MI+Chapter+11+Block+2


 * Synthesis and Reflection- Evgeni Bouzakine **

The eleventh chapter of //Multiple Intelligence//, by Thomas Armstrong, focuses on Special Education students and MI theory. Teachers already have a difficult time[| reaching all of their students multiple intelligences]. All students have one area of disability that relate to the multiple intelligences. When handling a special Education student, some of those areas of disability are more drastic. The MI theory allows us to think of special needs students in term of __growth paradigm__. This paradigm does not focus on labels, but focuses on the strengths of the student. It also assists learning through a variety of ways. When we teach some one with special needs we can focus on the strengths and go from there. However there is another paradigm where it focuses on labels and focuses on their weaknesses. __Deficit paradigm__ does this to special need students. Deficit paradigm focuses on separating these students from the rest of the class rather than including them in more. Looking at special needs students for their strengths rather than their weaknesses is goes a long way helping students learn. As I read through the entries I noticed many of the my classmates agree that many students have a weak intelligence of some sort. Focusing on the strength of a student rather than the weakness would boost their confidence. Forming effective IEP’s were also important to many of you. But the main focus was that students should be [|incorporated into the classroom] in some way and getting rid of programs that only focus on the weaknesses of the students. toc

Kelsea Trefethen
Chapter 11 MI was dedicated to indicating ways the MI Theory can be used to meet the needs of students with special needs. I was really excited to read this chapter because I am currently working on an assignment, which relates to special needs and classroom environment. This was an important chapter for me to read because, honestly, meeting the needs of all my students especially those with specific or special needs is one of my biggest concerns. I am afraid I will not be able to reach a student or that I won’t know how to help them. When the chapter introduced the concept of deficit paradigms and growth paradigms, it reminded me of my SED101 course. My professor, Dr. Tiana Povenmire-Kirk would always encourage us to say, “that student has autism” instead of saying “that student is autistic.” This idea and the idea of a growth paradigm is clear to me. Students with special needs should not be defined by that need, that need should be defined by them. I really liked Figure 11.2. This figure listed a series of successful disabled individual from each multiple intelligence category. I would love to use one of these individuals to motivate my students. I would like to find a way to present the individual and there success without really highlighting their disability. I think it is important for it to be known, but I also want my students to appreciate the value of their success without considering their disability. I would just like to note that I really admire the quote at the very beginning of the chapter, “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you will help them to become what they are capable of being” –Goethe.

Leanne Fasulo
The eleventh chapter of //Multiple Intelligences// focuses on special education and the MI theory. Using the MI theory with students who are placed in special education can be very useful. The theory allows the focus to change from what the student cannot do to what they can do. With special education and the MI theory a student can have an individual program that uses their strengths to help them learn in a more successful way. A lot of the time a student will have an IEP using a strategy that they are not advanced in the MI theory can change this. It is important to let a student uses their strengths, no matter if they are in special education or not, because it can build confidence. If a student is confident in what they are doing they will most likely take risks, and achieve so much more. The MI theory can also be useful to teachers, because if they notice their students’ strengths they will have an easier time appreciating and understanding the students. It could build a better teacher-student relationship, which is essential in learning. While I may not become certified to teach special education, I am sure that I will have some of the students in it in my classroom. I think the MI theory should be focused on in special education programs, because I can see how strong the benefits would be. If a student knows that they have strengths they will probably try harder in school, and will gain more confidence in themselves to do even better.

