Introduction - Lustik



Multiple Intelligences: Projects, Activities, and Technology

Theory and Development of Multiple Intelligences

ED7580, Summer 2001 Quarter

Beverly Enns

Learner: Christine Lustik

PMB #603, 3818 South Western Avenue

Sioux Falls, SD 57105

(704) 607-7751

christine@



Advisor: Holly McCracken

Field of Study: Capella University

School of Education

Degree: Masters of Education, Teaching and Training Online

Submitted: September 26, 2001

Abstract

In this final paper, I have combined Multiple Intelligences and my professional life. In the sample projects and activities that I created for this project, I attempted to show my understanding of the eight different intelligences that Gardner provides. I attempted to show a way in which these intelligences could begin to be introduced into lesson planning and school systems that are not necessarily accepting MI as their structure. And I attempted to combine my teaching strength of technology with the multiple intelligences.

Table of Contents

PAGE NUMBER

INTRODUCTION 1

PROJECTS 3

PROJECT ONE 3

SAMPLE MI ACTIVITIES 4

ASSESSMENT 7

PROJECT TWO 8

SAMPLE MI ACTIVITIES 9

ASSESSMENT 14

PROJECT THREE 14

SAMPLE MI ACTIVITIES 15

ASSESSMENT 19

TECHNOLOGY AND MI 21

CONCLUSION 25

APPENDIX 28

INTRODUCTION

We are more than just biological organism bounded by the skin. We are also unbounded, part of a greater wholeness, united with the rest of the Universe. If we are to fulfill our role, no longer will we perceive ourselves as isolated individuals. We will need to change, in the most radical way, our attitudes toward ourselves, others, and the planet as a whole. (Lazear, 1998, ¶ 1)

This is a quote by Peter Russell that was used at the beginning of an article about Inter and Intrapersonal intelligences, but I find this quote to be relevant to the whole discussion of multiple intelligences (MI). In this class we’ve discussed Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences. This theory follows the many discussions I have had throughout my Master’s classes about the future of education. Over and over I’ve heard fellow students and teachers say we need an educational system that is based less on traditional testing, scoring, and teacher-based classrooms and more on a learner-centered environment. I’ve heard what we need is a system that teaches students how to think for themselves; how to solve problems; and to know themselves and care about others. We can find many of these desires in the theory of multiple intelligences. In this paper I intend to give workable examples of how all teachers can incorporate activities that use the multiple intelligences, and hopefully in time teach our children to think beyond themselves.

This paper will proceed along the following path. First I will introduce the intentions for this paper. Second I will create three separate projects, complete with activities using all the multiple intelligences and multiple disciplines, and discussions about assessment. Third, I will discuss the amazing technology options available to current teachers and why that is relevant to the theory of MI. In my conclusion, I will discuss multiple intelligences, how I’ve applied the intelligences in these projects, and the role I foresee the intelligences taking in my professional life.

In my proposal for this project, I stated, “It is my purpose in creating this project to bring together my current situation, this class, and the career I am choosing to pursue.” As my current situation is full-time traveler with no paying job, I proposed to pretend I have a job that I will create. A brief explanation of my pretend job follows. My title is, Teacher and Faculty Technology Consultant. I will work somewhere in primary education, hopefully around the middle school age. It will be my goal to work with teachers throughout the school to combine technology with the normal school disciplines. I would like to use my time with the students and the technology to allow the students to work on projects in other subjects. This will give us needed, interesting information to research, thus teaching the students how subjects can be interrelated. As Technology Consultant, I would help the teachers to learn how to use the technology in their classrooms and relating to their subjects. My strengths would be in not only knowing the technology, but also coaching the teachers how to work together to combine their subjects and projects. My last strength would be in using my knowledge of the Multiple Intelligences to create activities that allow the students to learn through many different intelligences and allow the teachers to teach using their strengths. It is my goal in this project to show my knowledge and understanding of the use of Multiple Intelligences (MI) through activities that can be used in any classroom.

Projects

I have used specific examples when creating the three projects, but it is my feeling that these examples could transfer over to any one topic, current event, or multidisciplinary project. Every time a teacher uses Multiple Intelligences while planning a project, the teacher will finds it gets easier. Some of the projects are longer and have more explanation than others, but all provide an explanation, sample activities for all multiple intelligences and throughout the disciplines, and a discussion of assessment possibilities. I would like to note that within the project text, I separated activities, not necessarily full paragraphs.

It is my feeling that the assessment of a student’s multiple intelligences and their projects should fall hand in hand. Assessment of individual activities may not require formal assessment every time, but the teacher should always be aware of the how the student is progressing. This need for both formal and informal assessment was agreed upon in both of our required texts this term. Assessments for major projects should be completed and agreed upon before the project begins. At all times we should be encouraging the students to increase their awareness of the multiple intelligences, while moving forward in their knowledge of the world around them.

