MI+B2+Chapter+5

Abstract:
Chapter 5 of //Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom// discusses several strategies how to incorporate the multiple intelligence theory into curriculum. Armstrong also expresses the importance that the teacher's role got beyond being the lecturer. A teacher, thought partially the lecturer, should implement different teaching techniques into his or her classroom. (To see the "Summary of the Eight Ways of Teaching," figure 5.1, turn to pages 58-59 of chapter 5). Figure 5.2, a fantastic resource for teachers, especially those just beginning the planning process of a new unit or lesson, can be found on page 65 of Armstrong's book. Figure 5.2 begins with an objective and branches off into eight different categories. You guessed it, the multiple intelligences! If the figures presented in chapter 5 aren't enough, check out the following link: [|Printable Graphic Organizers!] Using graphic organizers if a great approach to planning lessons for the multiple intelligences. After reading everyone's posts, it became clear that we're interested and a bit anxious about teaching our naturalistic learners. I am, too. Many internet resources state that naturalistic learners enjoy categorizing, organizing and finding patterns. Attempting to connect our content areas to real life and the outdoors is a key component in teaching our naturalistic learners. The following links are directed at each of our concentrations: [|**Math**]: Take a 10 minute break to go for a walk and give students some fresh air. A short, outdoor break might be all that is needed to re-focus students. If you still have questions or concerns regarding your naturalistic learners, don't forget [|this website]. It has lesson plans for //every// multiple intelligence. toc
 * [|Enlglish]**
 * History/Social Studies**: Study famous naturalists and scientists.
 * Science**: Outdoor labs, discussing processes of the natural world (ex. water cycle, nitrogen cycle, etc.)
 * Health**: Keep a journal of the natural processes in your own body.

Tiarra
This chapter is simply chalk full of ideas and instructional strategies for incorporating MI in the classroom. Although the material covered in this chapter seems to simply be reiterated from the material covered in the last few chapters, the tables and graphic organizers seem to be the core of what this chapter is trying to convey. I also greatly enjoyed the description of the MI teacher and the reassurance that traditional teaching methods still have their place in the classroom. While I believe it is important for teachers to be bold and create interesting and original projects and lessons for their students, I and many others have also benefited from more traditional methods of teaching as well. Lecture will always be important in the classroom, especially in an English class, however, MI gives a great example of how to jazz up and rearrange those traditional methods to reach students of all intelligences.

Justin C.
Chapter 5 of this book talks about incorporating MI theory into our curriculums. It gives lists and charts of many different ways in which all eight of the intelligences could be incorporated into different content areas. It also gives us ways of teaching to each of the intelligences. Using logical-mathematical as an example, the book says that a few activities teachers could use to spark their interests would be logic puzzles, brainteasers and critical thinking. Coming from this point of view, I think that incorporating that intelligence into my own classroom would not be too hard of a task. The intelligence that I feel I will have the most trouble with incorporating into my classroom would be the naturalist. The only way I could really think of would be to collect data from the outdoors. However, if I do not teach a lesson that would need that sort of task, such as a statistics unit, then it would be hard to find other ways to incorporate them. At first, I also thought that incorporating the musical learners would be a challenge. When I read the lists of different ideas that could be done to incorporate them, I came across the idea of playing background music. If I finish a lesson early, students could start in on their homework and they could have their headphones in or I could play something from my laptop. Hearing the music could be a key factor in helping them to get their work done.

Will L.
Chapter five of MI primarily focused on ideas of how to implement the eight intelligences into lessons in the classroom. The idea is that teachers should come out of their comfort zone in order to make learning easier for their students. The chapter features several solid examples of lesson ideas for each of the eight intelligences. I found that almost all of the lesson ideas were very viable and doable in any classroom setting. The “MI planning questions” is a very good visual web of ideas that can and should be used by teachers in order to thoroughly understand student learning styles. When I become a teacher, I’ll be sure to keep a similar list on hand, just to ensure variety in my classroom.

Dan B.
The thing that I really liked about chapter five in the MI book is what an MI teacher looks like compared to a teacher who does not follow the MI theory. The teacher that does not follow the MI theory is criticized because the talk at the student be it with lectures or textbooks, and the student does not really have much say in the classroom. If a student is just talked at then it is often harder for them to pay attention and retain valuable things from lessons. The MI teacher, on the other hand, has a variety of activities for their students to do. The activities will cater to all 8 of the Multiple intelligences which will allow all types of students to take something out of a lesson. When I am a teacher I will have a variety of learning activities for each of the units that I teach. It is my hope that I will be able to cater to each of the 8 multiple intelligences so that I can make sure that all of my students will learn and retain the material presented to them.

Grace K.
Chapter 5 was an introduction in integrating MI theory into a teacher’s curriculum development process. One key part of this is that teachers should be constantly looking to expand their “bag of tricks” of teaching methods. Having access to varied resources is an important part of successfully tapping into all of the multiple intelligences. In addition to varied teaching strategies, Armstrong notes that teachers should also vary the way their students interact with one another – whether it groups, pairs, or other situations. The chapter’s most useful part may have been the several pages it devoted to suggestions about how to connect with the various intelligences. This list was exhaustive, and is an excellent resource for a teacher to look back to if they are stumped about how to integrate a certain intelligence into their classroom. The chapter also reinforced the notion that learning is more effective if a teacher can make the content and work relevant and meaningful to the student’s real life. There are no rules or set guidelines about how to do this, and one of the main ideas of the chapter is just that; a teacher is best equipped to teach to the eight intelligences if they are creative and adaptive.

