MI+B2+Chapter+4

by: Samy Tracytoc
 * Abstract/Synthesis-**

Abstract/Synthesis: In chapter four of __Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom__ by Thomas Armstrong, the key point was to make sure that students learn about this Multiple Intelligence theory. It is important that students of all ages learn about the theory so that they can determine which intelligence they possess the most. Even though, all students are capable of possessing all of them if they [|practice]enough to engage each intelligence more. This chapter also explained how the intelligences can be shown to students of all ages through various activities but most mentioned were designed for young ages. In almost everyone’s wiki posts, they described how hanging up a poster in the classroom for the multiple intelligences would work for them. This is true because no matter what subject you teach, having a poster of the intelligences can connect in different sorts of ways. What bothered most people was the examples given in the book which seemed to be created mostly for students who were younger. Since we are planning on teaching high school level students, everyone wanted clearer ways of [|teaching]this to 9-12 grade without treating them as if they were children. A few even explained that the fact that most students feel as if they become decreasingly intelligent as they get older is rather scary. It is up to the teacher to show students not only about their subject but ways to actually enrich the child, and learning about their intelligence actually does help them become better learners. Another recurring theme in the reflections my fellow classmates posted was how they were really opened up to their intelligence this past week and that helped them learn better in just the few weeks that we have been in Practicum.

T.J. Hebert
There are many ways of teaching the Multiple Intelligence (MI) test to students and it all depends on their grade level. Telling a first grader that they are linguistically intelligent is most likely not going to be very effective. It can be taught to any child as long as it taught at their level. The MI “pizza” is one way to instruct younger children, it is a picture they can relate to and it encompasses words such as “word smart” instead of linguistic and body smart instead of kinesthetic. Another way to make the connection is by relating it to someone famous in each intelligent, for example Tom Brady is body smart. Using posters of famous people that have multiple intelligences can help. The one that I would find most effective for me would be to perform each intelligence, such as writing for linguistic, singing for musical, or running for kinesthetic. These activities may also help students that are not as strong in one area become stronger or discover that they are exceptional in an area. I learn best by applying what I am being taught, so performing each intelligence would work best for me. Although I can tell you that there are a few that I already know I am not strong in and probably never will be. I am not musically inclined (you do not want to hear me sing), I can not draw, color or paint and my handwriting is atrocious. I am a good writer and fairly good at math. The two intelligences that I fall into is naturalist and logical, which makes perfect sense to me and truly describes me.

Lauren Scheidegger
In the forth chapter of __Multiple Intelligence__ by Thomas Armstrong several different ways to introduce students to MI are described. Armstrong has a long list of very creative and engaging ways to teach students about the intelligences. Some are as simple as putting posters on the classroom wall, making one for each of the intelligences. Others required a bit more planning and preparation. Making a board game and having a career day were two wonderful ideas Armstrong suggested. A few less time consuming options were displaying students’ works that symbolized each of the intelligences and having quick activities around the different intelligences. While most of the ideas seemed oriented at a very young audience, I think students of all ages should be introduced to the multiple intelligences. It seems so simple yet brilliant to explain to the class the MI theory. It would allow them to see how they might learn best. To let students see the model and be able to connect to one or several seems ingenious. Although teachers should make constant reminders that while students have their strengths, all students possess all of the multiple intelligences and the capability to improve each one. Going over the Multiple Intelligences could take as little as an afternoon but could aid students for the rest of their academic career or even the rest of their life. I hope to do as Armstrong suggests and include a brief lesson on MI theory to help aid my students as learners.

Lauren Breton
Chapter 4: Teaching Students about MI Theory This chapter of the text explored how to teach students about the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. The information within this chapter was arranged in the same way that it would be explained to students. Through the organizational structure of the chapter, with the introduction, the diagrams, the examples, and then the activities explain all of the different types of intelligences, the reader is effectively shown how to teach their students about the MI theory. This chapter also emphasized the importance of informing students at a young age of the many different types of intelligence. Ideas for how to explain the MI theory through multiple intelligences (linguistic, spatial, interpersonal, etc.) was another tool through which readers were able to convey the importance of spatial intelligence. Many of the activities within the text appeared to be geared toward younger children, which would not work for me as a secondary/middle teacher. Some of the ideas, such as field trips and biographies might be able to be incorporated with the eight different intelligences into my English class, although it would be difficult. One idea that I would like to utilize in my classroom, however, is the idea of having wall displays displaying the multiple intelligences. Although this might not be what is displayed in a typical secondary/middle English classroom, I think that it would be incredibly beneficial for my students to realize that they are all smart, even if it is not in the same way. I also believe that it is important to identify what kind of a learner you are, and consequently what intelligences you have highly developed, so I hope to incorporate one of the suggested texts on MI theory as a homework or in-class assignment.