Project One: One Topic, Connected with MI and Technology

The purpose of Project One is to show that any topic being covered in the classroom can be covered using a combination of multiple intelligence techniques and technology. The topic I have selected is the human body. Health class is a fixture in many schools and that includes studying the muscles, organs, bones, water, blood, and all other parts that make up our body. Perhaps I am cheating by selecting what I see as a very hands on subject but maybe many do not see this. How can I incorporate use of all the intelligences into this topic and use technology in the process?

In a later section of this paper, where I discuss examples of the many technology choices out there, you will see how any topic is covered in the vast world of the Internet and all it takes is a little imagination on the part of the teacher to move beyond that to a whole lesson plan.

Sample MI Activities

verbal-linguistic. At the beginning of the body unit, the teacher could pass around a box with a bunch of pieces of paper in it and each student would pick one. Each piece of paper has a specific bone, muscle, organ or other piece of the body in it. Each student is told to search the Internet and prepare a one-page report on his or her topic. They must document the websites they took information from and they must read their report in front of class. They may also find a visual of their topic and use that during their reading.

logical – mathematical. Mathematics will come into play when the students learn the equations for height/weight and body fat. They will deal with many numbers such as: How much of the body is water? How many bones does the body have? And what are the percentages of the different parts of our blood? An activity or game can be created around the numbers of the body.

The students will understand the logical relationships between tendons, muscles, and bones; and between the heart, blood, and blood pressure. I would suggest that a section is entered with the idea of talking about relationships in the body. Have the students brain-storm in groups and see what they can come up with before giving them relationships.

bodily-kinesthetic. Later you will read about how the students can create songs to go along with the parts of the body. The students will work in groups on these songs and while some members of the group sing the song, others can put together a dance that will focus on those parts of the body in the song.

Another idea would be to have review sessions of the bones, muscles, organs etc. Statements are made about a specific bone, muscle or part and the student would have to stand up and point out where that part is while giving the name of it, and telling the class anything else they know about the part. Continuously putting together bodily motions and verbal explanations will certainly help the students to remember the information.

visual-spatial. I am going to place this activity under visual-spatial, but it has large amounts of bodily-kinesthetic in the process of using the computer and exploring via the computer. I am choosing the website for this activity. This is the website for the Franklin Institute. A website every teacher under twelfth grade should have bookmarked. On this website there is a particular section on the heart. The teacher could require all the students to visit this section and complete their activities. According to the blurb on the Learning Resources Page of the Franklin Institute Website, the students can, “Explore the heart. Discover the complexities of its development and structure. Follow the blood through the blood vessels. Wander through the weblike body systems. Learn how to have a healthy heart and how to monitor your heart's health. Look back at the history of heart science.” The teacher could provide a worksheet for them to fill out as they work on the website. The students would be able to see many different views of the heart.

musical. It would be fun and help the students to learn if they created songs or jingles about the parts of the body. The students could be asked to create the songs and then they could sing them in class. The teacher might break the students into groups and give them different parts of the body to create songs about. This would put students strong in music together with those strong in other areas; it would work on group skills (interpersonal), and make it easier for all to create the songs.

interpersonal. While the music and dance group activities will involve interpersonal intelligences, it would be nice to help students understand each other and those around them even more. The teacher may be able to do some role-playing. After they have learned about the body, it’s parts, and it’s needs, the students could try to understand why everyone’s bodies are different and how their individual ideas and lifestyles affect that. The teacher could give each student a lifestyle and they would have to try to stay healthy within that busy lifestyle. A role-playing situation such as this helps the students to relate to others around them and it helps them to think about the future and how they perceive their future.

intrapersonal. During these health units, it would certainly help the students individually to become more in tune with their body. They could be taught ways to concentrate on certain parts of their body at one time. To understand exactly what part hurts or feels stressed. Students are often in sports and understanding their bones, muscles and how they feel will help them in their sport.

At the age we are discussing, a unit on the body would be an excellent place to discuss how while all bodies have the same inside parts they all look different and the reasons for this. Perhaps students can write about what they don’t like about their own body and understand that everyone has something they don’t like about themselves.

naturalist. The resources our body needs would be a good theme for a day. Everyone could bring something that his or her body needs and explain why they brought that item. What resources does our body need to exist?

Another good idea would be to tie us to the environment. Toward the end of the unit, start a discussion what does our body have in common with a tree? Let the students think about and observe the similarities? Trees need oxygen, they have limbs, etc. Let the students then move onto other parts of nature, let them make other connections and observations.

