MI+B1+Chapter+7



Jasmine Abstract & Synthesis

Abstract - Chapter seven essentially promotes using MI Theory as a way to structure your classroom in order to appeal to all students. The classroom //ecology// is just as important as the content being taught. The chapter suggests considering how we speak to our students, and what other noises can be heard. Some of these noises can be distracting to students with sensitive hearing. Likewise, are they places for students to move around and be active with their bodies? Too often, classrooms are structured and planned out only for linguistic and logical students, much like everything else in education. Ways to solve these problems include creating MI Activity centers for each of the eight intelligences. [|Quadrant 1]activities are permanent and open-ended, like book nooks, math labs, art areas, and plant centers. Because they are open ended, students pretty much do whatever they want in these centers outside of the content of the classroom, and because they are permanent, students have plenty of time to explore them all throughout the school year. Quadrant 2 are temporary open-ended activities like games, Quadrant 3 are temporary topic-specific activities that focus on a theme or subject, and Quadrant 4 are permanent topic-specific activities for long-term projects and goals. If teachers create spots in the room for all students to explore all eight intelligences, students have the “opportunity to engage in ‘active’ learning,” (109) as opposed to boring worksheets completed sitting at desks in a row.

Synthesis We all felt that creating these [|centers] for students was a fantastic idea because they allow students to choose how they go about their learning, and creates well-rounded students that can do more than just read, write, and solve. However, many of us were concerned about the amount of space we would actually have to give students enough room to explore. Perhaps in the classrooms of tomorrow, teachers will have a huge amount of space to use to dedicate to all eight intelligences, but in today’s classrooms, teachers are limited to rows of desks, perhaps a few back tables, and some filing cabinets for materials. Another concern we had was the effectiveness of these centers at the high school level. Some felt that we would be babying out students by implementing these strategies in the middle or secondary classroom, and wonder if our students would even take them seriously. If there is an evident way to incorporate it into the classroom. it would definitely be a great idea to incorporate it in the classroom.

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Jake
Chapter 7 of MI discusses how activity centers can be introduced into the classroom in order to better build upon the many different intelligences. Armstrong suggests breaking up the classroom into different stations, and at these stations, having different activities available that build specifically on the different MI intelligences. He suggests having four quadrants; one for “permanent open-ended activities”, one for “temporary open-ended activities”, another for “permanent topic specific center”, and finally a “temporary topic specific center”. I’m not sure I would ever introduce this idea into my classroom. I can remember having activity stations when I was in second grade, and at the time I thought they were the greatest thing ever. However, I feel as though it would be difficult to get a group of high school students interested into this idea today. I do very much like how Armstrong breaks down the quadrants, and I think it would be really cool to incorporate some of these ideas into the classroom. However, I not sure how such an approach would work in a high school classroom. Obviously the maturity of the students would need to be taken into account as their willingness to try the new method with an open mind would be necessary. However, I know that when I was a high school student I would have gone into such activities with a significant level of dissonance because I regularly associated them with younger students. I think the principles behind the ideas are good, I just think having four quadrants may be a bit over the top. Especially, if the students are able to pick which quadrant to visit. We can theorize that they would approach it based on the intelligence they were most comfortable with, however, let’s be real, they would all choose monopoly and twister over a writing or a research activity. I like Armstrong's intensity in his push for differentiated instruction, but this chapter is a bit extreme.

Abby
This chapter dealt with setting up a classroom and how to create a learning environment that supports Multiple Intelligence learning. It discussed setting up the room in different types of quadrants. Quadrant 1 is made up of permanent stations that are open ended and always changing but that allow students to explore and learn through the different intelligences. On the other hand, Quadrant 2 used temporary, open-ended stations. These stations allow students to explore the different intelligences and different topics through these stations, but are not a permanent part of the classroom. Quadrant 3 stations are also temporary, but instead of being open-ended they are focused on a specific topic and the different intelligences simply reinforce the learning. These stations are used to go more in depth with a topic by exploring it through all the different intelligences. Quadrant 4 stations are permanent fixtures to the classroom, but they are also topic specific. The topic changes weekly or monthly though the overall theme stays consistent for the entire school year. These different quadrants allow the students to play around with the different types of learning while remaining focused on a specific theme. The permanent stations also offer an escape to students who need a break from the class. It is a place where they are allowed to learn in their preferred way.