Samy Tracy
This chapter was particularly interesting because it actually tells the reader to teach their students about Multiple Intelligence theory. This is something that I did not even think about, that students even need to learn this. In the end though, if they knew which way they learned best, then they could be able to identify down the road which ways they learn best and even ask their teacher for alternative assignments to better suit them. Another key point that I thought was crucial to teaching in general was the fact that “‘children go into school as question marks and leave school as periods’” (45). If teachers encouraged students to keep asking “why” they might be better able to understand more things and possess many or even all of the intelligences.

Another important aspect of being a teacher is to tell students that they are actually intelligent. Students need to acknowledge the fact that they are smart even if they do not completely understand English, or math or other subjects. There are different forms of intelligence besides the basic ones taught in most schools. It is important to show kids that they are intelligent because they would actually try harder in school, because I know when I knew that I was doing something well I would keep trying hard to make sure that I was still succeeding. The suggestions they gave on how to teach students about MI were very creative, unlike many other suggestions I usually read about. These ways, would really help students learn about multiple intelligences as well as learning about their own personal styles.

Alyssa Amari
To learn about your students intelligences, you must also teach them what the eight multiple intelligences are. Sometimes you can simply do this by giving a five-minute explanation, with proceeding questions that help to clarify each intelligence. For some classrooms, the age of the students might require a little more explanation and this could be done using the MI pizza, which helps to illustrate each intelligence through illustration and questions. There are many other activities that can be used to teach students about each intelligence: career day, field trips to different areas where certain intelligences are commonly practiced, lesson plans designed to teach each intelligence, quick experiential activities like asking questions or proposing certain activities within in an intelligence, wall displays, biographies, displays of student work in a certain intelligence, readings, MI tables for each multiple intelligence where students can do activities for each, and even the human intelligence hunt which is designed for students to get to know other students as well as their individual multiple intelligence.

This chapter gave me several ideas for activities I can use in my classroom to engage my students and have both them and my self learn more about their multiple intelligence. Each activity is something I would like to try in my classroom, perhaps even all of the activities used in each class throughout the year. This will impact my students as a learning experience and an engaging way for them to learn about themselves and the eight intelligences.

Kevin Lind
The idea that students feel less intelligent as they grow older is rather scary. These feelings are probably caused by the ways teachers treat them as they get older. This is awful since it is up to the teachers to expand the minds of their students. Teachers should be able to differentiate their lessons in order to match the multiple intelligences of their students. As a future teacher, I sincerely hope that nothing I say or do causes my students to feel this way. I like some of the ideas given in this chapter for ways of identifying multiple intelligences. Although they are mainly directed toward young students, the chapter makes a valid point by showing the importance of knowing the learning styles of students. Since I plan on teaching teenaged students, it would be much easier to ask students what they do in their free time. This will show their preferable way of understanding and remember information. Understanding this would make teaching a better experience. Teachers should know the multiple intelligences of their students, but it is also important for students to understand their own ways of retaining knowledge. If students are able to evaluate which of their multiple intelligences is the most developed, then they would be able to focus on areas they need to develop more. Also, if students know the easiest way to learn, then they could start a dialogue with their teachers about creating lessons fitting to their intelligences. Once I am in the classroom, I would love to be able to talk to my students about the ways they retain knowledge.

