Multiple Intelligences



http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.martin/files/multiple_intelligences_diagram

 Everyone is out there in the world trying to be noticed. When your between the ages of 5 - 18yrs. you can only be noticed in certain ways within the educational institution. You can be the athlete, the class clown, the smart one in the class perhaps the teachers pet or even the popular one.

I didn't fit into the schools institutional mold of a "smart" student. I always thought differently. I misinterpreted instructions and went off on a totally different path for assignment then what the teacher expected me to do and couldn't understand why Sally's boring black and white statistical diagram got an ninety while my colourful poster only got a fifty . I was excited when I heard amount Gardner's Multiple intelligences, because I knew I was smart, just a different kind of smart that my teacher didn't notice (which is a real self esteem crusher when your a little kid). So I went to this web site and took the test to figure out what kind intelligence I possessed. http://www.businessballs.com/howardgardnermultipleintelligences.htm#multiple%20intelligences%20tests

What I discovered was that I had four types of intelligences all with close scores of each other. First and most strongest was interpersonal, then bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal and finally linguistic.

 Gardner also has an intelligence description which explains what type of learner you are and your preferred learning style, so for example interpersonal people who have a strong ability to relate to people prefer to learn by human contact, communications and cooperation, and team work. This is a contrast to my almost as strong intrapersonal intelligence which is self-awareness who's learning style is self-reflection and self discovery. Which explains why I like to work in groups but on some occasions it is just to overwhelming to work with other people.

I believe that no matter what your contribution to society is, whether you clean cars, sell cars or own the business of cars, it definitely worth while to learn about yourself and apply your strengths to your every day life.

I hope you know...





http://www.thesexywallpapers.com/images/wallpapers/nature-438907.jpegtion

 

You can do this !

Go Tammy GO!

Ok I know this may be silly, but my favorite show Friday Night Lights just started up again for the season .

I love the character of Tammy Taylor! She is a mother of two and has just left her prestigious job as a principal at the "rich" high school, and crossed the rail road tracks following her football coach  husband  to "lower class" high school. It is a classic east vs. west competition between the two schools.

She was asked to step down from her job as principal because she advised a pregnant student of all her options, which the school board did not think was appropriate. Here is the best part. When there was a town meeting and Tammy Taylor was suppose to publicly apologize to the school board and community (which only happens in the world of t.v.) she didn't.

Mrs. Taylor felt that she had done the right thing by giving every possible option to a pregnant high school girl, and she was not about to tell the entire community that she was wrong in order to keep her job. So instead of saying " I was wrong and I'm sorry" she said, " I have done, and will always do what is in the best interest of the children."

She stood by what she believes, even when she was facing losing her job. I just love that quote and what the character of Tammy Taylor symbolizes.

Stay tuned as the plot thickens......

The new vanity

The other day we were in Mr. Nellis's EDPY class and we were discussing Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. For those of you that are unsure of what they are, it starts with the basic human needs which are: physiological, safety, love & acceptance, self-esteem and respect of others.

Once you have that foundation you build upon them with personal growth needs like: knowledge & understanding, aesthetic & beauty, self actualization, then finally self transcendence.

A comment was made that if someone has reached the aesthetic and beauty phase that they must have missed a step. The class laughed which I can fully understand why, then it was further explained that the level of aesthetic and beauty represented things like cooking and appreciation for the arts, etc.

For some reason this comment shook me to my core, so much so, for the first time in a long time I felt my raw emotions being expressed in every physical form; by my uncomfortable body language, the anger in face, the sadness in my eyes. These are things I usually try to hide in order to respect other peoples views and opinions, but it made me realize this might be a subject that I am passionate about.

 I don't know why but when I first heard the level of asthetic and beauty what thought it represented was:

- A bulimic girl who was told at a point in her life that she was fat and not good enough, being able to look herself in the mirror and  truly say " I am pretty" after many hours of therapy.

