MI+Chapter+4+Block+2

**CHAPTER FOUR ABSTRACT AND SYNTHESIS**
by Cyril Lunt

In Chapter Four of //Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom,// by Thomas Armstrong, the subject of teaching about multiple intelligences to students is discussed. While previous chapters of //Multiple Intelligences// merely discuss the existence of multiple intelligences, it almost presented the subject as a secret teacher's tool; a sort of mystical theory that you draw hermetic symbols on sticky notes to divine how a student learns. This chapter dispels (no pun intended) that line of thought by outright stating that you can probably learn about how students learn best by actually teaching them about the multiple intelligences.

Armstrong starts out the chapter by explaining that by explaining what multiple intelligence theory is to students encourages them to look deeper into their own learning styles, and reflect on what is right for them or not. He then points to using it to show that everyone is intelligent in their own little special way. He does, however, point out that this may inadvertently cause students to only focus on one or two, rather than all of them, which is sort of the opposite effect he's going for. One of the ways he represents multiple intelligences is with a pie chart, which he calls the "MI pizza". [|Here's a picture of it, for reference.]

The last thing the author suggests is [|various games, activities, and events] that teachers could use to exercise their student's multiple intelligences. Such suggestions include (but are not limited to): having students make board games relating to the multiple intelligences, having them write songs or skits about the multiple intelligences, field trips to various locations where multiple intelligences are used every day, and a career day to show more fields of work that use multiple intelligences.

For the most part, my peers focused primarily on the first part of the chapter, and included a passing reference to the last part, even though Armstrong spent more time on the latter than the former. Some of my classmates did suggest activities they could do in the classroom, but they were few and far between. One particularly thought-provoking and interesting student mentioned that often textbooks go into great detail about //what// multiple intelligences is, and never into //how// to explain it to others, which is a nice and refreshing change-of-pace.

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Tyler Oren
Chapter 4 of //Multiple Intelligences// details teaching students, young and old about the multiple intelligences theory. Armstrong reasons that early instruction into the multiple intelligences theory helps young students learn more effectively because it allows them to reflect on their learning style and practice studying and learning strategies to make their career as students more effective. While the concepts of the multiple intelligence theory may seem complex they can easily be distilled into an approachable lesson for young students who would benefit most from the instruction. When designing his Multiple Intelligence lesson for a young group of students Armstrong makes the experience as inclusive as possible, he assures each student that they are in fact intelligent, and in multiple different ways in order to encourage his students, he needs them to be interested and attentive. He condenses each of the intelligences into simple one-word descriptions that are easy for a young child to wrap their head around. Linguistic intelligence becomes “word smart” while logical intelligence becomes “number smart” kinesthetic turns into “body smart” and so on. Armstrong proposes multiple simple activities to try with young learners to help them grasp the concepts of multiple intelligences. Career day helps them make a contextual real world connection to the intelligences and helps them understand that in many fields of work people must rely on multiple intelligences to be successful. Field trips held them see intelligences practiced first hand, while biographies of remarkable individuals from history highlight each intelligence for them.

Johnny Buys
Chapter 4: Teaching Students about MI Theory While teachers need to use Multiple Intelligences to reach their students, student understanding of their own intelligences will be vital for their future careers in academia as well as their careers and relationships. Teachers need to make it a priority to teach their students how to recognize their strengths particularly as students are constantly on the path to self-exploration. Multiple Intelligences can play a definite role in student’s understanding of their self. Research suggests that, “children benefit from instructional approaches that help them reflect upon their own learning processes” (44). Armstrong suggests that even younger students can benefit from familiarity with Multiple Intelligences even if they understand it on a one word level at first (words, numbers, pictures, the body, music, people, the self, and nature pg 44). He also models different ways to acquaint students with their intelligences. Armstrong encourages “a learning model not for deciding which exclusive group one is a member of, but for celebrating all of one’s potentials for learning” (45). Ensuring that every student feels intelligent, the possibility of successful “end-state” (people who have developed an intelligence to a high level of competence pg 47) and even a career geared toward that intelligence. Armstrong suggests career days, field trips and biographies as ways to demonstrate Multiple Intelligences as contextually applicable (48). Creating connections and context to the real world and previous learning are pertinent to creating meaning and motivation for students as Dr. Muir’s Meaningful Engaged Learning suggests. Lesson plans, experiential activities, wall displays, stories, songs, and plays are all ways that instruction can teach Multiple Intelligences (50, 52). Multiple Intelligences also provides opportunity to build a community of learners which also creates a healthy environment for student learning through options such as MI information tables, a “human intelligence hunt,” and board games (50-52). Giving students the opportunity to understand and utilize their Multiple Intelligences can be the first step to creating effective learners.

