MI+B2+Chapter+7

Abstract and Synthesis: Will L.
In this chapter, it discussed the concept of establishing a comfortable learning environment in accordance to the eight multiple intelligences. This entails the teacher to setting up specific routines, organizing the classroom in a certain order where each student sits with others with the same intelligence, and being adaptive as a teacher so each intelligence group can thrive equally. When students are comfortable in the classroom, they are able to achieve and fulfill their true potential. The chapter provides insight as to how to look out for those certain intelligences that students possess. It also introduces the concept of the "open-ended activity centers," where students with specific intelligences can focus on assignments and projects specifically related to that particular intelligence. These centers can be permanent or temporary, where the temporary examples the chapter gives relate more to board games and creative projects. As part of the permanent centers, it highlights how it is similar to the [|HET model]. It continues to address the idea of autonomy in the classroom.
 * Abstract:**

As a class, everyone seemed to agree that these forms of organization would be doable in our future classrooms. However, the use of games in the classroom seemed to be not very relevant to most. The emphasis on creating a structured, yet flexible classroom that would house all of the intelligences was quite prevalent with everyone as well. Organizing the [|classroom] to fit the needs of student's intelligences also seemed to be strongly emphasized by most people in the class. toc

Tiarra
Chapter seven discusses “classroom ecology” and suggests ways teachers can make their classroom environment accessible to students of all intelligences. Armstrong lists all eight intelligences and provides bulleted points about what teachers should be looking for that could help or hinder their student’s ability to learn. In order to create a productive and enthusiastic learning environment a teacher not only has to pay attention to the physical aspects of the room, but the emotional and intellectual atmosphere as well. This could include how the teacher uses her voice, what the level of trust is in the room, or even how students are able to express themselves. The chapter also lists what kinds of activity centers should be available in the school and utilized by the students and teachers. The idea of providing autonomy to your students was again emphasized and still seems to me to be the best way to cater to students of all learning preferences and interests.

Will L.
Chapter seven of MI focused on an adaptive learning environment for the students in one’s classroom. The ideas that it talks about are incorporating intelligence-specific games, seating students with like-intelligences together, and creating intelligence-specific learning areas. When reading it, I felt like these ideas would primarily suit younger grade levels, but anything can be easily implemented into an upper grade level classroom. The use of games in the classroom seems rather elementary though. As a linguistic minded individual, I do enjoy a good game of Scrabble. Perhaps I could use it to expand vocabulary?

Danny K.
Chapter seven covered ways teachers could use the different types of the multiple intelligences in the classroom everyday. On page 103 the author talks about designating specific areas of the room for the eight different multiple intelligences. These “activity centers” can help your students with different types of multiple intelligences be more successful in your class. I think this is a good idea, however I feel that not every classroom would be big enough or setup in the right way that would allow you to have eight activity centers. In my classrooms I would try to setup as many activity centers as I could. Being a health teacher brings another obstacle with creating activity centers; many health teachers, such as the one in my district growing up, had to move around to different classrooms and different schools to teach different classes. This would make it hard to setup permanent activity centers, however during the classes I could designate an area for that particular class where the students could go.

Justin C.
This chapter talks about ways in which teachers can incorporate the multiple intelligences into the classroom. It also talks about ways in which we can split up our classroom to have different areas aim on a certain aspect of the intelligences. The one way of splitting up the classroom that stood out to me was the Temporary Open-Ended Activity Centers. This type of set up is the best way to introduce students to all of the various intelligences. It allows for teachers to set up different games that are all based around a specific intelligence, and the students are made aware of which intelligence is being touched on, and students can see why styles of game would best suit each of the intelligences.

Grace K.
Chapter 7 introduced ways for teachers to integrate the multiple intelligences into the everyday atmosphere of their classroom (the “classroom ecology”). It began by offering set of questions for each intelligence that teachers could think about to evaluate whether or not their classroom is effectively integrating that intelligence. Once this is completed, it moved on to offering ways for teachers to expand the presence of the intelligences in their classroom. Some of the ideas were interesting, like the concept of “MI activity centers,” but many of the more specific ideas seemed geared towards younger students. Some (like “game centers” featuring Monopoly, Pictionary, and other games) seemed really difficult to implement in a way that still promotes education. I think I could adapt Armstrong’s version of activity centers to apply to social studies and history, but the outlines he offered weren’t ones that I would use.

Dan B.
Chapter 7 of the MI book talked about classroom dynamics, not the dynamic between the teacher and the student, but rather the environment of the classroom. The book talked about how you can make your classroom appealing to people who possess the 8 intelligences. You want your room to have places where students can work independently ( intrapersonal ), or in groups (interpersonal). You also want your room to be visually appealing to attract your spatial learners. You can also set up activities that appear to all of the 8 multiple intelligences; for example if you are doing a section on houses you could have a bodily kinesthetic learner build the houses, a naturalist learner to the outside landscaping, or have spatial learners draw their dream houses. I had never thought that the way a classroom looks could help tailor the multiple intelligences, but now that I do I plan on making my classroom appealing to all of the multiple intelligences.

