42nd Annual City/County Gifted Conference

Morgan P. Appel
Director, Education Department
At the Crossroads:
The Legend of
Robert Johnson

FLOW or SOUL?
As the story goes, in the 1930s
Robert Johnson ventured to a
Mississippi cross roads at midnight
to make a deal with the devil. The
pact? Offer his eternal soul for
Lucifer’s guitar tuning skills. With
guitar in-hand, Johnson and the
devil stuck an accord.

According to the legend, Johnson’s

new talents were immediate. In fact,
Son House -- a boyhood idol of
Robert Johnson and one of the most
highly regarded blues guitarists of all
time -- said Johnson’s seemingly
overnight metamorphosis from a
poor guitar player to an elite
guitarist must have meant he sold
his soul to the devil at the
Crossroads. “He sold his soul to play
like that,” House once said.

Source: Visitthedelta.com (2016)

Brain Bits:
Wisdom from
the Ancients

In ancient Egypt,
when humans were
preserved through
mummification, the
brain was discarded-
-viewed as a
superfluous organ. It
was believed that
the heart was the
center of all emotion
and learning.
Wisdom from the
Original Renaissance
Man: Good Ol’ Leo

“As every divided kingdom

falls, so every mind divided
by many studies confounds
and saps itself.”

“I have been impressed

with the urgency of doing.
Knowing is not enough; we
must apply. Being willing is
not enough. We must do.”

“He who loves practice

without theory is like a
sailor who boards a ship
without a rudder and a
compass and never knows
where he may cast.”

“All our knowledge has its

origin in our perceptions.”
“When we are at work, we ought to be at work. When we are at play, we ought to be
at play. There is no use trying to mix the two.” – Henry Ford

“People rarely succeed at anything unless they are having fun doing it.”
– Southwest Airlines Mission Statement

The Conceptual Age/Knowledge Economy requires creativity; empathy; happiness;

meaning; critical thinking; problem solving; effective communication; metacognitive
abilities (sound habits of mind) and collaboration.

Providing manifold opportunities for flow compels students to be creative and

collaborative, playing important and more interdependent roles in the creation of
their own learning environments that address their cognitive and affective needs.
Brain Bits:
Teaching as Art
Versus Science
Teaching is an art form—
not a delivery system.
Teaching is an arts
practice. It’s about
connoisseurship and
judgment and intuition. We
all remember the great
teachers in our lives. The
ones who kind of woke us
up and that we’re still
thinking about because
they said something to us
or they gave us an angle on
something that we’ve
never forgotten.

--Sir Ken Robinson

 Involving
 Spirited/Manic
 Chaotic
 Porous/Focused
 Tense
 Artistic
 Creative Play
 Collaborative
 Competitive
 Energetic
 Purpose-Driven
 Synergistic
 Differentiated
 Epiphany-Based
The Importance
of Creative Play

Creativity
Abstract thinking
Problem solving/Process
Imagination
Mastering new concepts
Self-confidence
Self-esteem
Anxiety reduction
Cooperation
Sharing
Empathy
Conflict resolution
Leadership
Communication
Vocabulary
Storytelling
Persistence
Concentration
Communication skills
‘Brain release’
Our Current
Environment: The
Context for Flow

“Learning is more effective when it

is an active rather than a passive
process.” – Euripides
In each of your classes, you will
find a diverse range of skills,
abilities and attitudes based on
prior expertise and experience.
To enhance learning and
metacognitive skills requires the
application of pedagogical
(modified), andragogical and
heutagogical strategies to
differentiate content and
instruction.
Smart use of strategies and tools
can facilitate transitions and
create an environment
characterized by creativity,
engagement and commitment
(FLOW).
Move from more to less structure
and from concrete/manipulation
to application to abstraction
 Every learner and every topic requires diverse approaches to and tools for creating a masterwork

The blank canvas makes a The restoration requires a more

statement but requires
guidance, structure and
foundation (pedagogy)
The work in progress delicate and complex touch in which
scaffolds upon an the work guides the process
existing foundation -- (heutagogy)
good or bad
(andragogy)

Boundaries are porous and contextually situated: knowing WHEN to use a particular approach
1. The brain is a complex adaptive system.
2. The brain is a social brain.
3. The search for meaning is innate.
4. The search for meaning occurs through patterning.
5. Emotions are critical to patterning.
6. Every brain simultaneously perceives and creates
parts and wholes.
7. Learning involves both focused attention and
peripheral attention.
8. Learning always involves conscious and unconscious
processes.
9. We have at least two ways of organizing memory.
10. Learning is developmental.
11. Complex learning is enhanced by challenge and Vygotsky’s Zone of
inhibited by threat. Proximal Development
12. Every brain is uniquely organized.

