Multiple Intelligence
“An intelligence is the ability to solve problems, or to create products, that are valued within one or more cultural setting,” states Howard Gardner, a Harvard psychologist. Gardner identifies eight kinds of intelligence, which is logical-mathematical, linguistic, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalist. Gardner’s theory has sparked many educators on redesigning their curricula to respond to differing student intelligences. (Sadker, Zittleman, Page 27) This theory is important to teachers because they can think of new ways to improve all eight intelligences like I have. In this essay I will explain my strategies on teaching in a Christian school based on Gardner’s theory on multiple intelligences in hypothetical situations.
Logical-mathematical Intelligence or “Number/Reasoning Smart”
The logical-mathematical intelligence is skills related to mathematical manipulations and discerning and solving logical problems. (Sadker, Zittleman, Page 26) This theory tells teachers that their students need to be good at solving logical problems, especially if the students want to be leaders or parents in society. Some children are very good at solving problems, especially math problems. I like math and I think using props makes math more fun. Therefore, in my classroom, I will like to have fake food, fake money, fake checks that they will be able to use to buy things from my “store.” My store will contain Christian books, pencils, pens, paper, travel games, disposal cameras, swimming goggles, and anything else that I can buy that is inexpensive. I believe this will help my students learn how to constantly do math in life. For example, I will give a fake box of pizza to a well behaved student name Jack. Then, I will give another well behaved student name Jill $10.00 in fake change, fake quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. I would then ask their classmates to do the math on their papers of how much fake money Jill needs to give Jack with the pizza box that costs $5.00 plus 6.5% tax. Jack and Jill will not be required to do the math problem. Jill will ask her classmates how much money she needs to give Jack. If Jill chooses the right answer she will get the pizza box. If she doesn’t choose the right answer, she will go to the whiteboard and do the math. I will also Jack to choose 2 people that would be considered his “workers” and he will give them 20% of what he just received. Again, the whole class will need to do the math and Jack will have to choose who he believes did the math correctly with the same consequences as Jill. Then I will ask the 4 students who received fake money to put 10% in the “church” cup. The “church” cup is the cup for the entire class to contribute 10% of any fake money I give them. The more fake money the “church” cup has, the more it can buy field trips, cupcake parties, etc. I will pay with my own money for these things to happen. Each student will have a “personal” cup, in their desks where they will place all of their fake money, which they can use to buy things from my “store.” And everything in my store has prices without tax, so they always need to do the tax when they want to buy something. All of my students will have the opportunity to receive fake money by finding items at a real store with their parents or finding items online and writing down items they like in their Math Journal. They will need to write down the price, the price after tax and the total amount. Also, they can earn more fake money by writing stories of math problems they encounter on a daily basis. If the math problems glorify God they can receive even more fake money. The purpose is to show them that God wants them to do math in His Kingdom.
Linguistic intelligence or “Word Smart”
The linguistic intelligence is sensitivity to the meanings, sounds and rhythms of words, as as to the function of language as a whole. (Sadker, Zittleman, Page 26) This theory tells teachers that they need to teach students how to read. Many children struggle with word meanings. I find it important to require each of my students to have a dictionary that they will use on a daily basis. For example, each week I will give all of the students a paper full of vocabulary words. Then, each day I will assign a word to each student to look up in their dictionary and each one will read the definition out loud, while their classmates write down the definition. Also, I will give them time to write in their Writing Journal a story that contains 3 of the vocabulary words read that day. The more vocabulary words they write in their journal, the more fake money I will give them and again, I will give them more fake money if their writing somehow glorifies God. The purpose of this is to show my students that God wants to communicate with them.
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence or “Body Smart”
The bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is the ability to excel physically and to handle objects skillfully. (Sadker, Zittleman, Page 26) This theory tells teachers that it is important to teach their students how to control their bodies. It is important for children to be able to move their body. Every morning I will play a Christian song on Youtube with lyrics and all of the students will have to copy my movements and sing the song. Then, I will pick out a well behaved student to take over and be a leader. I will then grab a world beach ball and throw it at students for them to catch it and throw it back to me. For example, I choose a student name Bob to lead the students and as all the students are copying the movements of Bob I throw a world beach ball to a student name Sally and she then throws it back to me and then automatically goes back to copying Bob. The movements will be to always step back and forth with small arm movements. The purpose of this exercise is to help the students with their reflex skills and to release some of their energy. I will give Bob fake money and all the students who are able to catch the world ball, throw it back to me, and then get back to copying Bob.
Musical intelligence or “Music Smart”
The musical intelligence is the ability to produce pitch and rhythm, as well as to appreciate various forms of music expression. (Sadker, Zittleman, Page 26) This theory tells teachers that they need to teach children how to produce pitch and rhythm. I want all of my students to be able to sing well, so I will give all of them solo parts for all of the songs we sing in the class. For example, I hand out each student sheet music that has lyrics of a song with a highlighted part. I will ask the students to sing the entire song together by only singing their highlighted part. Then, I will play the song for them to listen to, play it again for all of them to sing the entire song together and then I will play one last time, but with only the background music and ask the students to sing their highlighted part. Also, I will tell the students that they can make fake money if they perform in front of the class singing a Christian song or bring in a video of them singing a Christian song for the entire class to watch. Each time a student does that I will give the entire classroom 3 fake dollars and each student will need to give the “church” cup 10% and 5%t to the student that performed. The purpose of this is to show that they need to appreciate their classmates talents and support them.
