough to see. If they just get started, the next strategy often reveals itself. Along with the point that says "Geniuses produce" we should add something to the effect that "Geniuses perservere" If you never get started because of uncertainty and the fear of failure, you'll never get the advantages that come from learning from those failures.

Kids will spend hours upon hours trying to master a new video game. I marvel at the clever things they come up with to win a game or advance to the next level. It is a shame that they don't natuarally apply that same drive to mastering mathematics or whatever.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 1999

Answers

This is my response to Tim Whites UTNE summary on the article The At of Genius...

Hello Tim! I too (like everyone else) read this article. I like how you mentioned that geniuses dont seem to take chances. Or at least their way of thinking seems to be this way. In thinking about it this way, I guess your right. Many of the qualities that were mentioned in this article seemed to be qualities that fit in with the idea of not being afraid to take chances.

You mentioned that kids sometimes freeze because they dont think they know the answer. But, in reality it was just because the answer was not close enough to see. Im not sure exactly how we could do this, but, it would be great if we could teach in such a way that we could actually get the students to be more aware of the fact that the answer is close...its just lightly beyond their reach. We need to find out ways to give them the abilities they need to reach out and grab it.

Thanks for allowing me to respond!

-- Anonymous, January 18, 1999

Hi Tim! I also read the same article. I liked how the author also pointed out that geniuses not only preserver to come up with a solution to a problem, but they don't stop at one solution. They find many different possible solutions to that one problem. I think that this open-mindedness and creativity are also important life skills. How can we teach these skills to students, especially when the standardized tests only care about the one right answer? Isn't the process just as important?

-- Anonymous, January 26, 1999

Hello Tim, Due to computer problems this response is a little late-sorry. I also read this article, and I am a somewhat surprised that I got a slant that seems a trifle to the left of most of the responses I've read. I agreed with the author, but perhaps from a different perspective. I saw a danger to our society because of the emphasis we put on mainstreaming everyone in order to fit them into the mold of mediocrity. In an environment where accomodation to a norm is praised as the pinnacle of achievement, why should we be surprised when students live down to our expectations? Just a thought from the fringes... Thanks for the opportunity.

-- Anonymous, February 22, 1999