The idea of deliberate practice continues to be in the news, particularly as some researchers seek to criticize the “10,000 hour rule.” What is sometimes lost in the arcane disagreements between academicians about this topic is the key point that we teachers need to communicate to our students — yes, natural talent and intelligence has a major role in what we can achieve expertise in, but deliberate practice is something that any one of us can control. It doesn’t appear — at least, as of today — that researchers have discovered anything else that is in our hands that can have a greater impact on personal success.

That said, here are some new additions to The Best Resources For Learning About The 10,000 Hour Rule & Deliberate Practice:

First off, you’ll want to watch the videos and read Daniel Coyle’s post, The Power of High-Leverage Practice. The greatest catch to every occur in NFL history happened this season, and it wasn’t an accident.

This next piece is probably old news to many, but it’s new to me that the recording artist Macklemore released a song titled “10,000 Hours” on this very topic. Some of the lyrics are not appropriate for the classroom (barely), but some sections would be worth playing as part of a lesson on deliberate practice.

Here is part of one verse:

I stand here in front of you today all because of an idea
I could be who I wanted if I could see my potential
And I know that one day I’mma be him
Put the gloves on, sparring with my ego
Everyone’s greatest obstacle, I beat ’em
Celebrate that achievement
Got some attachments, some baggage I’m actually working on leaving
See, I observed Escher
I love Basquiat
I watched Keith Haring
You see I study art
The greats weren’t great because at birth they could paint
The greats were great cause they paint a lot
I will not be a statistic

And here’s the chorus:

Ten thousand hours felt like ten thousand hands
Ten thousands hands, they carry me
Ten thousand hours felt like ten thousand hands
Ten thousands hands, they carry me

And here’s a music video of the entire song (again, some words are not classroom appropriate):