Johnny Buys
Chapter 11: MI Theory and Special Education Multiple Intelligence theory complicates the classroom enough by focusing on every student’s strong and weak intelligences. The different levels are fostered and tiered for understanding already for classes making for further complications. Throw in special education for teachers who are already underprepared to handle the skills necessary, and teaching is a downright complicated circus. Multiple Intelligence Theory creates an avenue from which to work with special educations students’ strengths. Multiple Intelligence Theory as a “growth paradigm” involves comprehending special education as working with, “difficulties or disabilities but does so within the context of regarding special-needs students as basically healthy, or ‘neurodiverse,’ individuals” (150). Armstrong also encourages the study of “successful disabled individuals as models for growth” (151). Teachers need to create real world context across the board for every student. These views of students become influential based on “research on the ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ or ‘Pygmalion effect’ suggests that the ways in which educators view a student can have a subtle but significant effect upon the quality of teaching the student receives and may help determine the student’s ultimate success or failure in school” (153). This effect’s profound impact on the students should always be on the forefront of teaching decision making. Focusing on intelligence strengths results in “fewer referrals to special education classes,” the special educator as a Multiple Intelligence Theory consultant, increased self-esteem for students, and “increased understanding and appreciation of students” (157-159). Understanding special education through the lens of Multiple Intelligence Theory will drastically change the roles and responsibilities of special education in the classroom.

Kyle Kuvaja
Chapter eleven of //Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom// looks at how multiple intelligence theory can be applied to special education. MI theory gives some educators a model that can help them view children with special needs in a whole new way. Teachers can view these children as “whole persons” having different strengths (149). Armstrong leads into a discussion about the Growth Paradigm. He believes that disabilities occur in all of the intelligences. This explains why some people have trouble reading, but can easily learn any musical instrument. Treating students with special needs in the classroom appropriately is important. The “Pygmalion” effect says that students are affected by how teachers’ view their students. Forming effective IEPs requires knowledge of MI theory. Educators would not know what activities would be most effective for children in their plans. Armstrong believes that fewer children could be referred to special education classes and there could be more emphasis on identifying strengths of all students (159). I feel that addressing MI theory with regards to special education is important. Armstrong’s application of this theory to children with special needs is interesting. I have always tried to look at the strengths within everyone, so I feel that incorporating this theory into the classroom should be relatively easy. SED 101 was a useful stepping stone into the education field, but this chapter was a perfect supplement. Armstrong helped me understand the importance of looking at individual students even more before forming IEPs.

Kalib Moore
Chapter 11 of //Multiple Intelligence Theory// by Thomas Armstrong is about MI Theory in relation to special needs students. Like previous chapters, Armstrong explains that students can have special needs in any of the eight intelligences whether it is "dyslexia (linguistic deficit) and dyscalculia (logical-mathematical deficit)" (Armstrong 150) students are going to have special needs, and as a teacher, you need to be aware of all the different students. Armstrong points out that teachers with special needs students are more likely to put a larger emphasis on pointing out students strengths and boosting his or her self-esteem. (159) The only issue I found with this was that it would be more difficult to give students with special needs feedback. I don't think that it is fair to not give students with special needs feedback. They want to be treated the same as everyone else in the class and will be perfectly okay with receiving feedback the same way the rest of the class does. As a future teacher I plan on incorporating multiple intelligence theory into my entire class including students with special needs. They are going to have strengths and weaknesses just like the rest of the class and that will be fine.

Tyler Oren
Chapter Eleven of Multiple Intelligences by Thomas Armstrong opens with him discussing the possibilities of the multiple intelligence theory in a classroom, first as a new perspective for looking at a student who has special needs, instead of classifying the student as “developmentally challenged, slow” or even worse “stupid” as a student who is highly intelligent in a way that conventional teacher does not engage. Such a perspective instantaneously creates a much more positive atmosphere that can foster growth much more effectively than a negative one. Armstrong highlights his disapproval of traditional teaching’s style of teaching to a deficit paradigm that is focusing on what students cannot do rather than what they can, the growth paradigm. The growth paradigm keeps students connected and streamlined with the rest of their peers and keeps real-life context in instruction which is key in teaching any student. Armstrong touches on the self-fulfilling prophecy and the Pygmalion effect which refer to the student and teachers perception of the learner respectively. By sending a student to a special needs class it can easily destroy their confidence and cause to begin to think of themselves as less capable than their peers, such thinking creates an atmosphere do detrimental to learning that the student’s success drops dramatically. Armstrong has strong feelings towards special education, but his most general stance towards the institution is that far less students should be referred to such classes and that teachers should focus on identifying strengths rather than weaknesses when teaching.