Source: Caine and Caine (1997)

The gifted brain is
much like a volcano
on the verge of
eruption.

Chaotic, swirling, yet

somehow controlled
unconsciously
seeking order and
release.

The same neurochemistry

that fuels all we love about
our gifted and talented
students cognitively also
tends to wreak tremendous
affective havoc.
 Even in prehistoric times we
understood that all learning is
connected to the
neurochemistry of survival
 Ferryman/facilitator versus
filler/ transporter
 Organic differentiation and
detective work
 Creating diverse and multiple
opportunities for engagement
throughout the day (usually
not possible ALL DAY)
 Monitoring and watching for
transition points (P/And/Heut)
• Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi (1975, 1990)/positive
psychology
• A Zen-like, intensive state in which an individual becomes
completely emerged in an experience
• “In the groove,” OPTIMAL EXPERIENCE, “In the zone”
• Time stops (almost a meditative state) or flies
• “Seeing the seams of the baseball” or “seeing the Matrix”
• Losing oneself so that one is so focused, s/he is unaware of
distractions, even bodily needs
• A universal and cross-cultural experience
• Connectivity between emotion, motivation and
internalization
 Balance between individual’s ability and level of difficulty in
the challenge (cannot be too easy or difficult or flow cannot
occur).
 Goals should be clear. Expectations are foreseen and goals are
attainable.
 High degree of concentration in a limited field of attention—
person should be able to focus and become deeply engaged in
the activity.
 A loss of self-consciousness is experienced (unaware of self
and what the self is doing).
 Sense of time transcendence (subjective experience of time is
altered—passes quickly/slowly/slow motion)
When in the flow state,
the brain is actively
seeking out information
from multiple sources
to engage in problem
solving activities.

That is where motivation,

Persistence and creativity
make their homes.

That is FLOW.

Where are your students?

Flow is cognitive, affective and metacognitive. It is primitive, innate and
essentially brain compatible at its core. It defines us as human. It helps
contain (or at least guide) the flow of cognitive lava, as it were.

You should also experience flow in your work with students. If you are not
enjoying things, it is time to stop and regroup.

You can establish conditions for flow and monitor the flow channel. Flow,
however, cannot be compelled or scheduled in a traditional sense.

One cannot flow all day. A little goes a long way—and flow is the
foundation for (and the result of) effective differentiated instruction. You
will not believe your experiences once a classroom is in the flow channel!
 Challenge, balance and complexity
 Choice, voice and empowerment
 Clarity and importance of tasks
 Opportunities for deep concentration
 Opportunities for demonstration of competencies and small
successes
 Timely and constructive feedback (ongoing)
 Ongoing support for motivational drives
 Humor, trust and quality of relationships
 Relevance and proximity
 Promote strengths-based education, intuitive skills and
metacognition
 Ideas for dual exceptional and non-traditional gifted students
 Problem-solving emphasis (multiple opportunities to use the
brain for the purpose which it is designed)
 Availability of diverse curricular and extracurricular activities
that are respected
 Every teacher is aware of the importance of flow and catalyzing
flow is at the heart of the classroom and school
 Create an environment in which kids love to learn and use your
intuition and instincts as educators in so doing (wellspring from
within)
 Archive, curate and display the work of the classroom
 Provide support for parents in maintaining flow after school
Robert Johnson
Redux: Stones in my
Passway

I got stones in my
passway
and my road seem dark
as night
I got stones in my
passway and my road
seem dark as night
I have pains in my hearts
they have taken my
appetite
I have a bird to whistle
and I have a bird to sing
Have a bird to whistle
and I have a bird to sing.
Morgan Appel, Director
Education Department
UC San Diego Extension
9500 Gilman Drive, MC 0170-N
La Jolla, California 92093-0170

mappel@ucsd.edu
858-534-9273
extension.ucsd.edu/education