Multiple_Intelligences

Word Count: 1759 The Multiple Intelligences: Incorporating Into the Classroom Intelligence is something we all have. It is the way our minds process and break down information into what we know as facts and knowledge. Howard Gardner, a theorist and psychologist, explains intelligence to be, “…the ability to solve problems, or to create products, that are valued within one or more cultural settings.” (Gardner, 5) As his definition of intelligence explains to us one of the most important tools of the human mind he also theorized that there was more than just one intelligence. He formulated a list of seven intelligences he called the “multiple intelligences.” Gardner explained the multiple intelligences as part of the individual, seeing every one persons’ intelligence as individualistic. These seven multiple intelligences were named the verbal/linguistic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, musical, kinesthetic, logical/mathematical, and visual/spatial intelligences. The seven and later an eighth called the naturalistic intelligence were said to not be individual but all work together in some way. Once theorized, the intelligences became the framework for meeting the needs of the individual in classrooms abroad. Gardner strongly believed in the success of the individual which is why he geared this towards teachers and the learner. Teachers should incorporate the multiple intelligences into their everyday lessons to meet the needs of the individual. One of the most common and focused on multiple intelligences is the verbal/linguistic intelligence. The verbal/linguistic intelligence is characterized by a person who has well-developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the sounds, meanings and rhythms of words. (Birmingham Grid for Learning) People with a highly developed verbal/linguistic intelligence normally display a lot of skill with words and language. Their auditory skills often tend to be very developed, and they learn best when they can speak, listen, read or write. In the classroom, we often see that a teacher will have students silent read or will lecture to the students about the subject. Someone with the verbal/linguistic intelligence is also able to manipulate words for a variety of reasons including debating, persuasion, storytelling, poetry or instruction. (Silver, 7) At Lockwood Elementary in Mrs.Pirtle’s fourth grade class it was evident that some students had this intelligence and that she did focus on it. One way she focused on this intelligence was that every day she would have the students write about whatever they wanted to in a journal. The journals wouldn’t be read by her but she wanted to let them have time to write and express their ideas on paper. Another way she incorporated this intelligence into the classroom was by having short mini lectures with the class where the students would interact in conversation. These lectures not only assisted the students with the verbal/linguistic intelligence but also those with the interpersonal intelligence. The interpersonal intelligence can be shown as the ability to understand the feelings and goals of other people. (Andrews, 35) In which case, people with the interpersonal intelligence frequently work well with other people and are normally described as extroverts. (Silver, 8) Mrs.Pirtle would often concentrate on this intelligence by letting them work in groups as much as possible while still maintaining a balance with working alone. (Pirtle) Interpersonally intelligent people learn best when they can relate to people and she saw that when she decided that students would work in groups. Other ways that the interpersonal intelligence can be incorporated into the classroom is a class play, class discussions, and celebrations of holidays such as parties. (Schiller, various pages) These sorts of group activities are great examples that can be used to support those with the interpersonal intelligence. In contrast to the interpersonal intelligence is the intrapersonal intelligence. The intrapersonal intelligence, also known as being self-smart, is the ability to gain access to one’s own feelings and emotional states. (Silver, 8) Someone with the intrapersonal intelligence is often someone who will like to work alone. They work alone because they tend to trust their own self-understanding of the task to be done. In Mrs.Pirtle’s class she seemed to also pay close attention to these students because her class did a lot of group work. As stated above, she would have them write in their journals for ten minutes a day which helped them with identifying with their own ideals and feelings. Identifying those with the intrapersonal intelligence can be easy because mostly all they need to do is be alone. One of the hardest intelligences to incorporate into the classroom is the musical intelligence. The musical intelligence is explained as the ability to produce melody and rhythm, as well as to understand, appreciate and form opinions about music. (Silver, 8) Examples of the musical intelligence include being able to sing in key, keep tempo, analyze musical forms, or creating musical form. People with this intelligence will often listen to music that is non-verbal while doing homework or studying. They learn best by song or rhythm and often pick up pitches in others’ voices and rhythms as well. (Schiller) This intelligence can be linked to the verbal/linguistic intelligence because of the fact that one with the musical intelligence does a lot of listening and also producing things to help themselves learn. An example used in the classroom to accommodate those with the musical intelligence was the use of