- A boy who was over weight in high school and bullied, who found a sport he was passionate about and finally feels comfortable in his own skin.

- The shy person who never really fit in anywhere, discovering their purpose or niche in life and no longer dresses like everyone else to feel like they fit in, but dresses in a way that reprents themselves and feels authentically beautiful.

To me aesthetic and beauty represents maturity, confidence and appreciation for yourself, and others. You can joke about beauty, but for those of us who had hard times in our lives, it takes a lot of hard work, practice and years of dedication to define who you are in this world,  and to authentically acknowledge your true beauty.

That is worth celebrating!

When all is said and done.

Well, the due date for the blog is up, and now this is just for me. A reflection of my journey through this crazy process we call life.

It has been a wild roller coaster ride these past couple of months. I have learned a lot. A lot about theorists, class room management, and even the stars and planets lol! Most importantly, I have had the pleasure to have been exposed to a mixture of teachers ranging from good to extraordinary; exposure to them have helped me build my own personal teaching beliefs and values.

I belief that everyone is responsible for their own learning. But what happens when the system over loads you so much that real learning stops and it spins you into a fight or flight mode?

I have to take responsibility for my own actions, time management, and setting up support systems to help with my academic learning. But as I going through this process I am left wondering if I were a teacher would I do this to my students? Does this type of "just put your head down and get through it" and learn it later on, on you own time mentality align with my own personal values and beliefs? Don't get me wrong. I truly believe in refreshing the knowledge you have learned in the past. Myself I am excited to reread my Teaching From the Inside Out book by Jim Parsons. The key word is refreshing, not just learning the concepts after the course is done because you found your self in a corner and had to choose to spend your time on another project and had to give up your Jim Parson reading assignments in order to get just get by.

Here is a real life concept. When you start a new job they "chuck" your learning. What that means is that they take everything that you need to know in order to be successful at your job and they break down into little sections at a time. They know if they overload you with too much work and information your not going to obtain what you need to know. Also there is a some give and take, so that if you are sick, which it happens; that missing those couple of days have not put you so far behind that you are constantly playing catch up.

Why does it feel like there is such a disconnect between the real world and college life. I thought as teachers we are suppose to use real life concepts in order to get our students prepared for the real world.

In all honesty this is the views and opinions of a stressed out and tired college student in the midst of exams. After exams are all done, and I am rested, I am sure upon further reflection I will have new positive insights and perspectives of my first year college experience. Someimes I wish college was like a job where it does not consume all of your time and energy. I miss that balance between work and pleasure.

Brenner Oh Brenner

Bronfenbrenner's Ecological theory is a tough one.


http://www.aifs.gov.au/growingup/pubs/reports/krq2009/images/fig2.gif


We were challenged today to fill in the five systems of Bronfrenbrenner's ecological theory.

It was surprising how hard it was to identify the people and groups that directly or indirectly affect our lives.

The microsystem which resembles the people and social groups that most directly affect our lives was easy to acknowledge.

Mesosystem is pretty straight forward. But most crucial. "Meso" which means middle connects the exosystem with our microsystem. So what What ever happens to little Tommy that morning affects how he will behave and function in class that day when he walks in. I believe that if little Tommy has has a bad morning and comes in disrupting your class, a great teach will recognize his behaviour as an expression of this emotions and will try diffuse the situation, and try turn little Tommy's behaviour into a positive one.

I started my first year as an Teacher's Aid in November and was assigned a young man who was coded as ODD and lazy. He missed a lot of school, and was late most of the time. He spent his lunch recess in the "homework" room where he completed unfinished assignments.
Over time, I learned about his his likes and dislikes, gave him some slack when I thought he need some, and gained his trust.  It turned about that his home life situation was below acceptable and that was the reason for his behaviour. I truly believe kids want to behave and please their teachers, so if they are misbehaving it is worth investigating not just labeling the child.

