Being Flexible as an Opinionated Person
Guiding Quotes:
“You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” - Bruce Lee
“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.” - Bruce LeeOpening Questions:
-Using what you’ve learned so far this year about individuals who are gifted, do you think they are more flexible or less flexible in their thinking than the typical population?
-What does flexibility have to do with being like water (Bruce Lee quotes)?
-What does flexibility have to do with mental health? Why do creative activities help with flexible thinking?
-Do people become more or less flexible in their thinking as they age?
-When does being opinionated become arrogance?
-How do you think brain chemicals influence flexible thinking (serotonin, dopamine, etc.)?
Mini-Lesson Topic: Flexibility
The topic this week was staying cognitively flexible even as individuals with strong opinions. While we have a right to our strong opinions (common in people who are gifted), it’s beneficial to strive to understand different points of view and also allow ourselves to change over time.
Sometimes we miss out on a lot of fun when life becomes “our way or the highway.” Students also discussed how flexibility can help relationships run smoothly. That being said, there are times it is necessary to be inflexible (such as when bullying is taking place or you have a bad vibe about a stranger). Students were given a variety of scenarios and then asked whether it was a situation to “be flexible about" or “stand strong.”
To explore thinking flexibly and seeing situations from “outside the box,” we used ambiguous images and word plexers s that can be interpreted as two images. We also did this with sound (see below). Students seemed to really enjoy this activity.
The topic this week was staying cognitively flexible even as individuals with strong opinions. While we have a right to our strong opinions (common in people who are gifted), it’s beneficial to strive to understand different points of view and also allow ourselves to change over time.
Sometimes we miss out on a lot of fun when life becomes “our way or the highway.” Students also discussed how flexibility can help relationships run smoothly. That being said, there are times it is necessary to be inflexible (such as when bullying is taking place or you have a bad vibe about a stranger). Students were given a variety of scenarios and then asked whether it was a situation to “be flexible about" or “stand strong.”
To explore thinking flexibly and seeing situations from “outside the box,” we used ambiguous images and word plexers s that can be interpreted as two images. We also did this with sound (see below). Students seemed to really enjoy this activity.
Go Deeper:
-More pictures and facts about perception can be found here.
-Audio clips dividing the internet: Audio clip 1 / Audio clip 2
-Audio clips dividing the internet: Audio clip 1 / Audio clip 2
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