MI Chapter 12

This chapter takes the multiple intelligences to another level by showing how they can be used to help students think. As the chapter suggests, what students think about is not as important as how they are thinking. Using the multiple intelligences, we as teachers can push their thinking further using them to enhance their memory skills and other cognitive approaches. For example, if a student is struggling to remember a fact, concept, or skill, then they might just need another method to learn it. If reciting it multiple times doesn’t work, then maybe they need to draw a picture of it. This same idea can be applied to other areas that the student struggles with. Using the strategies of multiple intelligences can help students to increase their strengths. It can also help to push their thinking into new realms and levels that they had not previously encountered. I am in favor of using multiple ways to help students memorize information, and I think I will use it when I teach vocabulary and other similar topics. A former teacher of mine uses a graphic organizer for vocabulary words that asks students to define words, find synonyms, and draw pictures, all in one assignment, so I know that it is possible to incorporate multiple strategies into the classroom without dedicating hours of class time to one idea. I would also like to use the multiple intelligences to push students past the boundaries of their thinking so that they can really get into the depths of understanding.

MI Chapter 14

This chapter poses the idea of an additional intelligence that Gardner is working on. This new intelligence is existential intelligence, which is “a concern with ultimate life issues” (182). Armstrong suggests that this can be used in the classroom by asking students to think more about certain topics and delve deeper into the meanings behind them. This intelligence is seen in classrooms that analyze literature a lot because students are always asked to think further about topics such as theme and meaning when reading a text.  I know I will be finding ways to use this intelligence in my classroom because it has such an influence in the way literature is analyzed and interpreted. I think it will be somewhat easy to incorporate this intelligence into my classroom in ways that might not be as obvious to students like some of the other intelligences (kinesthetic) might. It is important to work with this intelligence, whether it is considered one or not, because it teaches students to think deeper about every topic.

MI Chapter 13

This chapter describes several different professions and explains what multiple intelligences are connected to each. One point that this chapter brought up is that exposing students to just one or two careers at an early age is detrimental to their future career choice.  By giving students a variety of careers to explore, they are not locked into focusing on one multiple intelligence area and can instead choose a career that encompasses multiple intelligences. I think the list of careers and multiple intelligences associated with them will be helpful in guiding students to select careers that they are not only interested in, but also allow them to use more than one of their intelligences.  I think it might be interesting to have students use the lists and create some kind of product that compares their intelligences to those that each career they are interested in requires.

MI Chapter 11

Chapter 11 talks about different ways that the multiple intelligences can be used to assist students in special education.  One really good point the chapter brought up is that most people classify students with disabilities by what they are not able to do instead of classifying them by what they are able to do.  Not only does this help by identifying what and how they learn best, it also increases their self-esteem, knowing that they are in fact capable of doing something like all of their classmates are. Using the multiple intelligences in conjunction with a student’s IEP really tailors the lesson for them, helping them to succeed as well as some of their classmates who might be struggling in a similar area but to a lesser degree.  I will keep this in mind as I am planning lessons, whether I have students with IEPs in my classroom or not.  Using the multiple intelligences is beneficial for all students, but can have an added benefit for students with various disabilities.

MI Chapter 7

Activity centers were the focus of this chapter, arguing in favor of using them to enhance the multiple intelligences in the classroom.  Four types of activity centers were presented—Permanent Open-Ended, Temporary Open-Ended, Temporary Topic-Specific, and Permanent Topic-Specific.  Each center serves a different function, but they all relate to the intelligences.  I feel like this type of activity center would be more beneficial in an elementary classroom, where you would have the students for the entire day and could therefore coordinate time spent in the activity centers more easily, but I do think there are applications for a secondary classroom. Instead of having multiple activity centers, one for each intelligence, it might be more possible to combine a few of the intelligences and make an activity center or two based on those intelligences.  I like the idea of devoting a corner of the classroom to a reading and/or writing center, where students would have a different atmosphere for working and could potentially be more productive. The size of the classroom can also have an impact on how possible it is to have activity centers. Elementary classrooms have more room because the desks for elementary students do not need to be as big as desks for high school students do, so there is more space left in an elementary classroom.  I think it will just take a lot of creativity to find ways to incorporate activity centers into the secondary classroom.

MI Chapter 8

This chapter contained many different strategies on classroom management using the multiple intelligences to more effectively interact with students. Some examples that were provided in the chapter were using different techniques to get the students’ attention, such as writing something on the board for linguistic students or using hand motions for physical/kinesthetic students.  It also gives suggestions on how to work with students who have behavior problems and how the multiple intelligences can be used to address the problems in a more personalized manner.  I think the suggestions will be helpful for my classroom, though some of them might need to be modified for an older group of students.  In my experience, several of these strategies have worked well for classrooms of all dynamics, so I feel comfortable incorporating them into my classroom.  I also think that using approaches based on the multiple intelligences will be beneficial to all of my students.

MI Chapter 6

This chapter expanded on the ideas presented in chapter 5 and provided many different examples of how to use the various intelligences in the classroom. The chapter was broken down into the 8 intelligences, and for each intelligence there were five different examples of concepts that could be used to address and incorporate the intelligences into the classroom.  For instance, one of the examples given for spatial intelligence is color-coding, which helps students to connect like things together and distinguish between different things.  This is an activity that I am particularly interested in because there are so many options for color-coding in an English class. Other subject areas can benefit from an activity like this as well, and it could even be an ongoing activity that students refer back to throughout the year, building a database of terms or opinions or whatever it might be that they color code. That’s only one of the options for special intelligence, and there are four more for that particular intelligence alone.  The other seven intelligences have five examples for each, which when compiled in the format that this chapter has them, creates an outstanding database of sorts of MI activities.

