Chapter 3

This chapter seemed to be very straightforward, at least more so than the other chapters. The chapter comes right out and says that the most effective way to figure out what student's intelligences are is observation. Observe how the child misbehaves, if they are loud and talk out they are probably intrapersonal, if they doodle then they are probably artistic, so on and so forth. Another way might be to record observational data in a journal. Taping the children, or going to their parents can sometimes be very effective ways of figuring students out. Talk to other teachers or adults who have had students before and ask them about the students and how they are. Some of the more simple strategies would be to have the students take the MI test and practically tell you themselves, observation could possibly miss something important. One of the more interesting ways the book mentioned was to set up tables emphasizing the strengths of intelligences and have the students go from one to the next.

How did we connect to the reading?
We agreed that as we learn to teach and learn to connect with our students, it's going to be important to connect to our students on their level. That is to know their intelligences so that we might be able to teach them more effectively. Danielle especially liked the idea of allowing students to pick an activity without promt so as to be able to observe the students own decision and go from there. Katie Rose and I were just excited about the challenge of going into a classroom and figuring out the MI's of every student. Mike was playing with the idea of having to spread himself out, realizing that if he really wants to reach everyone, he's going to have to figure out how. As much as we like the idea of being able to go to so many people, we all wonder if the teachers teachign the studets before they get to us will even know what to look for when we ask about the student's inteligences. I personally am worried about the amount of time and effort this will take, I will have probably over 10 students a semester, and to get to know each one intimately and to research each one sounds tedious, especially year after year.

Chapter 4 synthesis

Write a Brief Abstract of the Chapter.

It is essential that students realize that there are several types of intelligences, this avoids a lot of frustration in the affect that they know they may not be smart one way but they are in another. Presenting this information to them will allow them to assess what type of intelligence they are and give them a better knowledge of themselves. It also explains several activities for teaching the MI theory. It also provides checklists for furthering the understanding of these theories with your students. Teaching students the multiple intelligences theory is relatively simple. It is also best to ask questions and get the students involved in the discussion so that the information will stick. MI tables helps students try different activities and better see exactly what intelligences best fit them.

How did you connect to the reading and briefly reflect on your thoughts?

We think it is a good idea to explain this theory to your students and get them to understand it as soon as possible, although they may have already had some idea as to what the MI theory was it is up to us as teachers to provide some prospective to the theory. Making students aware that it is acceptable to be smart in different ways then others is crucial to a learning environment and cuts down on a lot of frustration in the classroom. Also making students aware that you accept their differences is also another key part to educating young people. We also agreed that we would like to use MI tables to help our students figure out what their comfort zone is because once they realize what their comfort zone is they can then start to move away from that and try new things.

MI-Ch 1/Foundations of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Reflection on Reading

Name: Mike Beauregard, Danielle L. Fraser, Katharine Gergosian, Brian K. York

Book Title: Multiple Intelligences, Chapter: One

Write a brief abstract of the chapter.

Howard Gardner, a Harvard psychologist, felt that IQ scores did not justify all the human intelligences. He introduced eight intelligences: Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalist. He contemplates a ninth intelligence; existential. Gardner states "each person possesses all eight intelligences" however the intelligences function differently from person to person. Some intelligence will be more developed than others. With support and nurturing, it is possible to learn/gain intelligence. However, intelligence can be affected by accidents or illnesses. Certain parts of the brain control specific areas of intelligence; if damaged certain intelligences may be affected. This does not mean all intelligences will be affected, for example, an individual may lose the ability to speak, however be able to play a musical instrument.

Intelligence has a "definable set of expert "End State" performances. Musical Intelligence is known to peak at a very early age, such as five years old and does not deteriorate; Logical-Mathematical Intelligence is known to peak during the teenage years and starts to deteriorate at approximately mid-life (40 years old).

Throughout history certain intelligences have been more important than others. In today's world having Logical-Mathematical Intelligence is important because of the daily use of technology; having Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence is not as important because hunting for food or evading a predator is not crucial to survival.

How did you connect to the reading and briefly reflect on your thoughts?

Our team agrees that knowing about the different intelligences and being well-versed in what each entails would be extremely useful for educators. If a teacher knows a students strong and weak intelligences, the teacher could compensate for the weakness through alternative learning styles (teaching styles). If a student has a high spatial intelligence the likelihood of that student learning from visual aids or video is high. Knowing this would make curriculum more effective.

Standardized tests are not aimed at the eight intelligences and contradict the No Child Left Behind mantra. All students’ educational achievement on standardized tests doesn’t measure what they’ve learned, both about the material and about themselves. Students should be evaluated on their overall mastery of a subject determined by their teacher, not by an impersonalized, once a year standardized test.

chaptero 2

This chapter came out stressing the importance of knowing one's own multiple intelligences. The majority of this chapter was a checklist to determine where you were stronger and where you were weaker. Everyone in our group came to the same conclusion, that being able to take this separate test was helpful in understanding the intelligences. The chapter also discussed ways to strengthen and develop other intelligences. According to the chapter these intelligences come to us in three ways, biological factors, personal life history, and cultural/historic backgrounds. What someone might see as their weakest trait, could possibly be there strongest when cultivated. The final comment made by the chapter talked about paralyzing or hindering experiences. Crystalizing solidifies these traits while paralyzing hinders them.

The way our group connected:
Our group all enjoyed being able to take the test and see again where our strenghts and weaknesses lie. It was interesting to see in everyone's review that no one realized that you could cultivate the things that were weak. It was nice to be able to get a more in depth explanation to each of the intelligences and how they could fit into the class. We saw how important it is for educators to see exactly what needed to be done. To see what their intelligences were so that they could use them more effectively in class. It's also nice to know where we're weak so that way we can know how to focus more on some areas and learn different ways to reach the students that we might not have been able to reach before. It's nice to have this upper hand and have an idea of what to expect before we screw something up.