Assessment

In this project we are dealing with activities that all revolve around one topic. Many of the activities in this project are not meant to be assessed and given grades, they are meant to be used as learning activities. The reviews, songs, and dances should not be given grades, but the teacher should be taking notes about strong and weak intelligences in each student. These notes can be part of a continual effort to give feedback to the student. They will also be helpful in end of year reports as the teachers are determining in what intelligences the students improved the most and in what intelligences the student needs to spend time. On page 308, of Teaching And Learning Through Multiple Intelligences, Campbell, Campbell and Dickinson provide a sample observation checklist. This would be a very helpful checklist for any teacher who wants to incorporate MI learning activities into their curriculum. It allows them to quickly write down some basic target skills and take notes as students work on their activities. I would like to note, that I do not believe that schools will change all at once. In reality, we will still have tests and traditional forms of assessment. I looking forward to working in the transition period, where we are starting to use and understand multiple intelligence activities and projects. I think many of the reviews and ways to learn that I’ve put forth will strengthen the intelligences while preparing students for tests and projects.

The activity where the students research on the Internet and write a short report can certainly be graded. It is my suggestions with activities such as this, that they are graded similar to the grading sheet you will see in the Appendix, and discussed in Project Three. An assessment such as this can be changed around and used for small and large activities it’s main purpose being to keep track of the students progress in knowledge and their increase in the use of intelligences. The challenge is for a teacher to adopt an assessment method that is satisfactory to the school system and the parents, and evaluates the student’s strengths and weaknesses when it come to multiple intelligences. I think the sample assessment that you find in the Appendix will be a good place to start for any teacher. For any teacher interested in researching MI assessment more thoroughly, Chapter 10 of Teaching and Learning Through Multiple Intelligences provided many sample assessments and any of the MI schools around the nation such as Perrine Elementary School, in Miami, FL; New City School, in St. Louis, MO; Bellevue High School, in Bellevue, OH; and The Key School, in Indianapolis, IN would be happy to share their knowledge.

Project Two: Current Events, Connected with MI and Technology

There are always items of interest in the news of the world that are worthy of discussion in the classroom. Sometimes events happen that are really horrible and they definitely need to be dealt with in the classroom. As I was preparing this project, one of these horrible events happened. It is my feeling that as these items take over the school days and the thoughts of the teachers and students, we should deal with them in a constructive manner. There should be ways we can help the students to not only deal with their feelings, but also understand, as much as possible, the events leading up to the catastrophe and the aftermath. In this project, I propose to provide many activities throughout the different disciplines and Multiple Intelligences that we can use in our classrooms when catastrophe’s and serious news items occur. Taking the time to analyze and discuss these events cannot only be helpful emotionally but it will cause learning to take place in all disciplines and areas of multiple intelligences. I will use the World Trade Center bombings as my current event.

You will see in many of my examples, that I believe these are times we should use to teach our children about hate and why hate is bad. So much of these current events stem from hate. We should teach them about the different cultures and countries in question, the backgrounds, and histories.

Sample MI Activities

verbal-linguistic. A good exercise for the Language Arts teacher would be to introduce the class to books that discuss Muslims and their beliefs. The students can learn much from these books about Muslims in general.

If the teacher finds that there is agreement in the class when it come to feelings about war, terrorism or just the desire to reach out somehow. The teacher can have the students write letters to their government saying they don’t or do want a war or simply to the police and fire stations thanking them for their hard work. If we teach children at young ages to become involved in what’s around them, perhaps they will continue that involvement in their adult years.

logical – mathematical. The Mathematics teacher could definitely tackle these activities. There are lots of numbers in a tragedy such as this. The dimensions of the building could be studied and how long it would take to the building to fall from a certain point. How many people worked in the building and how much space was in the building? How big were the offices in the building? How many floors were in the building? How many steps were in the building? How long would it take people to walk down the steps from the top of the building? For students with very logical minds, these types of problems will help them deal with the tragedy.

Problem-solving is a large part of the logical-mathematical intelligence. A class could spend a day hypothesizing about what should happen now. What are the choices America has? What are the positives and negatives that go along with each choice? Have the class brainstorm and draw on the board and work ideas out together.

bodily-kinesthetic. The PE teacher could oversee activities to raise money such as basketball shoot-outs, dance shows, walk/run marathon type events.

The Drama club could put on extra versions of their plays with the profits going to the needed groups.

A field trip could be planned to take the students to a Muslim Mosque. This trip would allow the students to physically walk around in the building and participate in how Muslims pray and in what they believe.

visual-spatial. The first example of a visual-spatial activity uses maps and distance. The Global Studies/Geography teacher could use this activity. To help the students understand where the bombing happened, the teacher could find as many maps and representations of New York as possible. The students can discuss where the World Trade centers are in reference to other famous buildings. Pictures of famous buildings can be found and they can create a big map on the floor of New York City, in which they can pretend to walk to the buildings and understand how big it is, how many people are in that area, distances and directions within New York City. Physically moving within the map would also work the Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligences.