Leanne Fasulo
Chapter four of //Multiple Intelligences// was about trying to explain what the MI theory is to students. One idea was to explain it to children using simple terminology and using examples. For instance if you wanted to talk about the spatial intelligence an easier way to call it is picture smart. Then a teacher can ask the students to raise their hands if they enjoy doing things like drawing pictures. It is important to remember to try to not be too specific, because in doing so it would alienate some children. Alienation would then cause some kids to feel like they should not try to do activities that surrounded the intelligence they believed they did not have. A few other good ideas to explain MI would be to use the intelligences by creating songs, using pie charts, and making a game out of it. This way the children could have a better way of grasping the concept. When I become a teacher I will have students old enough to understand the technical terms of MI, but there are some good ideas in this chapter about how to explain in an in depth manner. One example in the book that they gave would be to do a career day. Students who are struggling with schoolwork may feel like they are unintelligent and are not sure what their plans are after high school. By showing that they possess intelligences that people use in the real world it could open their minds up to all the things they can be and do.

Brittany Blackman
Chapter four is all about different ways to teach students about multiple intelligences, and which ones they are. I thought a lot of the suggestions were cute, especially the one where the teacher comes up with their own story or song (that is what I would like to do) or the game idea was especially creative. The only problem is, it seems like many of these ideas are geared more for little children, not separate content classes in high school. The chapter did, however, make me think of my own idea. I thought it would be beneficial if the school could come up with a collaborated project for all classes. That way, each subject could specialize in their own subject, and throughout all of the teachers could teach the eight intelligences. The music teacher, obviously, would cover music. Maybe the students help the teacher come up with their own song explaining the different intelligences, and some students could play instruments. Social studies could cover interpersonal and maybe even intrapersonal through specific historical figures. Math and English would clearly do logic and linguistic, and maybe spatial. If there is required PE, the students could come up with their own game or fitness routine for kinesthetic, or maybe in some sort of acting class. Science could cover nature. Then after a specific due date for all of the projects, the school could hold an open house where parents can come and see each of the intelligences being modeled, and their child can tell them which ones they enjoyed the most. It would be a learning experience for every student, every teacher, and even the children’s’ parents.

Evgeni Bouzakine
It is important to teach your students about the eight multiple intelligences, in order to figure out theirs. When students are more aware of what kind of intelligence they are, it provides some advantages. Students that know what intelligence they are can focus on that intelligence to further develop it. It is also critical that students know their weak intelligences as well, in order to further develop those. There are a few ways to go about figuring out their individual. There are a few pending variables such as size, age, background, and resources available. The best way of going about it is to just tell them about it. Drawing the MI pizza would which would help illustrate each intelligence using pictures and words. This is not the only way to teach your class them. You could concentrate a whole lesson on this subject. Making a project out of it could make it much more interesting than just talking about it. Have the students tell the teacher about the eight intelligences. There are many other activities: Poem, career day, self-reflecting, field trips, or asking open-ended questions.

I have several ideas to choose from when I have my own classroom. I think I will find out all of my students intelligences on the first day, as a benefit for the student and me. I am willing to try a lot of the ideas proposed in the chapter.

Richie Johnson
In reading chapter four I have realized that I cannot recall a single time in which a teacher had encouraged me to consider my own learning processes until I reached college. Perhaps this is due to a lack of awareness, but that in itself sounds ridiculous as people like Gardner and Armstrong have been introducing the notion of Multiple Intelligences for many years, and that is only one of the theories about learning processes. Anyway, this has awoken me to the importance of keeping up-to-date with the ever-growing amount of ideas and methods behind teaching. The idea Armstrong has and explains of how to explain MI is very smart and one that is relevant to introducing all new ideas. I will absolutely remain conscience of when, in the future, I too have to introduce new ideas to students. It is interactive and completely avoids singling any one learner out, thus creating a comfortable environment for everyone. The idea of encouraging every student to recognize that they are intelligent in many ways and exceptionally so in some cases makes way more sense than simply delineating which intelligences are their best and worst. Even the “multiple intelligence pizza” figure that Armstrong has created is smart; it is simple and comfortable and gets the idea across perfectly.

Kelsea Trefethen
I loved this chapter. Mainly because before reading it I was curious about whether or not it would be beneficial to teach my students about the MI theory and how I use it in my classroom. I did not know if it was some sort of secret. I wondered whether or not the student awareness of the theory would interfere with the practice of it. What I learned from this chapter was that it is extremely helpful for students to understand the MI theory. The more students know about how they learn the more they can vocalize their needs from the teacher in order to succeed. I want my students to get the most out of my classes even if it means I have to rearrange an entire unit for them. If my students and I are on the same wavelength, as far as the MI theory, we will be able to communicate those needs effectively. What the chapter stated about students entering grade school as question marks and leaving as periods is really heartbreaking. It is said to think that throughout schooling children lose confidence in themselves and their educational future. I want my students to leave my class confident and excited about the bright future ahead of them. This chapter gave a lot of great ideas as to how to present the MI theory to a class. One of the ideas I liked was a human intelligence hunt. In the hunt students were given a list of talent and the students had to find a student who could do one of the talents. This activity got kids mingling and getting to know each other and opened up conversations as far as people different multiple intelligences. All in all I am excited to teach my class about the MI theory and put it to use.

