Caitlin Craig TC Chapter 3 Summary

Summary: The Brontes are a prime example of talented writers that went through deep practice and myelin building growth.  They began writing little books at a young age, although the writing lacked punctuation, and run-on sentences, it was a start, and they had to start somewhere.  These little games of book writing, played by the siblings became a myelin breeding ground: they were to dream and plan plots, characters, and narratives, all of which had to be sorted and fit together by the constant firing of their circuits.  Their stories became real through critiquing of each others work, and by building of their skills.  "Skill is insulation that wraps neural circuits and grows according to certain signals." The Z-Boys had a similar background, in which they took their daily skateboarding practice to a new level.  By immersing themselves in a risky deep practice situation.  By skateboarding in empty pools, they would either succeed, or fall hard.  This repetition allowed their myelin to wrap quickly and make connections to skill.  In Florence during the Renaissance, artists were put in apprenticeships.  This was an environment where they were constantly working in a "cooperative-competitive arrangement".  Critiquing and learning from each other's mistakes.  Copying masters became a way of myelination.  Genes do not play a part in talent, nor is talent predetermined.  We have all the tools we need, we just need to fire our circuits to install more myelin.  We are myelin beings, and already have the potential.
Key Concept: We are myelin beings who already possess the potential to gain skill.  By stimulating those already wired circuits constantly we can gain skill, and become talented.
Key Terms:  Myelin Beings, Link trainers, urge circuit, broadband myelin installers.
Making Connections: I would really like to try to encourage myself and eventually my students to study smartly, and engage in learning devices that will help us to install a broadband of myelin.  This also means that we start small, and work our way up.  I need to remember to not get frustrated with myself when I'm not 100 percent achieving the task, but to take a step back and analyze the problem, solve it, fix it, and then continue in the task.