The students could use the computer lab and search on the Internet for stories on the tragedy, information about parts of the tragedy such as Afghanistan, Muslims, and the World Trade Centers. They could use what they find in any of the discussions suggested in other activities or for reports, debates, or personal knowledge and understanding.

The Arts teacher could have her students paint or draw images and pictures from the tragedy or images of their feelings about the tragedy. If the students feel strongly about an aspect of the tragedy, they could create posters to make a statement. For example, with the bombing they could create posters for around their school or community featuring peace or not hating other religions. The students could draw cards to send to the firemen or the families that have lost loved ones. Creating posters and cards also includes a degree of Interpersonal and Intrapersonal intelligences as each student deals with how he or she feels about the event and how that relates to others feelings.

musical. The music teacher has an excellent opportunity to pull different types of music into their classes this week. There can be days focused on music celebrating America, and Muslim music. The teacher can have students bring in and sing or play songs that they feel apply to the situation.

Allowing students to express their feelings via song can be done in any class. To further that thought, the Language Arts teacher could give his/her students an assignment to express their feelings in a story, poem, article or some sort of written communication. These written pieces would be read in front of the class and they students would have the choice of how they wanted to express their works. They could read the story, put a poem to music and sing it, create a dance around their story, or act out their story as a drama. This exercise of course goes beyond the musical intelligence and can include interpersonal, intrapersonal, verbal-linguistic, bodily-kinesthetic, and visual-spatial.

interpersonal. One of the best ideas I think to work on Interpersonal Intelligence while gaining an understanding of a situation such as the bombing is to create debate teams. The Global Studies/Geography teacher would be a natural to sponsor these debates. Preparing to stand up for a group of people you don’t understand or agree with would help the students stand in others shoes and understand others in the world, if not agree with them. Debate often forces a student to take a position they do not agree with. For an idea such as this we would need to give the students at least a week to research their topic prior to the debate. I think it would be worth it to give each debate topic a whole hour of class. Examples of debate topics are following. Palestinians who dislike Americans versus Americans – Why would anyone cheer when something like this happens? Why do some countries dislike Americans? American Muslims versus American racists – What have they done to us, why should they suffer for something someone they don’t even know did? People who want revenge on the people who planned the bombing versus people who generally don’t agree with revenge in this or any situation.

These are examples of topics relating directly to the bombing, but there are always sides, perceived enemies, and victims in all tragedies. The understanding of diversity studied through these debates should also talk to those with a strong naturalist intelligence, and the verbal and listening skills needed will work within the verbal-linguistic intelligence.

A history teacher could begin a discussion about past historical/government decisions that have lead to this event.

intrapersonal. Discussions on how these events affect “my” life and “my” future, my being each individual students.

The Language Arts teachers can have the students keep a feeling diary for a week. This exercise also works the verbal-linguistic intelligence.

Have each student come up with a past figure in history that speaks to him or her. Someone who made a significant statement that the student feels speaks to them directly about what happened. For example, there are Martin Luther King speeches that talk about nonviolence. This could be an exercise in History or the Language Arts.

naturalist. A large part of the naturalist intelligence is understanding the food chain and the interdependence on all living things. Lets take this to another level. How are other countries dependent on the Unites States? How is the United States dependent on other people, countries? In a tragedy such as the bombing, what people did we as a nation depend on? These questions can be taken on in both History and Global Studies courses.

Another good discussion could circle around terrorism. What patterns do the students see in terrorist attacks? How is this terrorist attack the same? How is it different? What do terrorists believe? How could someone be a suicide terrorist? The patterns of terrorism and understanding how terrorist work fall into naturalist categories. These discussions can be led in History and Global Studies courses.

Assessment

It is my feeling that formal assessment is not necessary when we are dealing with such a situation. It would be my suggestion that the teachers use the Observations Checklists referred to in Project One throughout the activities on current events. It may be important to take notes not only on how the students are exhibiting their multiple intelligences, but also how they are dealing with the situation.

Project Three: An Interdisciplinary Project, Connected with MI and Technology

I am going to give an example of a learning activity that could be part of a larger education program aimed at combining MI, technology, and multiple disciplines. This would be a project that would last a whole term. This project is one that could be completed between the Science, History, and Geography teachers.

In this project, each student would have to choose a geographic location of the world to study. Each location selected would have had to be caused by natural scientific events, (for example: Volcanic Islands, Hawaii) or have specific climates that determine the life possible (for example: the desert, rainforests, or arctic climates). The students will need to be able to explain the natural event or climate in detail and how it affects the life, culture, history and geography of the place.