Evgeni Bouzakine
This chapter eleven focuses on Special Education and the Multiple Intelligences. I know that at some point in my classroom I will have to know how to meet the demands of someone who is part of the special education program. I find it really crucial to provide a student like this, with the same opportunity to learn as any other student in the classroom. Multiple Intelligences is like a language (Intelligence language). If I find the right language to use when I am teaching the student will eventually learn the information. It could take multiple tries, but I am confident I can accomplish this. In IEP (individualized educational programs) meetings tend to focus on weakness. Focus on the strengths and not their weaknesses, otherwise I could get frustrated. If every student is treated equally, any student can achieve success in a regular classroom. I will continue to improve myself to be the best and brightest teachers I can be. At the IEP I will try to focus on the strengths of my student rather than the weaknesses. I sometimes focus on the negative of everything. I need to quickly change my attitude to be an even better teacher.

Brittany Blackman
Chapter 11 is about special education. The chapter brings up a very good point, that every intelligence also has a specific disability that affects that intelligence. An example of this would be dyslexia or dyscalculia. This is a whole other “integration” of the MI theory that I hadn’t considered. The good thing is that all you need to do is compensate them in a way that uses their other intelligences. For example, you can use brail to compensate dyslexic students. Sometimes it’s as simple as seeing a therapist or using other human resources. The more important connection that this book makes to special education is the schools getting rid of a special education program. If the classroom contains all of the MI theories and can compensate all of them, you wouldn’t need to have special placements. I think this is the best integration of the MI theory they have mentioned so far. Schools would be a much better place if everyone were equal in the classroom. If every student understood that everyone has different strengths and weaknesses and that us as students can compensate them in ways that will allow them to succeed.

Richie Johnson
Chapter 11 of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom carried on with Armstrong’s thought-provoking ideas. It honed in on using MI theory with students who have special needs. Oddly, I had not previously thought of this, but am very excited to have read about it all the same! Adjusting lessons in order to cater to every student’s learning ability is terribly important, and the notion of using MI theory, at least in part, to do so is exciting! Despite only being “in the field” for two days, I have witnessed many big gaps in learning abilities and styles within classes, and have found that such is common. Accordingly, having a great understanding of ways in which to accommodate for this, through many sources, is important. I really appreciate one of the opening sentences of this chapter, where Armstrong articulates that through “ Using MI theory as a backdrop, educators can begin to perceive children with special needs as whole persons possessing strengths in many intelligence areas” (149). Focusing on a student’s strengthened intelligence, and using it in way of strengthening weaker intelligences, makes far more sense than simply spotlighting what the student’s weaknesses are!
 * //Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom//: Chapter 11**

===Christina L Quach ===  Chapter 11 is about the impact that MI theory can have on the education of a student with special needs. Armstrong says, “[MI theory] acknowledges difficulties or disabilities but does so within the context of regarding special-needs students as basically healthy, or ‘neurodiverse,’ individuals. MI theory suggests that ‘learning disabilities,’ for example may occur in all eight intelligences (150).” These students should be treated the same as others when it comes to the way people use their intelligences. Though one intelligence may not be too developed, the student may be able to use a different intelligence very well that plays to their advantage. Another thing that stuck out was MI theory and IEP’s. Armstrong said that often the focus of a student’s IEP is what they cannot do, or they are weak at. He believes that with MI theory, studying what the student is good at can really help the student benefit the most out of their education.  In SED 101 we learned about IEPs. We went through them and filled them out for some students. I would not say that the IEPs were negative, but they did focus more on what the student needed to achieve, which is appropriate. Though I think they should go more in depth about the things a student can do. What I really enjoy about MI theory is that it is meant to help the students learn in ways that are comfortable and beneficial to them. Armstrong is right when he mentions focusing on what a student can do. This is the opportunity teachers have to make a difference for these students. Special Education with an emphasis on MI theory is a way that teachers can change these students’ educations to make learning more enjoyable and the classroom environment safe.