Multiple Intelligences:Let ‘em show you how they’re smart!

Diana BeasleyApril 17, 2007

East Carolina University

Some facts about me:

Name 3 things you like to do in nature.Write the name of a favorite song you like to sing.Write down a physical exercise you are able and willing to do.When alone, I like to..

Name something you recently read.List 3 words that express your feelings about math.Draw your bedroom as it looks right now.Describe someone you really admire.

BELIEFS: Students are one-of-a kind individuals with unique strengths, weaknesses, aptitudes, interests, and capabilities.Well educated students acquire a background in academics, arts, and in critical and creative thinking.By knowing who they are and what they can do, students love of learning, excitement about life, and self-confidence becomes a bedrock for lifelong growth and success.

What is INTELLIGENCE?Webster’s defines it as:

The power of knowingThe ability to understand

and/or deal with new situations

The skilled use of reason

1916 Intelligence Quotient (IQ)Mental Age (MA)Chronological Age (CA)MA/CA X 100 = IQAverage is 100Tests mostly Verbal and Math skills, some Visual/Spatial

How Intelligences Develop:

Intelligence

Biological Endowment

“nature”

Personal LifeHistory

“nurture”

Cultural/HistoricBackground“time/place”

Howard Gardner (1943- )Graduated from Boston School of Medicine in Neurology.Harvard Graduate School professor and psychologist in cognition and education.He defines intelligence as: “an ability to solve problems or fashion products that are valued in one or more cultures.”The question is not “How smart am I?” but rather “How am I smart?”It is how we learn, process, and understand information.Theory of Multiple Intelligences consists of 8 types of intelligence.

Dr. Howard Gardner, HarvardFrames of Mind, 1983

Teaching students about their intelligence strengths helps them be self-advocates in their learning.

Intelligence is not singular. Multiple intelligences can be identified and described.

Rarely do they work alone, rather intelligences are combined in our activities. One can enhance another.

Each person is a unique blend of dynamic intelligences which grow, expand and develop throughout life.

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

Verbal/LinguisticLogical/MathematicalVisual/SpatialMusical/Rhythmic

Bodily/KinestheticInterpersonalIntrapersonalNaturalist

Name of Intelligence(Nickname and Brief description)

Famous people whoshow high levels of

this intelligence.

Characteristics of thestudent with high level

of this intelligence

Best teaching practices. How can

material be presented?

Best assessment strategies. How can

students show mastery?

Verbal/LinguisticThe ability to read, write, and communicate with wordsThe ability to use language to express one’s thoughts and to understand other people orally or in writing

Logical/MathematicalThe ability to reason and calculateEnables individuals to use and appreciate abstract relationsThe ability to manipulate numbers, quantities,operations,etc.

Visual/SpatialThe ability to think in pictures and visualize future resultsThe ability to imagine things in your mind’s eyeThe ability to perceive spatial information

Musical/RhythmicThe ability to create, communicate, and understand meanings made out of soundThe ability to compose music, to sing, and to keep rhythmThe ability to hear music, tones, and larger musical patterns

Bodily/KinestheticAllows individuals to use all or part of one’s body to create products, solve problems, or present ideas and emotionsUsing the body in highly differentiated ways for expressive, recreational, or goal directed purposes

InterpersonalEnables individuals to recognize and make distinctions among others’ feelings and intentionsThe ability to work effectively with others and display empathy

IntrapersonalThe ability to distinguish among an individual’s own feelings, to accurate mental models of themselves, and use them to make decisions about lifeThe capacity to know one’s self

NaturalistAllows one to distinguish among, classify, and use features of the environmentThe ability to discriminate among living things and to see patterns in the natural world

Qualities of an Effective TeacherPositiveCommunicativeDependablePersonableOrganizedCommittedMotivationalResourceful

CompassionateFlexiblePerceptiveEthicalKnowledgeableCreativePatientSense of Humor

Questions to Ponder:

What does it mean to be a multiple intelligences teacher?How can I do a better job of teaching to diverse intelligences?What are my strongest /weakest intelligences?What are my goals? Will this benefit my students?

QUALITY EDUCATIONRigor

RelationshipsRelevance

Sources of Information:http://www.ga.unc.edu/NCTA/NCTA/TAmultint.htmhttp://www.indiana.edu/~intell/gardner.shtmlNC Teacher Academy, 2003. Multiple Intelligences Participant Manual.Silver, Harvey F., 2000. So Each May Learn,ASCD.