I really liked Tom Romito's classroom! The idea that six teachers could combine a dual-grade class with so many different types of learning intelligences and students (inclusion, college prep, and general ed) was exciting! I loved the way the classroom covered the historical, environmental, political, social, and modern effects of the US in the 1960s and 70s. So many different types of activities were used to assess student understandings, and most of these related to the real-world. Group work, research, reading, discussing, planning, implementing visual, auditory, and kinesthetic presentations, writing essays, and listening to lectures moderated the lessons between various intelligences/ natural gifts and more traditional learning styles. I want to know how teachers go about getting approval to create classrooms that combine different teachers, grade-levels, subjects, and students into one class. How do we go about doing this and getting administrative approval, grant money etc...? (At this point no one seems to discuss this process in detail in the videos or books we have read).
I liked the point the researcher made when he referenced the learning chart in Ms. Young's and Ms. Urso-Flores' classroom. His point that the children can articulate their own intelligences via the chart, activities, and 12 choice-stations is important for two reasons: first: children can articulate their own strengths implicitly and explicitly, second: students' strengths evolve. Children may be good at one thing now and over time may adapt to add another strength as they mature. Keeping this information in mind makes teacher-observation and research that much more important to avoid labeling students prematurely or confining them to a specific intelligence when they can learn to develop more. Do you think there are too many choices in Flores' and Young's classroom? I know as a kid if I had 12 choices I would feel slightly overwhelmed--I would probably try them all too and depending on my mood would settle down to some more than others. Would you have enjoyed the "take-apart" center?
I loved Tom Romito's classroom too. Finally, I was able to get a visual of "my classroom." I feel that until now, most of our reading and learning has avoided secondary education. I wanted to see Wilhelm's action strategies in a high school setting and that is exactly what Mr. Romito provided. I am intrigued by the idea of the matrix. If both 9th and 10th graders are studying the twentieth century United States, what happens next year? Do the 9th graders (now 10th graders) spend another year in twentieth century U.S.? Or do they choose another topic completely? If so, would this violate the identical education that TJ Elder (my placement school) seems so obsessed with?
I would have loved the "take-apart" center! I agree with you though, twelve centers would be overwhelming. When we are talking about primary and elementary education who do you think is better qualified to evaluate "different kinds of smart," the teacher or the student? I know that as a first grader my "smart" would probably change every day if not every minute. Does that matter? As a teacher do we encourage students to recognize strengths or do we ask students to experiment with all intelligences? Maybe a little bit of both?
I loved the "Take-apart" center as well! I thought it was very inventive and that it really got the kids into what they were learning. All the centers really touched on the multiple intelligences. Having that many centers (12 i think), would be too overwhelming though. How would a teacher get them all done in one day? It definitely let teachers get a view on how their students learned and how they learned best, but it was almost too much for one student in one day, so I am not too sure on how I feel about 12 centers. But the "multiple intelligences" pizza was also a good idea.
Do you think that centers such as these only can be applied to middle school or elementary school ages? What about high school? There are still students at that age that need to have the freedom to express the way they learn in the classroom. Do you think that we can do that as teachers or would it seem almost like high schoolers might be comfortable enough in their style of learning?
I think that both students and teachers are in charge of deciding what the "smarts" are. The students get the choice of deciding what it is, but they have to demonstrate it to the teacher for the teacher to agree. So say for example, a student knows or feels they are more of a musical learning or kinesthetic learner. For the teacher to believe them, they'd need to prove how they learn this way best.
I think that as teachers we encourage students to use multiple intelligences but that we need to know each students' strengths. This way, when we use a certain intelligence strategy in the classroom, we don't get frustrtaed with a student if they cannot exactly catch on like the others. If teachers learn all the different strengths and weaknesses, then it will help us understand them and encourage them to experiment with intelligences that go along with their strengths.
I've noticed in all of the classrooms that we've seen, the teachers have filled the walls with not just posters but useful items. For example there's hanging pouches with each child's name on it for their mail or something like that. I think that a classroom is more "homey" and makes students more comfortable when there are at least a few things decorating the walls. How this applies to multiple intelligences is beyond me, but it was something I'd noticed throughout these videos. What do you guys think about the classroom's physical appearance. Does it distract or aid students?
Danielle C I was thinking about applying the "take-apart" center to high school as well. I remember we used to have things like shop class and foods. Are those things still as common in high school? If not, is it our job to bring those kinds of multiple intelligences into our own classrooms, or not? If it is our responsibility, how would we do this without the proper materials?
