Chapters 7, 9, 13, and 14 MI

When I think about classroom environment I think of how a classroom is set up physically.  Chapter 7 takes the concept in a completely different direction.  Classroom environment does not just concern itself with how a room is set up but the atmosphere as well.  The chapter focuses on linguistic as an example.  As a teacher if I am talking at too high or low of a vocabulary level, students could be put off (feel discouraged, intimidated, bored etc.).  As a teacher I need to take the time to create a working environment for the student that is appealing to all the different intelligences.  One helpful way to encourage the different intelligences is to set up activity stations.  Although this may be a little more difficult in a secondary education setting, I could use stations as a way to give students multiple choices on what classwork to complete.  I could group them according to their intelligence preference and assign a quadrant of the room to several different intelligences.

Sometimes working on the MIs in the classroom is not enough. Chapter 9 discusses methods that can be used school wide to improve the learning conditions outside of linguistic and logical.  The students would have specialists who would help direct projects or help them find resources specific to their intelligence preference.  However, the book encourages the idea that each student is exposed to all forms of intelligence and not kept to their strengths.  In my future school I hope to be able to encourage the school to introduce some of these methods if they are not already in place.

Chapter 13 deals with three areas of interest not yet covered in the book.  Computer technology is an area that has potential for any of the intelligences.  The book stresses that computers are intelligence neutral which means that anyone has the potential to use them and are not relegated to “nerds.”  The chapter also discusses the cultural diversity of the classroom and how this diversity can be a point of discussion about different ways intelligences are valued in other cultures.  The chapter makes the point that as educators we should be wary of specifying intelligences for other cultures as each culture has strengths in all intelligences.  The last section involves introducing career choices for students.  The key for the earlier stage is to let the students come up with what they want to pursue rather than dictating a career for them based on their intelligence strengths.  The book suggests brining students on field trips to expose but not direct their choice for a career.

Despite existential intelligence not being classified as a full intelligence, I will still work with it in the classroom.  The goal of multiple intelligence is to build each student’s strength and weaknesses while being adaptable to each student’s needs.  There is enough of a foundation for the existential intelligence to create some class activities around it.  Even if the intelligence may be overshadowed by the others, it can only help the students to be exposed to other ideas.