MiddleWeb | Carolyn Beitzel Diary

CAROLYN BEITZEL
Diary #7

Multiple Intelligences:
" Hey! What About Me?"

Teaching is inherently conservative and traditional. Teachers tend to lecture, run seminars and grade exams the way they were lectured to, precepted and graded. Yet, something has changed for my teaching and me.

The increased diversity of my educational environment, both in terms of students and teachers, has challenged me to not accept the status quo most apparent in today's educational setting. To change what we teach requires us to change how we teach.

Children learn in diverse ways. For example, I have students who find it easy to understand verbal instructions or lectures, and others who need something written in front of them to follow along. Still others need some type of manipulative to increase their learning.

Based on Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory, incorporating alternative teaching and learning methods in my classroom is a giant step in transforming the classroom environment. However, I cannot forget that there are children within that environment who are at varying levels of academic learning. How can I reach them all?

Literacy in content

Everyone needs a certain level if literacy. But for children who have difficulty, a surefire way to turn them off school is to ask them to do something they know they are going to fail at, like writing a monster essay. Most children come to school with the intention of succeeding but somewhere it goes wrong.

As teachers we should aim to avoid that. I encourage a "can do" attitude rather than can't. In my classrooms, I have made it a point to incorporate different intelligences into my lesson plans and evaluations.

I have been reading a lot of posts on the MiddleWeb listserv on differentiated instruction. So, I thought I would try it out with one particular student.

Let's call her Alice

It has been a daunting task for me to ensure that all my students can complete the activities successfully. Throw into the mix a child whose reading comprehension is considerably lower than the rest and I could pull my hair out one strand at a time.

Alice is in 8th grade and reads at a third grade level. It is hard for me to design lessons that she can participate in and prove to herself that she can be successful. When we read from the text, I know that she cannot follow along.

When I write on the board I have to be conscious of the fact that she will take longer to copy it down. I always make sure during a cooperative activity that she is placed in a group that will help her along and that the role she is assigned is not above her capability. I don't want her to look "dumb" in front of her peers.

The textbook that she has at home is on the sixth grade level and she seems to do okay with this. Her homework assignments are always completed and on time. She is very visually creative; so I will give her assignments that ask to create maps or charts, design posters or collages, which will still build her skills in the content area.

I believe that she is mentally competent, and I have become an astute observer, adjusting my instruction to a more hands-on, project-based style to focus on her strengths and to improve her overall academic weaknesses.

This child is only one in a classroom of 33, but she exemplifies the need for me to become vigilant in determining the multiple intelligences of all my students, regardless of learning disabilities and ensuring that these students learn in ways that are successful to them.

I would like to build my classroom around centers of intelligence, involving a thematic and interdisciplinary approach to the curriculum. By doing so, I could work towards my goal as an educator to foster the development of my student's minds by engaging them in opportunities to understand the curriculum and to self construct their learning.

By speaking to each student's intelligence, I believe that they will become motivated and life long learners. It is not easy.

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