Rachel Joiner
This chapter provided great examples about teaching students about the Multiple Intelligences Theory. One thing I thought was interesting, and would work well with students was the “MI Pizza.” I found this to be simple, but effective and it targeted many different learners. This is something that I would use in my classroom, in order to give my students a brief overview of what multiple intelligences is. The idea of giving students famous figures who share their similar intelligence was a great idea. This one thing influenced me, and my classroom. I think this gives someone to connect with, and someone they can aspire to be like. I could use this idea in my classroom, and have students find someone famous who they are interested in, that also shared their similar intelligences. We learned a variety of ways to incorporate multiple intelligences in the classroom. A few of these included teaching a lesson using all eight intelligences and having students identify which applied to which lesson, and then describing which ones they most connected with. The chapter also described quick activities that get students up and trying each intelligence in hands on way. I also loved the idea of wall displays, which graphically represented each of the eight intelligences in the classroom. The wall displays idea caused me to think how I could use this in my classroom. I had the idea that students could design their own posters on various intelligences of their choice, and these could be displayed throughout the classroom. This idea would also apply to the displays idea mentioned in the chapter, of displaying students work through various intelligences. These many great ideas shaped several ideas for me, and the classroom.

Patrick Hurley
The MI theory can be introduced as early as 1st grade due to the fact that the ideas are based on concrete ideas that everyone does. Introducing it at a young age helps the children understand what ways they learn best. A good way to introduce the MI theory is using simple terms that are easier to grasp that are accompanied by some sort of illustration that demonstrates that intelligence. There are many different ways to help teach the MI theory. One is having career day and bring in people that represent different intelligences. Taking students on field trips to different places that are representations of the 8 intelligences is another way to help teach your students the MI theory. Teaching this to my class would help them understand their intelligences and what intelligences they prefer. If they know how they learn best they will be able to get more out of their educations. The different techniques would also be good for a class. Having a career day would help them see the different types of intelligences. Having lesson plans about the MI theory that are in the certain intelligences would help them learn about the intelligences and see what they are. I think the students would really benefit from these types of activities because they would gain a better understanding of themselves which would help them get a better education.

Matt Roy
While Chapter 3 focuses on getting teachers actively involved in discovering the multiple intelligences present in each individual, Chapter 4 focuses on how one might encourage individual students to start inventorying the ways they learn. The author spends the chapter giving examples of MI lectures he has given to students and provides examples and tips to encourage students to begin thinking about MI Theory. The key, it seems, that the author uses is inclusive processes/activities. Virtually, if not all of the activities the author appeal to (or can include) virtually every student in the classroom. This seems to be very important because one of the highlighting features of MI theory is that all of the intelligences are present in all individuals (just to varying degrees). The only way to nurture the less proficient/developed intelligences is to make students aware that they possess all intelligences to a certain degree. I feel that it is crucial to get students involved and interested in thinking about the many ways in which they learn. This week has really opened my eyes to how little time I have spent thinking about my learning habits and recognizing the benefits of doing so. In developing a better understanding of personal learning habits, students can obviously help themselves in the classroom. I believe that a better understanding of how one learns naturally leads to increased performance in the classroom. Also, it stands to reason that once individuals become more self aware of the ways in which they learn, it can also lead to creating an environment where these individuals are more understanding/accepting of the ways others learn as well thus creating a more positive learning environment.

Emily McGee
Armstrong explains that MI Theory can easily be taught to people of all ages. According to cognitive psychology findings show that instructional methods that guide students to reflect on their own personal learning processes benefit the student hugely. Armstrong explains how MI Theory can be explained and provides examples of activities that can be utilized to build an application base for MI Theory to stand on. He advises teachers of MI Theory to use simple vocabulary (ie. Word smart rather than linguistic) and ask inclusion questions when introducing it.

I like the idea of helping students understand their specific learning styles and needs in order to maximize their performance in the class. I believe it allows them to understand themselves better and respect the teacher who cares enough to find out how each student, as an individual, learns. I think it would be a good first day assessment in my classroom, just a quick survey for both my own personal documentation as well as for the students. By opening students up to the idea that there is more than one way to learn and I will be open to it here in the classroom they may find themselves more motivated to use their strong intelligences to be successful. I also think its just a fun, engaging activity, geared towards inclusion, self-worth, and self-knowledge. It may be an interesting way to get to know students.