The hardest to fill out was the exosystem and macrosystem. I did not realize how much of our outside influences that we can not control can also affect us. I believe it must be very hard on some of our kids to deal with the pressures of life. Little Tommy has just come over from another country and his parents are struggling to make ends meat and put food on the table. That is an actual reality for children here in Red Deer and I admire those kids that are still positive in tough times.

Video: Digital Nation

Can multitasking be dumbing down the world?

Well, it depends on who you ask. Our generation of children are the most technonlically advanced generation so far. They can blog, twitter, update their facebook status and drive down the road. So you are left to wonder, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

The video shows a perspective where the students go through tests at NASA and based on their results the students who tried multitasking during the test failed. Which was quite a shocker to the students. They had honestly believed that they can search the Internet, chat with a friend, and study for a final and do well in all three areas.

I can recognzie that I do my best work when I focus on one task at a time. It will be interesting to see what kind of jobs these "multitaksing" people get, and how well they perform.

Just one more final thought. Teaching can be considered as a multitasking job. Is that a good thing?

Erick Erickson

Erick Erickson is referred as a socioemotional theorist who came up with these eight stages of human development. I am having a some trouble making deep connections with some of the stages so I going to hash everything out, right here, right now and maybe there will be some learning going on lol!

The first one is Autonomy vs. Shame and doubt  ( 1 yr to 2 yrs )
Question: First thing is I don't know what Autonomy means.  I have a niece around the same age so I already reflect upon her for this stage so if i can figure out autonomy that might help.

Response: Autonomy means "one who gives oneself their own law"  (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomy).

This is definitely a characteristic I see developing within my niece, so is talking more, exploring with her environment and developing her personality based on what she observes from the family. Also she is really not likinng be told "no" and it is true, she either fightsd back against be told no, or lowers her head in shame fo rdoing something that she was not suppose to do. Interesting?
   
The second is Initiative vs. Guilt ( 3yrs to 5 yrs )
Question:  The child starts to take responsibility for putting away their toys, and taking care of their belonging's, but what if they don't.

Response: Erickson states that this stage happens when the child already has the foundation of trust and autonomy. So I am going to conclude that when a child can trust that the environment we live in is a safe and loving one we can value and take care of things in our lives. On the flip side when we lose that trust the things in our lives that we value and care for fall to the waist side.

At this stage of my learning and understanding I agree with Erickson's stages and concepts, which will help me to understand why some of my future students are acting the way they do. It is just another teaching tool to help you connect with your children.

Being a wise consumer

I think it is important for people to understand and share some concepts discussed in EDUC class today by Robert Nellis:

- BE cautious of what is reported in the popular media
- AVOID making conclusions about individual needs based on group research
- RECOGNIZE how easy it is to overgeneralize about a small sample
- UNDERSTAND that a single study is not the defining word
- ALWAYS consider the source of information and its credibility


Adhttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3285/2945559128_53078d246b.jpgd caption

(Robert Nellis 2011)

Why I think that it is important for us to recognize and understand these concepts? Because the media has become such a huge part of our lives. We use it for entertainment, and learning. Unfortunately, not all media is as credible as it may have been in the past, which may be ok if your just using it for the entertainment factor.

When we begin to use it as a learning tool it is important to use credible sights to pass along information. As a student I have learned that such projects like essays need to be support by scholarly articles, not just an article written by Joe Blow unfortunately.

I also think it is great as a teacher to get students analyzing information that is being fed to them by media. Sometimes what is being push at them is one sided, so the questions they ask about hearing both sides of the debate the more informed the will be, which is a great skill for life.

Allison Cameron and effective teaching

We expect teachers to handle teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, and the failings of the family.  Then we expect them to educate our children. 
~John Sculley

As I was searching for an awe inspiring quote to uplift your enthusiasm for teaching and carry your spirits high above the clouds I found this quote.  I think this quote sets the tone perfectly. To me this quote is honest and real. If you don't believe me just watch the video: Allison Cameron.