Activities pertaining to the project and the skills needed to complete all the parts of the project are divided between the teachers involved. Throughout the sample MI activities section you will see examples of these types of activities. As will see in activity examples, a project such as this allows students to work in all of the intelligences. There are main parts to this project that I will explain under verbal-linguistic; all of the individual activities that make up the project will be listed under other intelligences.

Sample MI Activities

verbal-linguistic. I will discuss the main parts of this project in the verbal-linguistic section, as they are concerned with speaking and writing. In order to complete the project each student will create a written report to hand in and will also prepare a verbal report or speech to complete in front of the class and the teachers involved. The reports will need to explain exactly what the geography and climate are like in their area, what this means for the year round weather, and how that affects the people, culture, agriculture, history, and future of the area. These reports will require writing skills for reports, research skills, and speaking skills to be taught in correlation for the project. Ideally if we are in a school that actively uses MI, these skills need only be reviewed and added onto each year of the students schooling.

One of the teachers can discuss the format they would like used for the reports. Perhaps they teachers can get the language arts teacher to group with them and teach things like speaking and writing skills for reports during this term knowing that they will be used. If that happens, the other teachers need simply review these skills and remind the students that they will be expected to demonstrate the skills. Please understand that a lot more work would go into a project outline like this once the teachers got together and started planning the project.

logical – mathematical. Mathematics will be demonstrated as the student discusses the weather. In a discussion of the temperatures and the climate, the student will need to understand and have all the numbers straight to make the other students understand the area and to answer questions.

Cause and effect is an important logical concept and the ideas of cause and effect will be large parts of these reports. What causes the type of weather the area is experiencing and how does this affect the people?

bodily-kinesthetic. The students will be encouraged to not only talk about the cultures and the people but to demonstrate, any dances, gestures, and expressions they can to help the other students understand what life is really like.

While gestures of the cultures are welcome, as the students get older they will be expected to not only speak but also know what to do with their body as they are speaking in front of the room. I feel like speaking in front of a group really uses bodily intelligences. You have to always be aware of what your arms, hands, and legs are doing. Are you using a proper amount of gestures? Are you pointing out good information on maps and other props, or are you playing with the change in your pocket, hopping from foot to foot?

visual-spatial. The students will be encourages to use maps of the area in their written report and within their presentation. The maps will allow the other students to understand where on the globe the area is located and how it’s location is relevant to other important things like oceans and parallel lines thus giving it the climate they are reporting.

One teacher could take a field trip to the local community library, to teach the students how to use the library for research. During this trip all students can acquire a library card and be taught how to access the library on-line research catalogs not only at the library, but also through the Internet from home or school.

A teacher could schedule a couple days of classes in the computer lab at school to discuss Internet research. Discussing the variables to use in searches, the different search engines available, and what to do with the information once it is found. I have located both of these “research trips” under visual-spatial, but they also use strong bodily-kinesthetic intelligences.

Students will be encouraged to collect anything that will help students understand. They can surround the room with pictures of the people and their art. This complete with music can really set the mood, and make it interesting to the other students.

musical. The essence of many peoples and cultures are shown through their music. Students will be encouraged to include pieces of music directly from the areas they are studying both as major parts of their performance and perhaps as background to get the group in the mood.

interpersonal. The students will be encouraged to recognize others gifts and use others in their verbal presentations. For example, if another student is gifted in dance and this student really isn’t perhaps they can work together and the other student can dance or sing in the student’s presentation. The student can also ask for help from other students and prepare a drama. They can act out a scene from life in that area. Working together in groups like this and bouncing ideas off of other students will help the students understanding of each other and hone their group skills.

The students will be encouraged to have sessions of their presentation interactive. They can teach a dance, song, or poem to the rest of the class from that culture. Or they can simply pass around pieces of art or pictures. All of this interactivity will really help all of the students to remember more of each presentation.

The students will also be required to fill out peer reports on each student’s presentation they watch. This requires the students to pay attention, study each other, and acknowledge each other’s strengths and weaknesses. It also helps them learn from each other.

intrapersonal. An excellent addition to this project would be to require each student to keep notes and write a short 2-3 page paper on what they personally liked about the different lands and cultures they learned about from their peers presentations and what they didn’t like. What climates do they think they prefer? What cultures did they disagree with and why? What actions would they like to take from some cultures and include in their own lives? This will really get them thinking about their own preferences in life and how they would like to act. If this is too much each student could just be required to have this information in the written report they hand in about the place and culture they studied.