Megan Millette
In Chapter 4 of Armstrong’s book, __Multiple Intelligences__, he discusses how simple it is to explain multiple intelligences. What amazed me was that it could be done in a process that takes five minutes and uses a basic visual as simplistic as a pizza broken into eight sections. He used many examples that seemed intriguing such as creating board games, going on field trips, hunting for answers, etc. One of my favorites that he used was having a career day to discuss multiple intelligences. This method would be an exciting one to use in the classroom because not only would it leave the students with strong examples to each of the intelligences, but gives them something to help them better relate it to themselves. I feel it is important to teach students multiple intelligences. Teachers understand how their students learn and students will want to discover ways they learn best, so it would be beneficial to teach them. This is an easy way to give students and understanding of themselves and would also help the educators get a feel of where each student is. In my English classroom, I would find it exciting to do something similar to the career day, but instead use the characters of one of our novels. This would be a fun exercise that would also help students relate better to the piece of literature and find a character closely related to them.

Morgan Ware
The MI Theory can be explain to small children in at least five minutes and in a way that they can understand and use the MI vocabulary. They can use those words to explain how they learn. Research shows that students benefit from instructional approaches that help them reflect on their own learning processes. Teachers should start by just simply explaining what the MI Theory is. Linguistic learners are word smart. Logical-mathematical learners are number or logic smart. Spatial learners are picture smart. Bodily-kinesthetic learners are body smart, sports smart, or hand smart. Musical learners are music smart. Interpersonal learners are people smart. Intrapersonal learners are self-smart. Naturalist learners are nature smart. These are the simple definitions for the multiple intelligences. There are many different activities for MI, like career day, field trips, biographies, lesson plans, quick experimental activities, wall displays, displays, readings, MI tables, and Human intelligence hunt, board games, MI stories, songs, or plays. Teachers can use these activities to help introduce and teach the MI Theory. This will help me in my classroom because it is very important to make sure every student knows what the MI Theory is and what his or her intelligences are.

Simone Thiry
Chapter four describes different methods for teaching students about MI theory. It can benefit an MI classroom if the students are aware of their Intelligences and proclivities so that they can help the teacher work with their strengths and develop their weaknesses. Strategies for teaching about MI theory include a 5-minute presentation, a questionnaire to determine students’ Intelligences, and activities to help students understand their Intelligences. As a secondary math teacher, some of these activities would not be very appropriate for my classroom, and would not fit in well with lesson plans and curriculum. However, I was drawn to the ideas of wall displays and career day. I know that it may be difficult to incorporate a career day into a unit, but I am interested in the idea of combining the two activities. I would like to pursue the idea of creating wall displays that, instead of featuring famous people, featured real citizens, who have a variety of careers and Intelligences, talking about how they use math, and how math helps them in their career and everyday life. Other activities that could be incorporated into a math classroom are lesson plans, quick experiential activities, MI tables, and the human intelligence hunt. I believe it is imperative to understand what has worked for students in the past to determine what will work for them in your classroom, so I have every intention of asking my students how they think they learn, and maybe distributing a questionnaire, at the beginning of a course. In my future classroom, I hope to give my students a basic understanding of MI theory, so that we can work together to use their proclivities and develop their other Intelligences

Mike Kahler
Chapter 4 of MI explains to the reader how to effectively teach their students about MI theory. By effectively teaching our students about MI we can get them to understand their learning processes better and effectively make learning easier for them. Students that understand how they learn will ultimately learn more effectively than students that do not. Teaching MI to a classroom can be done in about 5 minutes in any classroom, and can be of a real benefit to to the students. There is no reason to refrain from teaching students about this theory. One way to do it would be to draw a pie chart with all of the different intelligences on the board and ask the students what is their favorite subject. For example asking the class “Who likes reading?” and explaining that they are linguistic learners, or for younger children “word smart.” You can also relate it to historical figures that they know about by sharing the intelligences of those specific people so that they get the picture. Teaching students about MI theory can be done easily through a number of creative activities including field trips to places that value a specific intelligence, or biography projects on figures with one outstanding intelligence. Creativity can be a good tool in finding a way that you find to be effective. I'll teach my students through a lesson on MI at the beginning of the year. I'll probably integrate it into our “icebreaker activities.” From that point on I'll make reference to different figures that we study with different intelligence. I think it is very important to let my students in on the secrets of MI so that they can learn better, and so I can figure theirs out easily. It is very important to effective teaching.