Synthesis Chapter 3 MI in the Classroom

As a group, we have written that chapter 3 basically discusses the fact that even though there are 8 intelligences, every student will have a dominant 2 0r 3 (but will also of course have the potential to develop all 8 to a functional point). The chapter stated that as a teacher, it is important for us to stretch not only our students' thinking (in order to develop their other intelligences), but also to constantly be asking more of ourselves. We thought this was especially pertinent in the areas that we are most "fluent" in -- for example, if a teacher is excellent linguistically, maybe trying to enhance his or her logistical skills would benefit the class.

The second part of the chapter that we all mentioned was the fact that the methods mentioned to discover students' intelligences were very varied. Some methods involved straight out asking the children how they learn, others were more discreet, like looking at past exam records and student report cards. Our favorite however--and this was group-wide-- was the "examining misbehavior" method. None of us had ever of thought to see what a child does when they act out as a way to help the child, but it makes perfect sense. Making that new discovery was very enriching for us.

Reflection-wise, a lot of us learned in this chapter a lot about why some of our educators did what they did. It's a pretty strange feeling that we are now learning about what we once were subjected to.

On a different note, some of us stated that taking the time to cater to each intelligence every class may be very time (and class) consuming. Also, knowing that one student may not "get" your lesson at all because it's not in their intelligence seems daunting.