A large Intrapersonal part of this project will be the student’s self-evaluation. What did they feel they did well? What do they feel they need work on? Do they feel they improved from their last project? What would they like to improve on most in their next project? These evaluations should follow them, perhaps in a portfolio, and they should be able to review them prior to each project, so they can set goals for themselves.

naturalist. Observation will be a naturalist skill that is improved after each of these projects. The student’s ability to observe others presentations will improve and the student’s abilities to observe more detail about what they are studying will improve.

Nature goes hand in hand with climate, weather, and culture. What types of trees grow in the land? Do any trees grow? What animals are present? Are these animals wild or friendly? Are they dangerous to the people? They will be asked to understand what the food chain is like in that area. In other words, what is the interdependence of the area? The students will be asked to include this information in their studies.

Assessment

Obviously a lot of work would have to be put into creating assessment methods for a project such as this. A written report would be due and a verbal presentation. One written report complete with any visuals or graphics is to be handed in. Any teachers involved will grade the report using an agreed upon method and grading sheet. The agreed upon grading sheet would be very important This project ties in a lot of disciplines for a student. It also allows students to connect other cultures to their own lives and really understand them. It is very important that it is determined prior to the project exactly how it will be assessed. I believe that grading sheets should be handed to the students at the beginning of the project along with the project description, goals, and requirements. This allows students to know exactly what is expected of them. The teachers will probably get together and have the speeches done over many class periods at the end of the term.

In the Appendix you will find a sample assessment for this project. This would not be a complete assessment, as each teacher would have additions and subtractions before coming to an agreement on an assessment, but this would be a good place for the teachers to begin. The assessment is five pages long and contains the following parts; Project Goals, which would be handed out to the students at the beginning of the project; Teacher Assessment; Self-Assessment; and Joint Meeting notes. The only area I have not covered but suggest might be applicable would be a peer assessment. In creating an assessment my goals where as follows: To check that the goals and requirements of the project were met; to determine that knowledge of all the intelligences was used in the presentation; to determine if the student improved in any intelligences; and to determine which intelligences the student should focus on improving in the future. A reminder, with a project of this size, we want to assess the student’s strengths and weaknesses, but there also needs to be an assessment of the improvement of their abilities and knowledge. It is my view that a teacher making the effort to create large projects and include multiple intelligences into their lesson plans has already made notes on the multiple intelligence strength and weaknesses of his/her students. When assessing a large project such as this, you are assessing not what their strengths are, but the improvement in their strengths and weaknesses.

Technology and MI

My career for the past 8 years has focused around technology and the teaching of technology. It is my intention to continue my career combining the strength of my knowledge of technology, especially computers, software, and the Internet and teaching or facilitating. This course has taught me about the theory of multiple intelligences and I feel that theory is a natural extension of how I already teach and it is natural to connect technology and the use of multiple intelligences. I have included some uses of technology in my project activities, but I mostly focused the previous projects on the use of multiple intelligences. Now, I would like to introduce you to many specific examples of using technology with the multiple intelligences. I would like to stress how easy it is to find and use this technology and I would like to introduce a new position that I think should be available in schools and why. Just a note before I begin this discussion. While I am obviously a large proponent of technology, I also agree with what was said in Teaching and Learning Through Multiple Intelligences, “As electronic technologies become increasingly available and integrated into our live, it is essential that they do not replace human interaction and experience in the natural world.” (Campbell, Campbell, & Dickinson, 1999, p.255) I personally do not believe this will happen. As Thomas Hoerr, Ph.D. states in the article Technology and MI, “Good teachers will remain the key to a student learning, but they will routinely rely on a host of technological tools.” (¶ 6)

When I am talking about technology, I am mostly talking about computers, the software available on computers and the contact available on the Internet through the computer. Technology in the classroom also includes videos, digital cameras, and more, but these forms of technology are fairly easy to use. In just a short period of time I was able to find many excellent websites for teachers. Following I will discuss some specific website examples and how they apply to the theory of multiple intelligences.

The first website that I will introduce is . According to it’s general information page, the Write Site; “is a multimedia language arts curriculum that makes the process of telling a story fun. Students take on the role of journalists—generating leads, gathering facts, and writing stories—using the tools and techniques of real-life journalists. The Write Site is specially designed for middle school students. The Write Site’s instructional activities will improve students’ skills while helping teachers integrate technology into their classrooms.” The focus of this website is very verbal-linguistic and would be a good website for a Language Arts teacher to use, but beyond that many other intelligences are used. The use of the computer and the physical effort of researching and gathering facts uses bodily-kinesthetic intelligences. I think the idea of reading information in multiple forms, in a book, on the computer, and hearing it from the teacher uses visual-spatial intelligences and it helps the students to understand and even believe information. Here is a website complete with working projects that the students can use and it works at least three intelligences.

