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Abstract- Chapter two of Thomas Armstrong’s Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom emphasizes how important it is as an educator to be aware of your own intelligences to be able to use the theory of multiple intelligences in your classroom. Armstrong descriptively explains how we identify our own intelligences, and how we identify our intelligences through experiences in our lives. For the intelligences that you are not particularly strong in, Armstrong provided advice as to how to go about being able to work with other intelligences even though you have not developed them yourself. For example, not being hesitant to ask other teachers that you work with that are stronger in areas that you may not be, like music. Along with this Armstrong advised that we should use our own students as resources because often they have expertise in other areas that we may not. To conclude, he discussed the “Activators and Deactivators of Intelligences.” In this section Armstrong explained how we may have developed our individual intelligences. Overall, Armstrong stresses understanding our own individual intelligences to be successful with our students’ intelligences. Synthesis- Everyone has certain intelligences in which they are proficient, and then other intelligences that would be considered a weakness. To understand what intelligences we carry, we must reflect on real life experiences. Some of us thought that the [|multiple intelligence surveys] were very useful in going about understanding what intelligences we carried. What most of us thought were important in this chapter was that we need to be able to understand and have knowledge of what our own intelligences are to be successful educators. Along with this many of us agree that we can all improve in those certain intelligences that we consider our weaker points. In addition, when going about improving our intelligences, we uncover students talents or interests through [|letting them help]us improve our weaker intelligences.
 * Synthesis- Casey Mull **

Casey Mull
In the second chapter I was able to learn how to go about identifying your own multiple intelligences and identifying your own multiple intelligences is important when determining other’s multiple intelligences. This is extremely important when dealing with students. You need to know your own multiple intelligences to understand theirs. It offered a visual of “An MI Inventory for Adults,” which allows you to see what kind of intelligences you strongly possess. Although the chapter makes the point that “no test can accurately determine the nature or quality of a person’s intelligences” (page 21).

Maxwell Haney
I remember filling out surveys just like the ones the book gives us. I never used to know why I would have to fill out those kinds of questions but it is interesting to know how they can help you in teaching. Like asking a variety of questions can just make you get creative and come up with cooler examples then you could think of. I think understanding all the factors kids go through day to day can be key in understanding how kids think. If they come from a wealthier family their concept of a lot might be different then a kid who’s family struggles more. I want to be able to incorporate the strategies I think will be beneficial to how the kids learn. I am excited to start seeing these things first hand.

Lillian Barry
This chapter covers a lot of what we did in class. It wants us as future educators to find out what types of learners we are before seeing what types of learners our students are. This will help us in understanding how different minds work. It has a questionnaire that will give you your conclusion (we did this in class) After breaking that down it tackles activators and deactivators of intelligence, these being “crystallizing experiences” -turning points in life, that lead to development of talents, usually early childhood [Albert Einstein compass] and “paralyzing experiences” -shut down intelligences [teacher calls you out on mistake in front of class]. Your environment could have lead to your suppressing different aspects of intelligence covered on page 29. This is very useful for me because I can identify with the paralyzing experiences and hope to never make a student feel stupid for not understanding the task at hand, I wish that my teacher had just come up with a alternate way of teaching it that may have been easier for me to grasp.

Mike LaFreniere
In this chapter, I learned that the best way to measure your own multiple intelligences is to reflect on your performance on different experiences with activities. Our education system within the state of Maine stresses the importance of standardized testing, so it was great to see this idea presented from Thomas Armstrong that talks about how we need to look at different ways to measure a student’s learning through activities, group work, discussion, etc. I also learned that whether or not intelligence depends on biology, personal life history, and cultural and historical background. For example, since my parents have played music throughout my childhood it would make sense that I would be more of a musical learner based on cultural background. The chapter impacted me because it opened about my eyes about how important your environment influences the development of your intelligence. In my classroom, I would use a version of the MI inventory for Adults for a middle or high school atmosphere to get an idea of the number of different intelligences I am dealing with.

Brittany Rea
This particular chapter got me to thinking about which of the intelligences I am proficient in and which ones I need to work on. Not only that but also which intelligences I may be able to use well but do not particularly enjoy and how that may affect those students in my future classroom who are not like me. The areas that seem to be the most troubling are those that involve spatial and naturalist intelligences. Because of who I am, I may not bring my class out doors or provide any visual references for those who may need that type of environment or tool in order to learn. Hopefully being aware of the fact that I personally am not the best in those areas will enable me to seek out other teachers who may have a great proficiency in them and work with them to integrate certain practices into my class that will be of benefit to all the students. Perhaps in the process, I too would gain some proficiency or at least a working knowledge of the different intelligences that have not been developed in my life.

Kaitlyn Bartlett
In chapter two of Multiple Intelligences, I learned about a different approach to dealing with insecurities as a teacher. There was a part of the chapter that talked about how if a teacher didn’t feel like the student was understanding a picture or if you felt you were drawing it poorly, let the students do it instead. I really liked this because when I was in a senior AP Calculus class my teacher wasn’t the best illustrator and it made it hard to understand what he was trying to teach us. Needless to say, I was doing poorly in this category until he offered one of the student to draw that pictures for him because she was doing a better job. After she started to draw them for him, he found it easier to better explain what he was teaching and it made it easier for all of us as well. I never made a connection in high school that he was maybe trying an alternate approach to his teaching, but now it seems so obvious. I hope to instill this in my classroom because I am very much like my teacher and do not feel like I draw 3D representations well either.

