Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom - Chapter 7 Synthesis

Team 4

Practicum Block 1

10/23/2007

Reflection on Reading

Book: Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom - Armstrong

Chapter: 7 – MI and the Classroom Environment

Write a brief abstract of the chapter:

Chapter seven is about the physicality of the classroom and how it can be adapted to the eight intelligences. It discusses how there are aspects of the classroom that must be observed when dealing with the intelligences. For example with linguistic learners you should be aware of how much you are speaking, enough? Too little? You should also be aware of the amount of text on the walls, versus the amount of pictures. For logical thinkers you should be aware of how much structured time is in class. For spatial learners how is the room arranged? Is the room visually stimulating? Or is it boring? Is there a feeling of clutter or spaciousness in the learning environment? For bodily-kinesthetic learners you should keep in mind how much time students spend sitting down, and whether or not they have materials to use with their hands for them to manipulate. Musical intelligences should be in an environment that promotes auditory learning. With interpersonal students you should be aware of opportunities for students to interact with one another, and for intrapersonal students you should be aware of opportunities to work independently. And finally naturalistic students should be in an atmosphere where they have the opportunity to interact with the outdoors at times; whether it be physically going outside, or having a pet/plant in the classroom. The chapter ends with a discussion of the use of activity centers being utilized for each intelligence; giving students the opportunity to learn how they do best in an environment that is encouraging and setup for them to succeed.

How did you connect to the reading? And briefly reflect on your thoughts.

We really liked chapter seven because it stressed just how much we should care about the physical aspects of our classrooms. All too often we wonder why our students do not excel at the same consistency, and sometimes it has nothing to do with the content, but their surrounding environment. We liked this chapter and the examples it gave. From personal experience I can say that classrooms with natural lighting, musical components, where we moved around and had discussion, while working independently, were much more effective than the window less cookie-cutter classroom. We especially liked the concept of quadrants in the class to help with adapting to intelligences.