I liked all the examples that this chapter presented. This ideas of quadrants is interesting but at the high school level it may be a bit much to have permanent stations. I think that it would be beneficial to occasionally have a Quadrant 3 set up where students are given the opportunity to explore different subjects through all eight intelligences.

Ally
On page 99 the book talks about how by using multiple intelligence we are allowing the students to ask more questions about subjects which in turn, creates more progress for the student. I thought it was interesting when the book used different examples of the multiple intelligences because I would use the different examples as a starting point for activities. For people who aren’t comfortable with certain intelligence this would help them come up with ideas for those intelligences so they can have activities that they enjoy. If you don’t incorporate the different intelligences then students will not be engaged with the work and they won’t care about the class. The activity centers that the book mentioned are really important to school systems. I have found it very beneficial to have places for students to work on subject specific areas such as a math clinic or a study area. This allows the students to work on the subject they need help on so it will help them succeed. I think this will help prevent dropout because they have a center that will help with their work and actually getting their work done. I think this will help me as a teacher because it makes me think “outside of the box” which will make it better for class. I don’t want to be the teacher that gives test I want to have fun activities that my students can remember. If they remember then they will get more from the class then just taking notes and taking a test.

Jasmine
Multiple intelligences in the environment (otherwise known as ecology) is something that has been and always is being restructured as more research is being done about students and learning about their individual needs. There are factors related to each learning style that either promote or interfere with learning and those elements absent from the room that could be incorporated to facilitate student progress. Some examples include for linguistic learners: How are spoken words used in the classroom? How are students exposed to written word? For logical students: Is the school day sequenced to make optimum use of students’ attention span, meaning mornings are best for focused academic work and afternoons are better for physical activity? For intrapersonal: Do students have opportunities to work independently? Do students have opportunities to share feelings in the classroom? For naturalists: Do students have any opportunities to do any work outside? All of these questions are very important to make sure that all eight learning styles are being reached and brought to their utmost potential. In my classroom, I will take the time to assess these questions and ask students how they feel about the classroom and if there is anything they would like better or like to be changed. The easiest way to get feedback on whether the classroom is successful or not, is to ask the students. A great method to appeal to all students is to set aside time to play games productively relating to the topic. These could include monopoly in math for logical learners or scrabble in English for linguistic learners. Either way, students will appreciate the equal learning environment.

Tyler
Chapter 7 in __Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom__ is about teaching MI in accordance to various ecological learning factors. Each of the eight multiple intelligences bring up reveal different questions about the classroom. For linguistic students, how are words spoken in the classroom, how often are they exposed to written words, and are students being encouraged to create their own linguistic materials? Logical-mathematical might bring up questions like, how is class time structured or is there any consistency in the classroom? For spacial thinkers, how is the room arranged or is the room visually appealing? A bodily-kinesthetic view might bring up questions like do students get to move around or do they get to build something? Musical students would want the classroom environment to promote auditory learning. A interpersonal review might bring up the class atmosphere and the number of opportunities to interact with each other. An intrapersonal student may ask how often they get independent work or time to reflect. Finally, a naturalist may ask if the classroom has any plants or windows that provide a nice view.

Based on the answers to these questions, the classroom environment may need to be restructured, if need be. One way to do this is to set up activity centers. There are four types of activity centers: permanent open-ended, temporary topic-specific, temporary open-ended, and permanent topic-specific. A permanent open-ended activity center is designed to provide students to experience each intelligence in the classroom during class that would exist year round. A temporary topic-specific activity center that is meant to teach students about a section of the unit while using each of the eight intelligences. Temporary open-ended activities are used to introduce a new topic or unit while integrating the eight intelligences. Finally, permanent topic-specific activity centers that allow students to apply the eight intelligences to a long term unit.

Dan
The theory of Multiple Intelligence has extensively been covered throughout the entire book, and now the idea of the classroom environment is incorporated into how to create an ideal learning sanctuary. This chapter outlines how the structure of a classroom has help improve the abilities of students to learn more effectively. It is suggested that a classroom should be divided into different sections that accommodate from each of the different intelligences. For example, you can have a section where students are free to choose any activity they desire to engage in, like reading a book for a linguistic learner or having an animal section with gerbils, rabbits, and other animals for a naturalist. The idea I enjoyed was having the freedom to select a type of activity they would enjoy but related to the topic at hand. For example, if I had a lesson about Hamlet, I would have several different activities that related to Hamlet but differentiated. For a visual learner, I would have a student draw out a scene, or have a kinesthetic learner act out a scene. Providing these opportunities for students not only engages their learning but engages their creativity. The only problem I have is trying to get high school students to engage in these activities. I feel as if these examples are meant for younger students, and even if it was an activity that a high school student would enjoy, they would be reluctant to take part in it. But I would try to effectively engage my students in these types of classroom environment.

