MI Chapter 4

This chapter helped me a lot by giving me ideas to express and introduce Multiple Intelligence Theory (MI).  I think bringing in different people for a career day that would represent intelligences in MI would be an excellent idea.  I could educate each adult about what sort of big ideas they should each express effectively when describing their job.  Afterwards, I could ask each student which job they liked the best and why.  I could read their reflections and see which type of MI they are interested in.  Also, taking field trips to places representing the MI’s and observe which intelligence my students would gravitate towards would be a great idea.  Studying biographies of famous people of different MI and representing each culture, race, gender, and ethnic background and asking students to report on which famous person they liked reading about the most would be a good indicator of MI.  Finally, I like the MI tables’ idea.  Setting up tables with activities expressing each MI and observing which table my students enjoy the most would give me the information I seek.

            By using these different activities, it will make my job much easier developing lesson plans, coming up with assignments, and projects that fill the void my students need to learn best.  In high school, my teachers never really did different activities and I remember not putting in my full effort because the curriculum didn’t seem interesting to me.  If the curriculum were presented to me in a different way then I would have most likely put more effort and care into my work.  All students want to learn, it is up to teacher to figure out how it works best for them.

MI Chapter 3

          

            Although there is not true test for assessing students Multiple Intelligence, the best assessment is simply observing them.  Looking at how they misbehave in class can be a sign of expression.  If you aren't teaching to everyone's intelligences then they will express their intelligence anyway they can.  So, don't always take misbehaving as a troubled child, but as a signal for what we can do differently to help a student.  Also, looking at how student spend their free time is a good indicator as well.  I used to play sports whenever I had free time, which would give the teacher evidence that I am a Bodily/Kinesthetic learner.  Also, when I was in the classroom I used to do a lot of tapping with my fingers, pen, pencils, or whatever I could get my hands on.  This was another sign of my Multiple Intelligence, but some of my teacher just told me to stop rather than using it as evidence that I could be taught a different way. 

            Keeping a notebook or journal as a teacher will help me greatly to keep track of the type of learner my students are.  Adding a few lines based off observations to each student everyday will give me an abundance of research that I can use to help better my teaching and se it to help my colleagues as well.  I don’t agree with the book on taking picture of students to keep track of their Multiple Intelligences.  I think that is going to far and simple observation would get the job done.  Even if observation wasn’t clear I could just have a meeting with a student and ask questions that would give me the answers I seek or ask other colleagues opinions. 

  

UbD/DI Chapter 4

          The book had been repetitively expressing the importance of being vitally clear about what essential content is.  If you aren’t expressing the big ideas of the content clearly then it’s like not even teaching to a student at all.  I completely concur with this.  I have been sitting in a classroom before with a teacher that has not express the ideas effectively enough for me to understand and it is very frustrating for someone who actually wants to learn.  I will try my absolute best, as a teacher to keep in mind the different learning needs of each individual and to express concepts clearly to tailor their specific needs.  I know that even though I am a teacher I am still a learner and continuing to add ways to amend and quality of both my curriculum and instructions. 

           

            I also understand that as a teacher I need to become flexible, help all students any way possible, be responsible for my students learning success, and to continually develop as a teacher.  I could tell as a student which teacher were willing to go the extra distance to meet my needs as a student and those teacher are who I gave my best effort for.  I want to be that teacher that anyone can go to for help and it will make me extremely happy to know that I am getting students best efforts.  Being clear and flexible makes learning much more easily and enticing to a student.  Knowing your teacher is there with you every step of the way is the ultimate security blanket.

UbD/DI Chapter 3

      Chapter three starts out with some of the problems we will face as teachers.  As teachers, we will run into content “overload” and have to make the correct choices as to which content to thoroughly cover and what not to teach at all.  I have thought about this before and my question is that how do you decide which material is important to cover and which is not?  Is it decided by policy, individualized, or something else?  I know there are certain standard, but even meeting all those it would take “…15,465 hours (approximately nine more years of school) would be required for students to learn them all.  This was the part of the chapter that worries me as a future educator. 

       One thing I know will help me as a teacher is the companion clarification documents which help outline the big ideas of what needs to be taught.  I am also worried about teaching a subject that I do not have much prior knowledge in, but as a responsive teacher I know I will need to target and strengthen those weaknesses. 

       Another part of this chapter I found helpful for future use is “unpacking” the nouns and verbs and interrogating the content to better understand the context of a standard.  I am assuming there will be many times as a teacher when I don’t understand the goal of a standard and using methods like this would greatly help my cause or even working with other colleagues to figure it out.   

MI Chapter 2

MI Chapter 2

I thought the way the chapter opened up by stating that before we apply any model of learning in our classrooms, we as teachers and adult learners should have experience and understanding with it first. How can we begin to teach our students with a model of education that we ourselves do not fully understand? Even if we do not particularly like the model of learning, we as teachers can not throw it away because it might actually benefit certain student greatly. Thus, it is important to understand any model of teaching before being implemented. I would not even feel comfortable teaching something with a model I did not understand myself. I would feel embarrassed as a teacher if I did not know how to properly answer a basic question because I did not understand fully the model of learning. It seems irresponsible to me if you do not fully prepare yourself to bestow necessary knowledge to your students.