Spatial intelligence or “Picture Smart”
The spatial intelligence is the ability to form a mental model of the spatial world and to maneuver and operate using that model. (Sadker, Zittleman, Page 26) This theory tells teachers that they need to teach students build something from memory. I want my students to be able to think with pictures. I want them to be able to think with pictures when I read to them. For example, I will read from a Kids Bible or a Christian book during reading time. While they listen, they are required to draw what they can see of what I am reading to them. Since, they are young children I will only stick to very gentle stories. Like Jesus preaching at a temple or a book about children that learn the importance of being kind. If the students allow me to post up their drawings on the class wall. I will give them fake money. Also, I will quiz them with questions like how many girls are in the classroom, boys in the classroom, students in the classroom, and play Ispy. Whoever is very good at the game will receive fake money. The purpose of this is for my students to get in the habit of checking out all of the details of their surroundings, so that way it can create a better memory.
Interpersonal intelligence “People Smart”
The interpersonal intelligence is to analyze and respond to the motivations, moods, and desires of other people. (Sadker, Zittleman, Page 26) This theory tells teachers that need to teach students how to interact with different people. I am a fan of History, especially Christian History and the Holy Bible. So I want my students to understand the way people work by studying people’s motivations in the past. I want to ask my students a lot of “why” questions. For example, I will read a story about Jesus healing someone. Then, I will ask the student why they believe Jesus healed a person. As the students answer I will write down their replies on the whiteboard. Then, I will ask the students why they believe their parents buy them food and then I write down their replies on the whiteboard. Then, I will tell them about a personal story of being a lifeguard and how I knew how important it was to enforce the rules because some people who didn’t listen to the rules I had to end up saving them. Like a little girl that went down a slide where she was supposed to know how to swim. She said she did, but she didn’t and I had to jump in the water to save her before she drowned. I will then ask the students if they feel motivated to help people like Jesus did or their parents help them because every day they are able to turn in a paper filled with things that they did for their parents with their parent’s signature and receive fake money. The purpose of this will help my students not forget that it’s important to help others.
Intrapersonal intelligence or “Self Smart”
The intrapersonal intelligence is the knowledge of one’s feelings, needs, strengths and weaknesses; ability to use this knowledge to guide behavior. (Sadker, Zittleman, Page 26) This theory tells teachers that students need to know who they are. I want my students to know themselves well. I will require each student to have a “About Me” journal. I will require each student to write down verses that declare who God says they are. Then, I will every day during writing time I will hand them a survey and they will need to write the answers in their journal. The survey questions will ask them questions about what their favorite thing to do is, who their favorite people are in the Holy Bible, who their parents are, what their parents do, who their siblings are, etc. If they bring in pictures to post on the classroom wall of them with their families, friends, etc. then I will give them fake money. I will also have a camera and I will take a picture of each student. I will print out two copies. One for them to take home and another for them to give me to post up on the classroom wall and I will give them fake money if they give me the 2nd photo. I will also give fake money in the “church” cup if all of them allow me to take pictures and videos of them. The purpose of this is to help my students know that they are important to God.
Naturalist intelligence or “Environment Smart”
The naturalist intelligence is the ability to discriminate among living things, to classify plants animals, and minerals; ability to nurture animals and grow plants; a sensitivity to the natural world. (Sadker, Zittleman, Page 26) This theory tells teachers that students need to know how to identify different plants and birds, so the students can take care of them correctly. I will have bring in plants and fish for the class and name the plants the plant name of the fish by the fish name. For example, I will bring in a blue orchid and tell the students the plants’ nickname is “orchid” and a yellow butterfly halfmoon betta and tell the students the fish’s nickname is “betta”. Each day a student is able to volunteer to feed the fish and water the plant and receive fake money. I will also use Google Earth to show 3D imagery of places around the world during Geography time and the students will be asked to write down what they believe the people that live there do to take care of their environment. For instance, I’ll show them Egypt and show them a picture of a camel and then ask them what kind of food they think camels eat. I will also take them outside once in a while, each student will be given a small bucket of water with seeds and a plastic bag to pick up the trash they are about to make. They will plant their seeds and water plants. Then, I will get them to try to throw the best paper airplane by allowing them to make many. The student who makes an airplane that flies the farthest will get fake money. Then, they will have free time to throw paper planes through the hula hoops I have pinned around the area. Afterwards, I will ask the students to pick up the paper airplanes. After they give me the airplanes I will recycle the paper. The student who picks up the most will get fake money. The purpose of this is to show them that God wants them to maintain the earth by making it look more beautiful.
In all, I can see that this theory has really helped me think about establishing a system in my classroom. I am not surprised to learn that many teachers use this knowledge to their advantage on how to build their curriculum.
Researcher Mindy L. Kornhaber has suggested that the theory of multiple intelligences is so popular within the field of education because it validates educators' everyday experience: students think and learn in many different ways. It also provides educators with a conceptual framework for organizing and reflecting on curriculum assessment and pedagogical practices. In turn, this reflection has led many educators to develop new approaches that might better meet the needs of the range of learners in their classrooms. (Cherry, Kendra)
I hope to keep this essay as a guideline on how to plan and operate with teaching anything to my nephews, nieces and my friend’s children. Also, I hope to hold on to it if God allows me to teach 5th graders, so it reminds me of what and how I should teach.
References
Cherry, Kendra. "How Howard Gardner Developed the Theory of Multiple Intelligences." About. Abouteducation, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.
Sadker, David Miller, and Karen R. Zittleman. Teachers, Schools, and Society. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013. Print.My "store" will contain things like this..
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