Lizz
The multiple Intelligence theory suggests that the classroom ecology or classroom environment can be set up to accommodate the needs of the students who are in that particular class. One section of chapter 7 that I really enjoyed was on the multiple intelligence activity centers because it focused on the organization of the classroom. Students can engage in multiple intelligence activities while seated at desks but that is no fun and if sitting for long periods of time it limits the kinds of multiple intelligences that the students can experience. When the classroom is constructed in an intelligence-friendly way, it allows the students to explore each domain more. This is good to know as a future teacher because I do not want to have my classroom be set up the same way everyday all year long. I want my students to move around and be able to explore each domain. One of the activity centers is called permanent open-ended and it is represents year round centers where students will get to experience a wide range of open-ended experiences. Another center is called a temporary topic specific center and it is a center that changes and geared toward a particular theme or subject. The last center is called the temporary open-ended center it is a center that be set up and taken down quickly by a classroom teacher. The next center is called the permanent topic-specific center and it is a combination of the permanent and the temporary topic-specific activity centers. These different activity centers will help me set up my classroom because I know that I will want a variety of ways to organize my room and when it’s time to actually do that I will have these activity centers already in my mind.

Roger
The seventh chapter of MI describes how the intelligences relate to classroom environment. The author had several suggestions regarding the class environment, ranging from seating arrangement to aural engagement. Basically, the author provided a list of options based around each intelligence, and came up with ideas that would not conflict with other intelligences. Many of the suggestions can be seen in elementary schools but are uncommon at the secondary education level. It would not hurt to base a classroom somewhat around an elementary classroom (with more advanced materials and bigger furniture, of course).

Reading further into the chapter, the ideal MI classroom looks more and more like an elementary-level classroom. The idea is great, but many secondary level classrooms are simply not equipped to do this. In some cases, there is barely enough room to fit all the students in a given class into the classroom. The special sections for the different intelligences can be found more on a school-wide basis instead of a classroom. This does still allow for accommodation of these needs, but it does limit the time allowed for these activities to study halls. Focusing on one area for a class is just as damaging as a standard lecture-based class (possibly even more harmful). This point only goes for students with study halls of course, so students without will have to find their own time, either before or after school. If a student is reliant on the bus, then they will miss out on this time and be forced to adapt themselves. To correct this problem would require a massive overhaul of many school systems, and cost taxpayers even more money that they can’t afford. This goes into the long, drawn-out debate about determining the line between education and funding, a debate not needed for this review.

Caleb
“Everybody is different, so teach them differently.” This is the best quote I can think of to describe what this chapter is all about. When we think of teaching and the classroom we see that there needs to be an opportunity for students to learn in a different environment. So as teachers do we try to thwart any chance of them learning in a different manner or do we allow these ideas to grow. I hope that as teachers we choose the latter option. This is why an activity center seems like quite an good idea. It gives students a chance to learn in their way on their time. There isn’t a whole lot to this idea. Seeing it work in the classroom might be tricky especially if your trying to help eight different groups of people out but as a teacher that is what we are expected to do. In order for us to adapt we have to offer choices for the students so they can choose the best way to learn, and then we can provide more choices for them to choice the best way the need to be assessed. If it doesn’t include these two aspects then there is no point to teaching is there. At least in my classroom, I hope to teach a lesson that briefly touches upon each intelligence and then goes further in-depth once I break them off into small groups so they can figure out which style best suits their own needs. It's simple and effective. Even in a math class this can still work. Have those who need to move around and act out what is going on, go ahead and just do that. It is not like we are asking for too much. In all honesty it's just learning how to bend your own teaching style to everyone in the classroom.