Seth
Something that struck me while reading this chapter was when the author said, “most people can develop all their intelligences to a relatively acceptable level of mastery” (27). If given the proper chance and encouragement Armstrong thinks that a person could easily conquer the eight intelligences listed in his book, and he makes a good point. He states that many people give up on certain intelligences because of a negative experience with said intelligence early in their life referring to them as “paralyzing experiences.” Every day events like a teacher humiliating you in front of a class, a parent telling you to “stop making a racket” on an instrument or to bring your “messy” leaf collection out of the house can all shut down a learning experience for a child and prevent him/her from fully developing in said intelligence (29). Personally, I was lucky enough to have been raised in a house where I was always encouraged to explore my boundaries and be comfortable in the environment I was in. By doing this my parents let //me// find the intelligence(s) I felt most comfortable with rather than having them forced on me like some “prestigious” schools do in early childhood.

Jen
Chapter two had a similar impact on me as did the chapter in the Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction book in terms of trying to uncover each students talents or interests. Understanding that my students know their strengths is an important element of teaching, but also helping them discover talents they didn’t know they had is also a part of my career. Providing my students with the opportunities to challenge themselves and try new ways of learning may increase their confidence and make school more interesting, along with having them learn more about themselves. So far, while reading I have gained more knowledge about how to be an effective teacher then I ever thought I would, and one important aspect that I found really helpful for my future classroom is that I need to have confidence in my own learning techniques. As a teacher I have to remember that I am setting the stage for these students, showing them how to behave and helping them discover them selves. The best way to do that is by illustrating to them that I am comfortable with my learning styles and myself, and that I am open to trying new things. Hopefully this experience will allow them to be less reluctant to trying new things in the future, and maybe they might actually find another technique and learning style they are good at.

Jasmyn
In this chapter Armstrong explains the ways that we can develop of intelligences. He says that there are three main factors that can increase or decrease our likelihood of developing multiply intelligences: 1) //Biological endowment//-our parents are responsible for our genetic makeup and good gene decreases the possibility of developmental disabilities, 2) //Personal life history//- positive reinforcement throughout ones life gives one the confidence to try new things, 3) //Cultural and historical background//- exposure to various kinds of races and area in which you grow up in can help broaden a person’s intelligence spectrum. While I am in the classroom I will have to make considerations to these factors as I assessments on the students developed intelligences.

Brody
Upon reading the second chapter of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom by Thomas Armstrong, the most vivid idea for me concerned how to develop separate intelligences. Intelligences are developed biologically through heredity and genetic factors, through personal experiences with parents, teachers, and peers, and through the cultural and historical state of that time. The way intelligence is developed has a large impact on me as an educator because I was previously unaware that nurture played such a large part. Now when a student of mine says “I’m just not intelligent in this area” I will explain that nurture is a large aspect of the development of intelligence and I’ll provide a comfortable environment so they can have a crystallizing experience with that intelligence. Another aspect of the chapter that stood out for me was the part that mentioned drawing on colleague’s expertise so one can get help from teachers embodying different intelligences. I think if a teacher candidate develops the eight intelligences and mentions they have numerous strategies to develop them in their students to a school looking to hire, they will be seen as a stronger candidate. After all, the text mentions that unless we apply MI to ourselves, we are unlikely to use it with students as we won’t have an understanding of personalizing content. In my mind, the goal of an educator is to reach as many students as possible, and this can be done through not only knowing about, but experiencing multiple intelligences firsthand.

Leighlan
Everyone can improve any one of their intelligences. There are different factors that contribute to the development of one’s intelligences. It is not just what one is good at. It’s what one is exposed to, the advantages and disadvantages, in resources, location, culture, family, and situation. If my mom was less insistent that I learn to read and right well, my linguistic intelligence would not be at the level it is, I may have been illiterate. Later in life, when one is an adult, one can choose, to some extent, what intelligences one wants to improve. As a teacher, one must try to develop all one’s intelligences so that all the student’s intelligences can be used as a boon to the student’s learning.

Kim
This chapter gave me a good overview of each of the eight intelligences; I had heard of all of them before, but this was the first time that I had seen any descriptions of them. I found the chart explaining different aspects of the multiple intelligences quite interesting, especially the developmental factors and how the intelligences are valued in today’s culture. Knowing what the eight intelligences are and how they manifest in various people will help me to design lessons that will allow each student to use the intelligences that he or she is strong in as well as develop those that are not as strong. I think it helps to know that people are intelligent in different areas so that you can create units that allow students to take advantage of their intelligences and you know not to expect all students to perform the same way. I’d also like to have different areas in my classroom filled with resources for each intelligence so that students can work to increase their strengths in all of the eight intelligences when they are not working on classwork. Understanding that each student’s mind works differently will help me to work with each of them in the most effective way for their learning; I’ll be able to provide adequate instruction for each of them and I will be able to assess them in a manner that takes their varying intelligences into account.