By using the MI Theory you can educate yourself on your potential weaknesses as an educator and strive towards working on them for the betterment of your students. Even as an educator it is okay to as for help for your colleagues and even your own students. We can learn just as much from our students as they do from us. Also, asking for help amongst colleagues is a sign of strength and shows dedication, excellent team work, and professionalism as a staff. Using available technology is also a smart alternative to help teach through potential weaknesses as an educator. I think as a teacher it is important to not be shy about your weaknesses and turn it into an opportunity for your students of colleagues to teach you something.

My favorite part of the chapter was learning about the different aspect such as historical periods, genetic, environmental, activators, and deactivators on intelligence. In this section of the chapter it makes it seem like there could have been a lot of highly intelligent losses due to historical time periods. The example it gave was what it Mozart had been born in Puritan England where practicing music was considered the devils work? Well, it seems like this could have actually happened to someone and their high intellect was wasted due to popular notions and beliefs. It makes me upset to think of someone who could have been highly gifted was in a time period where their intelligence was seen in a negative light. Also, those being born into a poor family that does not have the resources to help develop potential genius intelligence makes me feel sad. Same case with someone who had a deactivator in their life that inhibited something potentially great.   

UBD/DI Chapter 1

UbD/DI Chapter 1

I like the way the chapter opens up with the struggle to satisfy the copious amount of diversity between students and the ways they each learn. Different races, ethnicities, cultures, socioeconomic statuses, genders, and students absent adult support systems are all issues I will run into at some point in my career. Finding the delicate balance between them all is going to be a remarkable challenge, but I will strive to meet each of my students needs and ensure that they are learning the proper ways they need too.

By using UbD/DI, it presents the best way for me to make an impact while I teach. It assures that all materials are covered and those who need different methods in order to learn get the attention they need. These two methods are perfectly paired with one another. UbD focuses on what we teach and what assessment evidence we need to collect to properly understand that the material covered was understood correctly. DI focuses on the more human aspect of teaching by looking at whom, how, and where we teach. DI focuses on the varied learners in the classroom. By using UbD/DI in my classroom it will make me feel like I am implementing the best strategy to effectively teach curriculum to all learners.

Axioms and corollaries were completely foreign to me until I read this chapter, but they are the important components the make up UbD/DI. Axioms are the fundamental parts of UbD and corollaries and the examples of DI's. I can make a great lesson plan, but if I don't have the proper corollaries to go with it then it will be like I never taught the lesson to some students. Inversely, if I don't make a very good lesson plan, but have good corollaries then I will be miscommunication information to students. It will be a point of mine to make sure I have a solid lesson plan and good differentiated ways of teaching my lessons.

UbD/DI Chapter 2

I have always heard other teachers say that a key component of being a good teacher is being a flexible one and be able to think quick on your feet. If you can expect the unexpected in a way then you will be able to become a great teacher. I know plans never go exactly as planned (at least in my case) so being able to handle sudden changes seems like a necessity that I will need to become good at. Plans can be interrupted by personal tragedy, public tragedy, injury, sickness, emergency drills, etc.

I also learned that when a student walks into my classroom they are looking for more than just an educator sometimes. In certain cases they are looking for a supportive adult system, acceptance, and guidance for some examples. Even students with good parents, teachers are still large role models for their communities. Treat all students with fairness and positivity. Listen and learn about your students and give advice and become a students' role model because that could make a dramatic difference in their life. Positive relationships between teachers and their students can create good fuel for motivation to do work. Also, harvesting a good atmosphere where students feel comfortable in the classroom setting makes a positive learning environment and makes students more apt to work harder. My favorite quote of this chapter was on page 22 “ Learning happens within students, not to them.” You can teach all day long, but if you are not making that special connection with a students and their learning abilities then it is a days work wasted.

MI Chapter 1

MI Chapter 1

The first chapter I found to be very interesting and enlightening. I had knew about the Multiple Intelligences Theory before, but never quite this in depth. I learned a lot about the separation between multiple intelligences and learning-styles. Also, I am intrigued by the proposed new editions to intelligence. The section on the Existence of Savant, Prodigies, and Other Exceptional Individuals was familiar to me, but I never thought of the relation that occurs between the intelligences.

Gardner differentiates learning styles and MI Theory stating that learning-styles have general approaches that someone can distribute equally to all “conceivable content”. An intelligence is applied to a specific “context in the world”. I find this fascinating because I never could have told you the difference between the two before I read this chapter. Also, I would not have thought to compare Rain Man as a savant in the MI Theory. The fact that additions to MI like the existential, can be made shows its adaptability, evolution, and inclusion of all present and forthcoming intelligences.

The ability to be intelligent within each category had also never appealed to me. Just because you are not proficient in one part of the category does not mean that you are not that certain type of intelligence. Gardner's example of someone not being able to read, but be able to tell a terrific story is a prime example. An example of this that I can think of is just because someone does not have the ability to walk does not mean that the individual can not throw well.