Katie
In chapter 7 of the MI book describes the ideas of having activity centers for students and how they will help students to figure out what MI fits them the best. Quadrant 1 in the room has an activity center that is usually year round and that provides students with a variety of open-ended experiences in the eight intelligences. Quadrant 3 deals more specifically with one theme or subject and its activity centers change frequently. Quadrant 2 has activity centers that are open ended and are easily to take away or bring back to the classroom. Quadrant 4 deals more with a combination of both activity centers that can be found in Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 3. Students choose from their choices of activity centers based around what they feel more comfortable in such as the choice activities in Quadrants 1 and 2. I think that the idea of having the class divided into quadrants based on different MI’s is a great idea if the teacher and the students are both trying to find which MI’s fit them the best. If I was to figure out what intelligences my students felt the most comfortable with, I would probably also set up stations in the classroom based on different MI’s to learn how my students like to learn material and in turn, have them also learn how they enjoy being taught. I would also continue with this idea of activity centers and possibly even choose where students should go sometimes just to give me an idea if they possibly excel in other intelligences as well as the one they feel the most confident in. ===

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Jenn
This chapter of the MI book talks about tying MI theory into all aspects of the physical and emotional classroom, whether it be through arrangement, or management. In the first section of the chapter there are questions a teacher should ask themselves to make sure various learning types are being met fully. Some of the things mentioned here were things that I had never thought about before. For example, I liked that it suggested that the sources of light in a room could be a reason for engagement issues. Another one that really stuck out was how the teacher uses their voice. When I thought about it after reading this chapter, I realized that these are both things that can cause me to become disengaged in the content and I felt like the majority of teachers overlook things like this.

Also mentioned in this chapter were using activity centers, to help cultivate students’ specific intelligences. I like how the book offered four ways of having activity centers in the classroom, because, of course, every classroom has different needs. Although I feel like activity centers are a great idea, and that there were many useful examples of how to use them, I also feel like the book didn’t make it clear how these could be tied into the curriculum. For the most part, the activities that were mentioned were things that students could do during their free time. I think that these centers, especially the permanent open ended centers, should be incorporated into every classroom, and should be used to help teach the content.

Brittany
This chapter suggests breaking the classroom up into four quadrants. These quadrants would either be permanent or temporary and open-ended or topic specific. Quadrant one would be permanent and open-ended, things such as art area for spatial learners, a book nook for linguistic learners or an open space for creative movement for bodily-kinesthetic learners. These activity centers would allow students to experience ideas and ask question in a constant comfortable setting. Quadrant two would also be open-ended but it would be a temporary space, activities that would be included here would be a "encore" for musical learners or a "Frank's Zoo" for naturalist learners. The temporary open-ended area allows students to experience activities that change from time to time. Quadrant three would be a temporary topic specific area, activities held here may be things like "an interaction center" for interpersonal learners or "a computing center" for logical-mathematical learners. Quadrant three would allow student to experience activities based on a specific unit, and it would change with the unit. Finally quadrant four would be a permanent topic-specific activity center in which the teacher would need to have a year long unit theme. Activities that might occur here include making "a poem about what you plan to do during the summer. If this is a cooperative group activity, first chose a scribe to write down the poem. Then each person contributes a line to the poem. Finally, choose someone to read the poem to the class." Depending on the area, unit and activity students may be assigned a quadrant and activity or they may choose on their own. The quadrants allow students to be more active in their learning. I am not sure how I would use this in my classroom because it seems to be geared towards younger kids, but I think with some thought I could adapt the quadrants to fit a middle or high school level. I think the concept is great, but I am not so sure it would work properly with students because they would simply look for the easiest or most fun activity. ===

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Alex Slack
 MI Chapter 7 – Classroom environment, which is what this chapter is about, is something that every teacher has to find and establish as something of their own. Classroom management in my opinion is something that you find from experience and from what you believe in teaching and it is how you harness the energy you want and expel it in the classroom. Yet this chapter had many helpful ideas about what you can do in your classroom that can help all learning styles. Therefore this chapter shows again how important it is to address all learning styles because it boosts learning. Yet again I state that it will be crucial for me as a teacher to not only make sure that all learning styles are addressed in my classroom, but that I also find out what all of my students learning styles are to better help them in a one on one fashion. If I know all of my students learning styles then I can effectively find what interests them or tweak my projects to help them find it more interesting and in this process cultivate the learning for the lesson. The questions that are asked in Chapter seven are kinds hard to answer and are challenging but I am thankful for this challenge because it will make me really think and process and therefore come up with the best possible examples for my classroom.