making up a song about Washington State’s regions. This was very helpful to a lot of students in the class because they memorized the song and were able to sing it in their head during the test. Along with the song we added hand motions which also benefitted the students with the kinesthetic intelligence. (Pirtle) Many would think that at the elementary school level students are more of the kinesthetic intelligence. The kinesthetic intelligence are those who learn better by involving muscular movement and are very aware of their own bodily movement. (Silver, 8) They have the ability to use one’s whole body to skillfully express ideas and feelings and facility in using one’s hands to produce or transform things. For example, an athlete completes a task in their sport or a carpenter manipulating wood to make a structure. (Schiller, 13) Those with strong bodily-kinesthetic intelligence seem to use what might be termed “muscle memory” which means they remember things through their body such as verbal memory or images. (Armstrong) This intelligence is often ignored as students progress into their school years according to third grade teacher Luanne Matsumoto. To be able to reach these students they do body movements such as clapping their hands or doing gestures that will help them remember the facts that go along with it. Another intelligence theorized by Gardner was the logical/mathematical intelligence. The logical/mathematical intelligence is often characterized by numbers but can also be explained by thinking abstractly or logically about problems. (Birmingham Grid for Learning) Although it is typically assumed that those with this intelligence naturally excel in mathematics, chess, computer programming and other logical or numerical activities, a better definition emphasizes traditional mathematical ability and more reasoning capabilities, abstract patterns of recognition, scientific thinking and investigation, and the ability to perform complex calculations. (Gardner, 62) In the classroom this was a difficult one to grasp, but at the same time it was easy once it got going. Students did math everyday and the curriculum was set up with different kinds of problems that would help a student think logically or abstractly to get the answer. This helped because Mrs.Pirtle did not have to think of extra ways to supply activities for students with this intelligence. Questions that ask for explanations in almost any subject can force a child to think abstractly because it helps them use reasoning to back up their answer. Also, children who are logic smart respond well to “what if” questions. (Schiller, 13) One of the most commonly disregarded intelligences is the visual/spatial intelligence. The visual/spatial intelligence, also known as picture-smart, can be defined by the capacity to think in images and pictures, to visualize accurately and abstractly. Those with the visual intelligence are often good with art and other activities where one would look at pictures, like map reading. (Birmingham Grid for Learning) They have a strong visual memory and are often artistically inclined. Students with visual-spatial intelligence also ordinarily have a very good sense of direction and may have very good hand-eye coordination, although this is normally thought to be a characteristic of the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. (Silver, 14) In the classroom, art projects were assigned as a part of the everyday lesson. Oftentimes students were able to color what they saw in a book they were reading or a sign for a business they designed in social studies. (Pirtle) Art was not the only way that they were able to develop themselves, but they also built small battery powered lights in science which correlated with hand-eye coordination. The visual/spatial intelligence is probably one of the easiest intelligences to accommodate because using pictures and giving art projects is already a large part of school today, but is often ignored by not giving them their own chance at developing art. The last, or eighth, intelligence is the naturalistic intelligence. This intelligence was the last one theorizes and later added in 1997 by Howard Gardner. (Gardner, 48) The naturalist demonstrates expertise in the recognition of the classification of the numerous species, the flora and fauna, of his or her environment. (Gardner, 48) One with this intelligence could be recognized as someone who has the ability to relate and actively observe nature. Someone in our everyday lives that would be considered a person with the naturalist intelligence would be a botanist, biologist, archaeologist, geologist or forest ranger. (Schiller, 14) The perfect unit for those with the naturalistic intelligence was an ecosystems unit that Mrs.Pirtle’s class did. They were able to recognize the nature that was within’ the ecosystems they made in a terrarium. (Pirtle) According to teacher, Mrs.Pirtle, that unit was one of the only ways that she could have incorporated the naturalistic intelligence into the classroom. Dr.Thomas Armstrong once said, “The theory of multiple intelligences is so intriguing because it expands our horizon of available teaching/learning tools beyond the conventional linguistic and logical methods used in most schools.” I completely agree with Dr.Armstrong and also with Howard Gardner’s approach that each learner is an individual and learns in their own special way. As teachers we must be able to reach all students’ needs and the theory of multiple intelligences gives us the framework to be able to meet those needs as learners. I fully believe in this theory and will use it as framework when I become a teacher in the future.