I like that Romito made a point that I think gets lost in the shuffle of things. He makes the pragmatic statement that the multiple intelligences are not, in fact, equal to one another and that the exercises which cater to one intelligence or another are there to aid students in reaching the goal which they (unfortunately, but inevitably) have to reach when they take the standardized tests. It was nice to hear descriptions of a world where alternative enactment strategies, creative outlets, etc. coexist with standard essays, tests, etc. Granted, I do not think the textbooks we read are merely advocating the exclusion of all these standard forms of assessment completely, but the focus has not really been on typical approaches. It was nice, therefore, to see someone say "Yes, we need to reach out to students with different intelligences and make learning fun and make it accessible. Yes, we are also structuring this in a way that will hopefully make them better 'students', as well", since we are more than likely going to have to face a situation where THAT kind of performance is what is key.
I will follow along Nick's thought and agree that I liked how Romito and the narrator point out that multiple intelligences are only a part to a whole. I think when people think of multiple intelligences then they believe that every activity has to be made to use the multiple intelligences to the max, when really they should be used in moderation as stepping stones to the bigger picture. Games, music, or drama can all be used to help solidify the learning that is taking place, but I don't believe it should be used as a final assessment. I like that they point out that catering to the multiple intelligences only enhances the work that will be done later in more traditional forms. I know that my host teacher is very traditional in his ways, but when we talked about multiple intelligences he acted like it would be too much work or too hard to actually bring that type of teaching into the classroom. He was looking at it as if the entire lesson would be transformed into a skit instead of seeing that he can just use a skit as a 15 minute exercise in a 50 minutes class.
Danielle, I think the advantage high-schoolers have (and it is sometimes a drawback) is their ability to self-assess. They are young enough to still hang on to their more youthful exuberance (once they are assured of a safe classroom environment) and old enough to know what works best for them and how they learn. I don't think they would be opposed to learning that is less traditional and more creative, however you would have to balance this much more rigorously than you might if you taught younger students who take fewer standardized tests and will have more time to acclimate themselves to the (unfortunately) more traditional learning methods that make up middle and high school, and college. Workshops, portfolios, and multi-media projects are great ways to allow for creativity while assess for deeper understandings and critical thinking. This is even better if they can publish or integrate this work with the outside world. If centers were used they would have to be tailored to apprenticeships and majors or talents students wanted to use in college or businesses--just like their projects, portfolios, and workshops.
A classroom's physical appearance should not detract or hinder student learning, nor should it feel like a clinical wasteland. The more utilitarian and creative the better. The trick is not to go too far in either direction. Posters with important educational role models (preferably people who struggled and with whom your students can connect are always good--but avoid the sentimental and cliche), posters with relevant information for writing or research methods are also helpful. Try to keep some open space for movement like Wilhelm suggests--you want to be able to stand at any point in the room and see everything. Avoid rows of desks if possible--it feels dehumanizing.
To risk repeating what everyone is saying, I was also most impressed with Tom Romito's class. I agree that it was nice to see an example of a high school class. I actually wrote in the middle of my notes- before Romito's part- "it seems we're only seeing multiple intelligences used in the younger ages." As Lorien said earlier, I'm also interested in how you would go about getting clearance to run a large group classroom. I liked how the video pointed it out that multiple intelligences in the classroom should be a starting off point, not the whole lesson. I was very impressed with the test score improvement after multiple intelligence theory was applied to the classroom.
Erin, I have been wondering how the students advance when they group the grade levels too. It seems as if it'd be too repetitive. For example, the first classroom in session four had both 2nd and 3rd graders. It doesn't seem as if the teachers are giving each grade level different material. So do they just repeat the same material from last year? I'm not sure I'm a fan of grouping multiple grades like this. I believe it would be a difficult struggle to provide level appropriate content and work for everyone in the classroom.
I think this session really echoes the memory module. They said in this that having multiple different ways of thinking about a subject will make you more likely to remember the information and not just forget it. That way your brain is making a bunch of connections and connecting to that prior information from a different intelligence to enhance another one. Something else I liked about this was whenever they talked about giving up control; I can only imagine how hard that would be and how bad I would feel if they were unable to understand and it didn't really pan out the way I planned in my head (I'm sure that will happen a lot anyway).
Rose, I'm glad they clarified that too about multiple intelligences not being the whole lesson but a way to get the students interested and see the ways they are able to learn more effectively. Even in the video he said you can't just let them listen to music instead of reading. Which I was wondering even the last time we talked about MI and now I know that you aren't completely taking words and reading out of the equation, you're just coming at it from many different angles.