MI Chapter 5

This chapter makes the argument that standing in front of the classroom lecturing students isn’t the best way to teach for all students.  Because each student has different strengths in different intelligence areas, lectures are not the most effective teaching method for all students.  They can still be used and be purposeful for some students, but other students need other strategies to meet their intelligences.  This chapter lists various other teaching approaches that will meet their intelligences, such as kinesthetic or logical methods.  It also suggested a good way for brainstorming activities that meet each of the intelligences for a unit.  This brainstorming idea seems really simple but really powerful, and I definitely think that I will use it in my classroom to vary the intelligences that my lessons meet. The chapter provides a sort of database for different activities and it will be helpful to refer back to it when I am planning my lessons in the future.

MI Chapter 10

This chapter focused on how the MI theory relates to assessment in the classroom.  Armstrong posed the idea that there should be a variety of assessments given, one option for each intelligence, so that students can complete the assessment in the intelligence they are strongest in.  This idea of having multiple assessments creates options for students, which can connect to tiering the instruction.  I particularly like that Armstrong believes “assessment experiences and instructional experiences should begin to appear virtually indistinguishable,” (148), which I think a lot of teachers would have a problem with.  They want to teach their lessons and then they want to administer the test, but then they are only catering to one or two intelligences. When they are indistinguishable, it means that both are learning experiences for the students.  I will definitely try to create assessment options that fit each of the multiple intelligences so that each student can do their personal best.

MI Chapter 4

In this chapter I learned about different ways to introduce the MI theory to a wide variety of students in a variety of ways. There were ways to teach it to students in first grade and ways to teach it to students in high school without changing any of the concepts. I particularly liked the idea of the MI “Pizza” that the author suggested, but I would use it with students of all ages, while I think most people would tend to equate it with students in elementary school.  Sometimes the most basic explanations are needed  to help even the most advanced students, and this way of introducing it also includes using a visual to portray the eight intelligences. I also liked the activities that involved having each student spend a certain amount of time at a station or working on an activity related to one of the intelligences as a way to begin to understand the purpose of the eight intelligences. My favorite example was the Human Intelligence Hunt. I think this would be an excellent activity to do with students on the first day of class as a way to get to know each other, then again halfway during the year but with different questions or activities, and again at the end of the year, to see how students progressed through the intelligences during the course of the year.

MI Chapter 3

This chapter taught me about the importance of knowing how the intelligences factor into a student’s life.  Knowing that a student prefers reading something over acting it out helps the teacher to be able to adequately assess a student’s progress during instruction.  Instead of not learning, it’s possible that the student cannot express what he or she learned in the medium required and simply needs another option to demonstrate what he or she learned.  I also learned that it is beneficial to keep recorded observations of what intelligences students exhibit to use for multiple purposes within the classroom. I like this idea of keeping a collection of notes for each student and I do see how it is relevant for teachers.  With large high school classes, it is not as feasible, but still entirely possible, and I think I would like to try some variation of this, perhaps even during practicum.  I also would like to use the various methods of assessment in my classroom to help me design lessons that better accommodate students throughout the intelligence span.

MI Chapter 2

In this chapter I learned that there are two ways experiences affect multiple intelligences, one in a positive manner and one in a negative manner.  Crystallizing experiences are experiences that occur throughout a person’s development in an intelligence.  Something that is crystallizing will affect a person by promoting their growth in that intelligence.  A paralyzing experience is the opposite; instead of promoting growth, it hinders or suppresses the development of that intelligence. I also learned about certain factors, such as familial, that affect the growth and development of intelligences. In the example of a familial factor, Armstrong says that a parent’s influence, whether good or bad, can contribute to how you develop in a particular intelligence.  In an ideal world, I would love to be able to use my knowledge of crystallizing experiences to help my students find ways to increase their development in the intelligences and to help students with paralyzing experiences suppressing their growth find ways around them, but unfortunately most students won’t be able to identify the cause for their hindrances.  I can still help them to work on improving their strengths; I just won’t be able to completely erase any paralyzing experiences for them.  I’ll also have to understand that there are certain factors in their life that affect them and that there are some things that no matter how hard I try, I won’t be able to change.

MI Chapter 1

This chapter gave me a good overview of each of the eight intelligences; I had heard of all of them before, but this was the first time that I had seen any descriptions of them.  I found the chart explaining different aspects of the multiple intelligences quite interesting, especially the developmental factors and how the intelligences are valued in today’s culture.  Knowing what the eight intelligences are and how they manifest in various people will help me to design lessons that will allow each student to use the intelligences that he or she is strong in as well as develop those that are not as strong. I think it helps to know that people are intelligent in different areas so that you can create units that allow students to take advantage of their intelligences and you know not to expect all students to perform the same way.  I’d also like to have different areas in my classroom filled with resources for each intelligence so that students can work to increase their strengths in all of the eight intelligences when they are not working on classwork. Understanding that each student’s mind works differently will help me to work with each of them in the most effective way for their learning; I’ll be able to provide adequate instruction for each of them and I will be able to assess them in a manner that takes their varying intelligences into account.