Allison Cameron was faced with a challenge. She needed to find a way to engage her group of children who were dealing with the realities of broken families, drug and alcohol abuse,and learning challenges.

What inspires me, and what I hope to implement into my own teaching practice is that Allison Cameron kept on working until she found what strategies worked for her and her kids. As a student I have seen and personally felt the sting of  failure because I could not conform to the teachers style.

Allison found a way to challenge her students in a different way. Through discovering the use of treadmills and exercise to spark the brain and help brain cells grow, Allison was able to have some of her ADHD and ODD children stop taking the medications because they were able to control their behaviour after trying her treadmill exercise every morning.

The most important massage from the video that I received was that you need to engage and challenge you body is different ways and in return you are fully engaging and challenging your brain. Everything in your body is connected. I once read if you study visually you comprehend ~20% of the material, if you study verbally you comprehend ~27% of the material, if you study kinesthetically you retain ~35% of the material. But if you study visually and verbally you will retain ~ 60% and when you being to study using all visual, verbal and kinesthetic skills you can retain ~ 80% of the knowledge.

I believe it is important to be fully engaged in the material and that is something that is a long term goal Allison is striving for, for her children.

Bloom's Taxonomy

There are the six different stages of Bloom's Taxonomy:

Knowing - regurgitating information by memory.
Understanding - Explaining things in your own words.
Applying - You know and understand the material and are able to use your knowledge.
Analyzing - Taking something apart. You can see all the working parts and do some deep/critical thinking.
Evaluating - Making a judgement. Deciding the worth or value of something.
Creating - Drawing together information and making it into a new form.

These stages are ranked from the foundation (knowing) to higher levels of learning domains (creating). At different stages of my life I find myself at various levels of the learning domains. Whether it was math, scoiology, or english I would compare my understanding of the content to a certain stage of learning. What I have come to learn is that this form of analytical thinking can be applied to various other aspects of your life not just the scholary parts. For instance I am in the process of creating a career portfolio. Everyone knows the basic concept of a portfolio- it's a reflection of your past experiences and knowledge.

The process of creating a career portfolio takes us through the first five stages of Bloom's Taxonomy. I am  able to explain what a portfolio is and what needs to go into a portfolio in my own words, gather all the information that needs to go into the portfolio and section them into categories, even decide the most important certificates or awards to put in or leave out due to their relevence to the job I am applying for.

Here is the fun part, and the part which I think most forget about. What about the creating? If I have for example an award of excellence from grade 7 which is not relevent enough to be metioned in the awards section of my portofolio but the meaning of the award is, can I create a different way to present or include it?

I could create a section in my resume labeled " Personal characteristics and accomplishments" where I include my award of excellence. Then, when at an interview for a teaching job when the interviewer asks about the award I can then explain the significance of why I have included it. It could be that I was a low academic student, and my former teacher took the time to work with me on my fear of failure and the support he/she gave me allowed me to succed. Therefore, that experience taught me the importance of being connected with your students and that is one quality that I will bring to the classroom.

Being able to incorporate that experience and show some reflection on past expereicnes could be the difference between me getting hired instead of someone else.

I challege everyone to start incorporating the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy into their daily lives and and see what level they are at for different tasks. Then ask yourself, "why you are at that stage and why not at another?"

For Example:

When asked to teach your father how to save a photo and place it into an email, did you take over the task or just did it youself, only reaching the applying stage?  Why was that? Were you to busy to teach him? Had you done it before and were just frustrated? Or was the whole task of explaing it overwhelming?

While searching for your necklace in your dresser drawer you had the idea to hang all your jewelry on an antique coat hanger making it artisitc as well as more funtional and organized to efficiently find what you need taking you all the way to the creating stage. Was this easier becuase it was a tactile/kinesthetic task? Or was the environment positive and free to be creative allowing for success?

Once you understand why you reach certain levels, you will then be able to indentify and understand why your child or students will reach certain levels for a cerain task and perhaps have strategies to take them one level higher.
Have fun.