Danny K.
Chapter five talked about incorporating the MI theory into a teacher’s curriculum development process. In the chapter it tells about the historical background of multimodal teaching. This is new to me and it was interesting to find out that concepts of multimodal teaching has been around for decades. I found pages 58 through 64 to be helpful because it gave ideas on how to teach students with different multiple intelligences. During my teaching when I am trying to find ways to teach to my students I will refer back to these pages for ideas. When you are teaching a class you may have a very diverse class. It is important to use a variety of learning activities to try to reach the different students and their learning styles. Every assignment will not be able to incorporate all eight intelligences, but it is important that you try to incorporate as many as you can.

Jen R.
This chapter demonstrated how to incorporate all eight multiple intelligences into lesson plans. As a teacher, it is very important to keep in mind all MI in order to create suitable units for all students. I enjoyed examining the chart displayed in chapter five. It provided as a great visual aid for me to learn from and reinforced what was explained through the text regarding MI in lesson plans. Another idea that was addressed in order to create a productive lesson plan in chapter five was brainstorming. The chapter indicated that as the teacher, over time you should be developing ideas to use in the classroom and ways to cater to each learning style of the students. This will definitely serve as useful information when it comes time to create some of my own lesson plans in a real life situation.

Chris D.
When reading chapter 5 of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom, I was thankful to see that a traditional teacher (one who just lectures from the white board) can incorporate MI theory into their instruction. The reason I’m thankful for this is because there will probably come times when I can’t think of a different way to teach some pieces of information without traditional methods. Although I want to do my best to not have to revert to traditional methods all of the time, it makes me feel a bit at ease knowing that I can target each intelligence while just talking from the front of the classroom. What I did learn is that there’s a seven step process that will help creating MI lesson plans. I feel that I could utilize these seven steps fairly well in order to target every single students learning style to better suit them for success.

Jonathan B.
Chapter five explores some of the theory and history behind MI teaching. The theory of multiple intelligences has existed in some form or another for over two thousand years, apparently. This seems logical to me, as one would assume it is common sense that people learn in different ways based on differences in development, biology, and experiences. The application and understanding of MI from an educational standpoint, however, is more involved. This is exhibited through the dynamism of the MI teacher described in the chapter, as compared to the traditional linguistic/logical teacher. The list of MI teaching options for the various multiple intelligences would be very useful as a teacher. Being a history teacher, for example, I could cater to the naturalist intelligence by bringing the class on an outdoor field trip/walk to a historic battlefield. Another thing I intend to incorporate into my class is period-related music to various content areas.

Grady B.
In reading this chapter of //Multiple Intelligences//, I gained a better context of what exactly MI theory deals with in regards to classroom application. The description of the MI teacher on pages 56-57 was especially useful, as it clearly illustrated the skills that a modern teacher must have in order to teach diverse students effectively. As a linguistic learner, I was interested to see that the author of this book did not denounce lecture outright, but simply stated that, like anything else in the classroom, it needs to speak to people of all intelligences, and should not be the only mode of conveying information to a class. Additionally, the statement that instruction should strive to mirror the realities outside of the classroom (pg. 67) speaks to me intuitively as an effective practice. I cannot see a better way of getting content to speak to students then by relating it, and relaying it, to the real world as much as possible. The author’s statement that thematic instruction is an effective way of doing this provided me with a clear example of how do facilitate this in a fairly easy way.

Tyler S
I enjoyed seeing the comparison between an MI teacher and a teacher focused on one or two types of intelligences. I myself have been concerned with the fact that my linguistic and logical intelligences are far easier for me to deal with than any other type of intelligence. I always preferred a lecture type lesson, and I just assumed that if anyone wasnt getting the information they needed out of it, it was entirely their fault, and that they just didnt care enough to look into what was given to them. However, after learning more and more about the multiple intelligences, I have certainly expanded my thinking to include other possibilities, like maybe they just need the information presented a different way. I dont like admitting that, and it does seem like any other way takes up more time, so to me it is a waste of time, but if that is what they need, then I guess it is what you have to do.

Kaitlin T.
In this chapter of Multiple Intelligence in the Classroom, Armstrong discussed the importance of implementing the MI Theory into curriculum design. Educators will have a wide array of multiple intelligences within their classrooms; they need to plan ahead instead of depending on a spare-of-the-moment decision. Educators should be prepared to differentiate instruction. Educators should also deviate away from mere lecturing style; this teaching style does very little to stimulate our students with the exception of linguistic and logical intelligences. That leaves six other intelligences unengaged. I prefer to plan ahead, and leaving certain tasks unplanned or certain questions unanswered doesn’t allow me to focus purely on the present. If I know I have more planning to do, I need to do it, or I simply can’t concentrate. As an educator, I want to make sure I have all of my students’ bases covered before beginning a new lesson or unit.