The next website I would like to mention is . This website is sponsored by Global Schoolhouse and Lightspan and is a website that all teachers can use. The website provides projects from around the world. Some of the projects are individual classroom projects while others connect the students with other students around the world to accomplish a goal. There are math, science, and cultural projects along with many more. Other parts of the site provide games, inspirational stories of students around the world, areas where you can follow real life scientific expeditions, etc. Depending on the projects used, you can work on the verbal-linguistic, mathematic, naturalist, bodily-kinesthetic, visual-spatial, and interpersonal intelligences. You can actually work on all of the intelligences but these were the ones I saw specific examples for.

I will discuss the specifics of one other website, . This is the website for the Franklin Institute. It is frankly remarkable, all the projects and information available. The projects and information change, but when I was looking at it, the website contained the following sections: The heart, an online exploration; Open ended problem solving, a collection of math problems for middle school children; Flights of inspiration, meet the Wright brothers and design your own aircraft; Benjamin Franklin, glimpses of the man; Educational hotlists; a list of Internet resources for science educators; and an archive of puzzles. This list does not even cover half of the special areas on the website. The website definitely leans towards the use of the logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, naturalist, and bodily-kinesthetic intelligences.

While I have stated this information is easy to find and out there for all teachers to use, it is also very time consuming and as any teacher knows, time is one thing that is lacking. I really believe that it will be beneficial for teachers to work in teams in the future. I think a position that should be accepted in all schools is a technology coordinator and not just because that is the job I want! The duties of this position would include; being in charge of the computer labs; working in teams with teachers to create projects that use the computers; and regularly wading through the wealth of information on the Internet and determining the sites that are useful, then creating lists for the different teachers of websites that may be useful to them. I am sure many other responsibilities will follow. I do not believe we will see computers at every desk in every classroom in the near future and that is ok. I see large computer labs that can perhaps be divided easily into different sized rooms for many different groups to use at once. Are my thoughts realistic? Does technology really apply to multiple intelligences? In an article by Thomas R. Hoerr, Ph.D. entitled Technology and MI, Mr. Hoerr states,

Technology is beating at the door and is here to stay. Technological advances will not only make our lives easier, they will change the way we live and think. And while it will be later rather than sooner, this will happen in our classrooms too. … All we can do is stay abreast of technology and think of how it can offer us creative new ways to use MI to help our students grow and learn. (¶ 11)

As the Director at the New City School in St. Louis, a MI school, Mr. Hoerr is living what we are talking about and has as good an idea as anybody of how technology and MI can and will work together.

Conclusion

There are many areas of the MI theory that I have not touched on. I do not mean to disregard these areas, for the most part they have simply not been necessary in the discussion I have lead. I think areas such as the need for community involvement and mentoring will be very important in education in the coming years and are important parts of this theory. In the sample projects and activities that I created for this project, I attempted to show my understanding of the eight different intelligences that Gardner provides. I attempted to show a way in which these intelligences could begin to be introduced into lesson planning and school systems that are not necessarily accepting MI as their structure. And I attempted to combine my teaching strength of technology with the multiple intelligences. It is my belief that the future of education is exciting and that theories such as MI and technology will play large parts in that future.

After the books we’ve read and the discussions we’ve had in class, and with the Internet research and articles I’ve read on MI, I feel like the theory of multiple intelligences is an appealing theory, that it is very useful, if like most other ideas it is not taken to the extreme. I am a proponent of recognizing all of our students as individuals; of believing that all students are capable of learning, they just don’t all learn the same way; of making efforts to recognize the individual intelligent strengths and weaknesses in students; of trying to create more problem-solving skills and real life skills in our students; and of changing the assessment methods in schools. I believe that learning and understanding Gardner’s theory can only help me in my personal and professional life to become a better-rounded individual and a better teacher or facilitator. Gardner won me over in Chapter 1 of Multiple Intelligences The Theory in Practice, when on page 12 he said,

It is of the utmost importance that we recognize and nurture all of the varied human intelligences, and all of the combinations of intelligences. We are all so different largely because we all have different combinations of intelligences. If we recognize this, I think we will have at least a better chance of dealing appropriately with the many problems that we face in the world.

We have even more problems in the world than Gardner knew when he wrote those words, but I still believe most of them stem from an inability to accept differences, and this is something that we as teachers can all do something about.

References

Campbell, B. Campbell, L. & Dickinson, D. (1999). Teaching and Learning Through Multiple Intelligences. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple Intelligences The Theory in Practice. New York, NY: BasicBooks.

