We are all smart! We are just all smart in different ways. Some people like words, others like logic, some work well with good music, or maybe they like moving around. There are also people who find comfort in working with the natural environment, and there are those who are great with interacting with others! Some people are excellent at working with visuals, and others work best when they work alone. There are even those who just "get" things in life and know where they want to go. Which kind of smart are you?
Multiple Intelligences
TEACHING WITH OPTIONS
A common method for teaching with MIs is to allow students to select the way in which they complete a task or project from a list of options that cater to all or some of the intelligences.
Here is an example from
www.mi-classroom.com
While this method can sometimes be overwhelming to consider, as up to 9 options need to be created, if you can plan out options using a graphic organizer, like the example above, it is quite easy to find ways to connect material to all intelligences.
Option menus are also a great way to give students choice in how they learn. Tools like this can be easily adapted to any subject or content area.
Don't be afraid to ask students to do activities in ways they aren't as "smart." Students also need to learn how to work outside of their comfort zone and how to build up strength in other smarts!
Check out the Tips & Tools page for some great resources!
TEACHING WITH THEMES
Themes can be catalysts for learning, as they can be highly engaging for students. Themes are a fantastic way to easily integrate all of the multiple intelligences throughout a unit and accross the curriculum.
With themes, your units can also eaily take on cross-curricular dimensions, incorporating and combining multiple subjects through one concept or idea.
In order for themes to be successful they must have student appeal, be relavent to their lives, be purposeful and meaningful, and have real-world applications.
There are many types of themes that can be utilized in the classroom:
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Standard: traditional, very broad-focused concepts like technology, culture, or globalization
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Topics: slightly more focused, but still very large concpets. Ex. dinosaurs, outer space, or oceans
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Concepts: more abstract ideas like patterns, discoveries or relationships
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Events: can be local or global events such as WWII, a school play, a community fundraiser, or even a make-believe event
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Projects: create a project, which students can focus their learning around. Ex. community mural, class music vieo, science fair
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Novels or Films: the study of a novel or film can be quite exciting if you can find ways to integrate it in multiple subjects!
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Song: choose a song that has deeper meaning and investigate its connections, meanings, and understanding across the curriculum
(adapted from "Integrating Curriculum with Multiple Intelligences: Teams, Themes & Threads" by Fogarty & Stoehr)
TEACHING WITH STATIONS
By utilizing stations in the classroom, you can both appeal to the Body Smart students by allowing them move around, and also create opportunities for all students to work with many different types of inetlligences. Stations do not have to be all different MIs, but it is certainly a great way to help students build their weaker MIs, and perhaps gain a new perspective on a particular concpet.
Stations can be utilized in any subject area, but they can be especially usefull in exploring concepts in Mathematics. Students may wish to start with their strongest intelligence to gain a grasp of the concept before moving on to their weaker MIs, where they can see how the concept works from another point of view.
While creating these math stations may seem intimidating, esepecially for new teachers, try to find other teachers to work with and build your math stations together. Many types of activities can be adjusted to suit different grades or concepts, and it is much easier to brainstorm with others!
Visit the Tips & Tools page to find some websites and books with awesome resources and ideas for planning stations for learning.
Teaching Strategies
"Once we decide to move away from uniform schooling, we need models that take seriously individual profiles of intelligence and seek to maximize the educational achievements of each person." (Gardner, 1993, p. 72)
There are MANY ways to approach teaching to Multiple Intelligences in your classroom and make Howard Gardner's visions a reality!
A few popular methods are listed below. Visit the Tips & Tools page or the pages of each MI for great ideas and resources to use with these teachng strategies!
Before beginning with any new unit though, be sure to conduct a pre-assessment of your students to find areas that need to be reviewed. These review areas can be addressed through stations of learning while other students work on enrichment activities.
Ideas for teaching to each Intelligence.
Resource for all MIs: "A Smatering of Activities Using Multiple Intelligences"
In addition to teaching with Multiple Intelligences, you might also want to investigate different learning styles.
Carl Jung has suggested that there are four psychological types that influence learning, that are based on jugement and perception.
The four learning types are:
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Sensing-Thinking (ST) or Mastery Learners
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These learners think in realistic, practical, and efficient ways. They like concrete steps and prefer hands-on learning. These learners also really enjoy being engaged in work. STs like following directions and knowing what is expected of them, so they learn best from doing hands-on things with practical uses.
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Intuitive-Thinking (NT) or Understanding Learners
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These learners think in theoritical, intellectual, and knowledge-oriented ways. They like challenging problems that make them think for themselves and wonder. These learnrs take time to organize their thoughts and prefer to work independently. NTs enjoy brainstorming, debating and problem-solving, and will enjoy projects that are of personal interest to them.
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Intuitive-Feeling (NF) or Self-Expressive Learners
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These learners are curious, insightful, and imaginative. They like to think big, but stay true to their personal beliefs. These learners like to find new ways to express themselves. NFs are very creative, and will find their own ways to organize information. They like learning through inquiry-types of activities where they can be expressive.
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Sensing-Feeling (SF) or Interpersonal Learners
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These learners are sociable, friendly and enjoy working with others. They like to work independantly, and often work on multiple projects at once. These learners try and find unique ways to express themselves. SFs like to be part of a team, and love receiving individual attention and ooportuntities to help others.
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These Four Learning Models can then be incorporated with Multiple Intelligences! Just think of it as each intelligence now having 4 different ways of expression!
For example, let's look at the Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence:
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STs (Mastery) will enjoy using language to describe events or a sequence of activities
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NTs (Understanding) will enjoy creating logical arguments and debating them
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NFs (Self-Expressive) will enjoy using expressive language to describe something
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SFs (Interpersonal) will enjoy using language to create positive relationships
This information has been adapted from:
"So Each May Learn: Integrating Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences" by Silver, Strong & Perini.
These learning styles can also be identified in more complex combinations with the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator. Here is a free Personality Quiz. You can find a description of the different personality types here.
Take MIs to Another Level!
Don't feel that you have to do all intelligences all the time, or all at once! It is ok to start small and choose just a few MIs to work with at a time. This will help you and your students understand how to incorporate multiple intelligences into the classroom.