What sticks out to me the most about the whole idea of multiple intelligences, especially now from this video, is the fact that students have to get out of their comfort zones. Like in the plant activity, students had to do many different things with their plant like dissect, label, and talk about it. I feel like students, in their lives, will have to step out of their comfort zones in a number of ways and urging them to do so through lessons in the classroom is a safe step. Even now there are some learning styles I am not completely comfortable with and I might blame this on not being forced out of my comfort zone when I was young and also not having those styles reinforced as I progressed through school.
Your comment about seeing all different learning styles in one room reminds me of my placement. I am placed in an inclusion classroom and I have never experienced anything like it before because my high school did not mix "tracks." There are the general ed students, then there are a couple of who I could consider college prep students because they are a little bit ahead of the others, and there are students in the special education program in the class as well. I have seen these classes accomplish great things and it has driven me to consider being placed in an inclusion setting when I enter the job market.
I will offer a big "hear, hear" to Abby's comment about how it sort of mirrors the memory module. Multiple intelligences are seemingly just as important for those who do not have them as for those who do. (That sentence just does not look right to me; it looks clunky but this is not a paper.) Basically, we learned about repetition and learning things a multiple number of ways in order to strengthen the "protein bridges" and make the connections stronger. You might be able to understand something one way, but if you are forced to step out of your comfort zone (per Marina), it forces you to learn the material. At best, you've learned something in a way you would have never tried if left to your own devices. At worse, you still repeated the information and strengthened the connection you've already made.
I've noticed the same thing in my placement (although it is not an inclusion class). There is a pretty decent gap between the students who are clearly way behind in reading level and some who are actively making connections left and right. We actually sat down before class one day before we were going to do a frontloading thing and set up partners and I was pleased to find (well, pleased isn't the correct word, I suppose) that my few days of observation generally gave me a decent enough conclusion as to who the stronger and "weaker" students were, as my host teacher and I discussed the groups. It was actually surprising to see the headway, as most of the groups ended up staying on task and coming up with some great stuff- I wish I had been able to see to it that each person was participating adequately (next time---things were crazy.)
I really liked seeing the high school classroom set up as it was in Tom Romito's classroom. It was really cool to me to see how two grades as well as different learning levels were combined -- such a good idea. It looked like the students really enjoyed it as well. The teachers in the classroom did such a good job having the students do something creative that isn't practical for, say, a standardized exam, however it was a creative was (a hook) to lead up to the practical way of applying knowledge as it would be an a test/exam (for example, in essay format). It is a good model of a classroom to follow.
I really liked the "take-apart" station in the video that showed the classroom of younger students. I know the idea of such stations wouldn't be practical for older students, but it's a cool idea that I think works really well for younger students. I guess it could be similar to writing/reading workshops in the sense that there are different stations set up, and students can choose stations. I wonder how prevalent these kinds of stations are in most schools -- any grade.
I really like the use of the multiple intelligence “stations” in the classroom. I think this a great way to keep students interested and it helps them discover what their interests are and what types of way they learn best. I like that they have twelve different choices, it may be overwhelming for some students, but I think most of them will like that they have a variety to choose from. I am curious as to how teachers are able to construct all of these different stations with such limited resources. In most classrooms, there are only two or three computers, so I think arranging the stations could be a challenge for some teachers. I agree with Rose that it was good that the video made sure to mention that multiple intelligence/ group work is not something teachers can use throughout the entire lesson, it needs to be followed up with something more traditional, such as the essay Romito assigned to his students.
Lorien I am going to go along with what you said about the physical appearance of classrooms because I agree with you. I feel that a classroom shouldn't distract a student but shouldn't feel like a wasteland either. The more colorful the posters, it is easier to distract students, but with some helpful posters, like with materia they will be studying, or even with posters of books they are going to be reading, it's a lot better. It does help with the creative environment and I really saw this whenever I judged a lot of the teacher's rooms in placement. I feel the rooms with the groups of desks are more inviting and give a more "community" feel that is needed in a classroom. The rows of desks make me feel like I am in a military school and that i am going to have a drill seargent coming at me. And I notice that students in a very bland classroom tend to not focus or have as much as energy as a classroom with posters and such.
i also agree with Amber and Rose about the idea of sticking to a traditional assessment too. I loved the idea of having all of the multiple strategies in the classroom, but at the same time, it can get very repetitive. But how could teachers prevent things from being repetitive? Do you think that they use the same strategies year after year? Or do they at least attempt to make it original?