Grady B.
While reading this chapter, I found the content at times informative, while it seemed like many of the specific ideas for bringing MI into the classroom environment seemed either unfeasible or not age appropriate for a secondary-level classroom. The idea of a permanent open-ended activity center seems like it would be out of place in a classroom that focused on only one subject area. Ideas such as juggling equipment, trampolines, and secluded lofts seemed even more out of place. I found the questions on pages 100-103 to be more applicable, with ways to ensure that the learning environment consistently remains open and welcoming to students of all intellectual strengths and preferences. I feel like the idea of integrating MI theory into the very design of a classroom is an important aspect of a successful class, but at the same time, these features should not turn a classroom into a playroom, in my opinion. That being said, I will try to create an environment in my future classroom which will facilitate interest to learn from a cross-section of students.

Jen R.
Chapter 7 of //Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom// primarily focused on classroom structure. This chapter reinforces that idea that as teachers, we need to create a classroom environment that is going to benefit all students and their different intelligences. By creating a multi-dimensional environment for my students, I will help to ensure their success within the classroom. While reading this chapter, I compile a mental list of a few interesting ideas I would like to try in my classroom. One idea that I will keep in mind for future reference within my classroom is activity centers. Activity center are different sections of the room that are dedicated to the different intelligences. Chapter seven also gives suggestion on how to engage the students into a pleasing environment, a few of those were: decorating the classroom with fun posters as a visual aid, rearranging furniture in creative ways, and quietly playing background music while they work on in class assignments. Overall, chapter seven provided with some great information that I will keep in mind when constructing my classroom.

Chris D.
Chapter 7 of Multiple Intelligences talked about the use of MI in a classroom environment. The idea talks about setting up a variety of different “centers” where students get to explore the content in ways that they are comfortable with. What stood out to me was the temporary open-ended activity centers. Here students play games for a certain amount of time to introduce them to the multiple intelligences based on playing these games. In high school my math teacher would have us play logic-related games at the end of class, so doing something of that extent might be something I would consider doing in my classroom as well. I don’t really know how I would justify using the other intelligence based games in my classroom, though it wouldn’t hurt to explore the idea at least.

Jonathan B.
Chapter seven was really thought provoking in that it discusses a fundamental change in classroom mechanics from the “traditional” mindset. The ecology of the classroom has so many different elements of space, time, and sensory input. These elements vary from intelligence to intelligence. After reading the chapter, I decided to simplify all of these contributing factors into a formula which would create a well balanced classroom ecology. The principles of this formula are: ease of interaction, efficient use of space, organic aspect in surroundings, centrally located point of instruction, space for physical activities, stable yet open auditory/vocal environment, organized scheduling. One idea for a classroom that I feel meets these standards is that the classroom be set up in a circular manner in order to promote discussion and participation. I feel that this is a strong setup, especially for a social science classroom. It keeps a directed focus to where the teacher would be instructing without employing rank-and-file old-school rows. This would appeal to linguistic learners for the discussion factor; the musical learners would benefit because the acoustically sound is evenly distributed; interpersonal students would thrive in this environment because they can see others and interact with ease; intrapersonally inclined students may feel more encouraged to contribute. My classroom would have to have an organic aspect with some plants (but not too distracting), in addition to as much natural light as possible. The inside space of the circle could be used for role-playing and skits, catering to the kinesthetic learner. Visual learners would benefit from having a centrally located and uncluttered instruction area. As a student, I found this classroom setup to be the most inviting and engaging. I'm not completely on-board with the “MI activity center” idea, I would rather try to have a unified classroom that integrates benefits for all intelligences.

Tyler S
Chapter seven talked mainly about your classroom setup, designing it to best suit the multiple intelligences in your students. Some things seemed easy enough to do, such as setting up the walls to be visually appealing as well as intellectually stimulating to a couple different types of learners. The actual classroom setup divided into the four quadrants seems like a stretch to me though. My own classrooms in high school seemed very small, nowhere near large enough to divide the room up into different sections. You had just enough room to seat everyone (and in some cases, not even enough room for that). If possible, it seems like a good idea.

Kaitlin T.
Like the title implies, chapter seven of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom is geared towards the learning environment. I appreciated the chapter starting off with a review of the eight intelligences and providing appropriate questions to keep in mind about each of the intelligences. After first when I read about the activity centers all I could think about was how elementary the concept sounded, but as I kept reading I realize activity centers is a concept that is available to all teachers. I don’t think I’ll have the juggling equipment in my classroom though, or the mini-trampoline.