Hoerr, T. (2000). Technology and MI. Retrieved September 10, 2001, from

Lazear, D. (1998, May-June). "Seeing is Believing" (and Knowing!) Explorations of Visual/Spatial Intelligence. The Little Acorn. Retrieved September 10, 2001, from

Lazear, D. (1998, July-August). Getting to Know YOU & ME !Explorations of Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Intelligences. The Little Acorn. Retrieved September 10, 2001, from

Lazear, D. (1998, August-September). "Actions Speak Louder Than Words!" Explorations of Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence. The Little Acorn. Retrieved September 10, 2001, from

The General Information Page of the Write Site website. Retrieved on September 8, 2001, from

The Learning Resources Page of the Franklin Institute website. Retrieved on September 8, 2001, from

Appendix

Multidisciplinary Project 3 Sample Assessment

This assessment consists of three parts: 1) The goals of the Project. 2) The project teacher assessment. 3) Project self-assessment for the student.

Goals of the Project:

1. Show an understanding of the connection between the climate of an area and how the people in that area live.

2. Be able to apply that understanding to a current culture and geographic location.

3. In describing the culture use at least three definite examples of the following: art, music, dance, vocabulary, thought process, traditions, or any other approved examples of the culture.

4. In describing the climate, give at least two other examples of locations with this climate.

5. Use the proper vocabulary when describing the climate and geography of the area.

6. Show the ability to access needed information and resources.

7. Show the ability to manage the time given for the project.

8. Show the ability to use learned writing principles in the report.

9. Show the ability to use learned vocal linguistic principles in the presentation.

Project Teacher Assessment:

|Name: |Class Hour: |

|Brief Project Description: |

|Teacher Assessment |

| |Excellent |Satisfactory |Needs Work |

|Research: | | | |

| |Used at least three sources | | | |

| |Documented sources | | | |

| |Gathered appropriate information | | | |

| |Show knowledge of research locations taught in class: ex. | | | |

| |Library, internet, master adults. | | | |

|Research Specific Comments: |

|Presentation Skills: | | | |

| |Well-prepared and organized | | | |

| |Showed good use of time given for project | | | |

| |Demonstrated learned delivery skills: | | | |

| |Ex: clear voice, good vocal level, no umms. | | | |

|Presentation Specific Comments: |

|Written Skills: | | | |

| |Demonstrated proper spelling | | | |

| |Demonstrated proper sentence structure | | | |

| |Demonstrated proper use of project skills: ex. Headings, | | | |

| |paragraph structure | | | |

|Writing Specific Comments: |

|Course/Knowledge specific: | | | |

| |Demonstrated proper use of vocabulary | | | |

| |Showed an understanding of the connection between the people | | | |

| |and the location. | | | |

| |Clearly described the culture | | | |

| |Clearly described the climate | | | |

| |Used three specific examples of the culture | | | |

| |The examples were properly displayed, described. | | | |

| |Two other examples of climate were given | | | |

|Course/Knowledge Specific Comments: |

MI Specific Questions

|In this project did the student show strong, |Yes |No |

|Speaking skills? | | |

|Writing Skills? | | |

|Creativity in design? | | |

|Logical Skills? | | |

|Spatial Skills? | | |

|Comments: |

|Did the student use the following intelligences to a desired degree? How? If not Explain? |Yes |No |

|Verbal/Linguistic | | |

| | | |

|Logical/Mathematical | | |

| | | |

|Visual/Spatial | | |

| | | |

|Musical | | |

| | | |

|Interpersonal | | |

| | | |

|Intrapersonal | | |

| | | |

|Naturalistic | | |

| | | |

| | | |

Project Self-Assessment:

To be completed by the students.

Please answer the following questions after you have finished this project. Hand in the self-assessment sheet with your project.

Did you review your last project assessment prior to beginning this project and make an effort to improve in areas where you saw a need for improvement?

Yes No

What parts of this project are you proud of?

What parts of the project did you struggle with?

How did you resolve the struggles?

Do you feel you have improved in the following areas since your last project?

| |Very little |Some Improvement |Great Improvement |

| |Improvement | | |

|Writing Skills: | | | |

| |Sentence Structure | | | |

| |Vocabulary | | | |

| |Grammar | | | |

|Vocal Presentation: | | | |

| |Clear speech | | | |

| |Appropriate vocal level | | | |

|Ability to research for the project | | | |

|Time allotment for the project | | | |

|Ability to notice details | | | |

|Ability to stretch beyond your comfort zone to include things | | | |

|such as arts, music, dance, etc. into your presentation | | | |

What area above would you most like to improve while working on your next project?

Joint Meeting Notes

In reviewing the teacher assessment and the self-assessment, did the teacher and the student agree on the student’s strengths in the project? If not, explain.

Did the teacher and the student agree on the student’s needed areas of improvement? If not, explain?

Please make notes on any discussion between the teacher and student regarding the student’s use of and improvement of multiple intelligences.

Jointly set three goals for the student to improve on in the next project and to work on in the future.

1.

2.

3.

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