Kalib Moore
In the previous three chapters of //Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom//, the eight different intelligences seemed like a lot of information to take in all at once. I didn't expect to remember all eight intelligences until I actually sat down and studied them. It turns out that chapter four changes all of that. It is actually really easy to remember the eight intelligences and their simply put definitions. Armstrong uses the "MI Pizza" model seen on Figure 4.1 on page 46. The pizza is broken up into eight slices, with individual intelligences representing a slice of the pizza. A few simple definitions such as "people smart or word smart" later, and MI Theory is defined. (Armstrong 46-48) I found the diagram to be a simple way to introduce the idea of MI Theory to the students to see if they understood what all the intelligences represented. Armstrong then goes on to explain several different activities that could be used to enforce the "MI Pizza" diagram. I want to make my future class aware of MI Theory at the beginning of the school year. I think that it is important to teach your class about multiple intelligences and make sure they are aware that everyone has different ways they enjoy learning and that it is good to try new ways to learn. I found this chapter to be very straightforward and relieving. Something that I was once worried for is no longer an issue. I am prepared to take this newly acquired knowledge into the classroom with me.

Kyle Kuvaja
Armstrong advocates, in chapter four of //Multiple Intelligences//, one of the benefits of MI theory is it can be explained to young students and adults. Children show positive cognitive results when lessons are developed that allow self-reflection. Teaching younger children MI theory has been simplified into a five minute lesson. The lesson involves asking students about the eight intelligences in a way that they can relate to them. The point of the lesson is to make the students realize that they are involved in all eight intelligences. I felt it was very appropriate to pose the question: “What do we do in the intervening years to convince children that they’re not intelligent?”(45). Armstrong then details various activities that may be used to teach MI theory to students. The theories listed include hosting a career day, field trips, reading biographies, teaching an “eight intelligence” lesson, “MI tables” activity, and playing board games that involve all of the intelligences. One of the more interesting activities was the “human intelligence hunt”. This activity should be done early in the year, since it involves the students getting to know one another. Each student must ask the other students to perform a task from a list (each task is related to one of the eight intelligences). While the five minute lesson was an example of a classroom of younger children, I still feel that this chapter helped me develop a better understanding of how to involve students in the process of discovering the intelligences they use most often. As a future teacher, I felt that not keeping students in the dark was important and this chapter only stressed that further.

Christina L Quach
 Chapter 4 focuses on helping students understand the eight different intelligences. This is important because students can better understand their own intelligences and also those of their classmates. The chapter mentions opening up students to the idea of the eight intelligences in a way that does not make them feel like they do not possess intelligence in general. It also discusses the importance of introducing it, and reintroducing it throughout classes so that students can see where they may be using each intelligence and where they enjoy it.  I have never had a teacher, up until Practicum, teach me about different intelligence styles. It seemed to me that I needed to learn visually and by doing exercises to get hands-on experience. I think this is really important to know as a future teacher because I need to develop each intelligence as much as I can to have the best understanding possible. This will only strengthen my skills as a teacher and help me find ways to teach students when one way is not working.  Students having an understanding of the eight intelligences is important because they can see how they learn best and notice intelligences that they might want to improve on. Having them experience each intelligence is also a way for them to understand how other students enjoy learning and appreciate those differences. Also observing students do activities in different intelligence styles can be a way of understanding where students have absolutely no interest and even where they have a little. This will be important when designing lessons because it is better to spark a small interest in a student than none at all.

**Cyril Lunt**
Mr. Armstrong goes on from talking about the basics of Multiple Intelligences and moves on to teaching it to students in a way that they'd understand it. He talks about the Five-Minute Introduction to Multiple Intelligence Theory (pg. 45), a small explanation of Multiple Intelligence using an eight-pieced pie graph. He then goes into great details about how you could get students excited about Multiple Intelligences, as well as strengthen their grasps around their most proficient one and explore the other seven. These include board games, plays, stories, scavenger hunts, career day, field trips, and so on.

I generally agree with Mr. Armstrong on all of his ideas. They are solid, engaging, fun, and teach the students about Multiple Intelligence. Once a student finds out their strengths, they can apply it to their own studying. However, there is some give and take that is involved. You as a teacher need to be able to teach to their learning style, and assign homework that allows leeway for them. But I digress. I like that Mr. Armstrong has finally left the realm of describing what Multiple Intelligences is, and into how to teach others about it. Don't get me wrong, I like Multiple Intelligences, but I've been learning about it since Freshman year of college. I've had roughly four large projects on it since then, so I'm slightly burnt out on the whole learning-what-multiple-intelligences-is part of it. It's really refreshing to see the lists of //how// to use it, at least minimally.