I was floored by the opening lines: "One child plays the violin, and we call it talent. One child fixes things, and we call him handy. One child talks to his classmates, and we often call him a distraction... When we categorize things in this way, we may be losing important teaching and learning opportunities." I hadn't thought of these descriptions in this way before. I hadn't realized that they could very well be backhanded compliments.
As Erin said, "I feel that until now, most of our reading and learning has avoided secondary education. I wanted to see Wilhelm's action strategies in a high school setting and that is exactly what Mr. Romito provided. I am intrigued by the idea of the matrix." I could not agree more! Seeing something in action that we have read about makes it so much easier to actually imagine doing that in "my classroom"!!
I have enjoyed getting to see my kids do a version of "Dramatic Tableaux" this past week, and it was super amazing to watch!!
I"m having trouble getting to know my students. Not that I've had a chance to teach them yet, but I was worried about getting at the best way to teach for our class, but it's hard to see than I thought. It's not like I can read an aura and be able to tell which students learn this way and which student's process information this way. What are u guys seeing in your experiences in the classroom?
Amber, I think that your right about some students getting overwhelmed by so many different choices. How would you pull this off in a small space? My host teacher has 30 students in 1st block and he's teaching in half a classroom really. I'm not sure if group work and choice work needs to be followed up by traditional work, but more pulled together work if you know what I mean. For instance, I wouldn't just assign an essay if the students had been working in groups. I think we really need to stagger our techniques and break up the monotony.
This is in response to Danielle's response to Lorien...ha. I am having such a hard time in my classroom because of its physical appearance! I love that used the term "wasteland" because thats what I feel like the space is and the posters are. They are not visually attractive or stimulating in the least. They aren't colorful or anything. He also covers up the natural light coming in through the window with a black curtain and drives me crazy. I don't know how the students would feel motivated from the look of this classroom. I think that using posters as memory modules would be helpful at least. Repetition of information learned in class or information presented through drawings on poster...anything except for nothing! The desks in the room are kind of facing each other and there is space for him to walk around which is a positive, but I don't think he uses it to his advantage or for the benefit of the students. I definitely think that the physical environment of the classroom is something I could help him work on.
The more I learn about multiple intelligences, the more I'm convinced that is something that every teacher needs to embrace, or at least consider. I like that the video shows the benefit of teaching with MI's in mind has on all students. The stations the students go to that are geared towards MI's presents a win/win situation because it can be a point of access or it can help to reinforce the material. They say that it also offers various points of view for students to consider. My question is, if students have a certain intelligence, is it realistic to think that they can distant themselves enough to consider other intelligences? Or will they think it is boring because it isn't the way that they learn?
I really liked Tom Romito's classroom! The idea that six teachers could combine a dual-grade class with so many different types of learning intelligences and students (inclusion, college prep, and general ed) was exciting! I loved the way the classroom covered the historical, environmental, political, social, and modern effects of the US in the 1960s and 70s.
ReplyDeleteSo many different types of activities were used to assess student understandings, and most of these related to the real-world. Group work, research, reading, discussing, planning, implementing visual, auditory, and kinesthetic presentations, writing essays, and listening to lectures moderated the lessons between various intelligences/ natural gifts and more traditional learning styles.
I want to know how teachers go about getting approval to create classrooms that combine different teachers, grade-levels, subjects, and students into one class. How do we go about doing this and getting administrative approval, grant money etc...? (At this point no one seems to discuss this process in detail in the videos or books we have read).
I liked the point the researcher made when he referenced the learning chart in Ms. Young's and Ms. Urso-Flores' classroom. His point that the children can articulate their own intelligences via the chart, activities, and 12 choice-stations is important for two reasons: first: children can articulate their own strengths implicitly and explicitly, second: students' strengths evolve. Children may be good at one thing now and over time may adapt to add another strength as they mature.
ReplyDeleteKeeping this information in mind makes teacher-observation and research that much more important to avoid labeling students prematurely or confining them to a specific intelligence when they can learn to develop more.
Do you think there are too many choices in Flores' and Young's classroom?
I know as a kid if I had 12 choices I would feel slightly overwhelmed--I would probably try them all too and depending on my mood would settle down to some more than others.
Would you have enjoyed the "take-apart" center?
I loved Tom Romito's classroom too. Finally, I was able to get a visual of "my classroom." I feel that until now, most of our reading and learning has avoided secondary education. I wanted to see Wilhelm's action strategies in a high school setting and that is exactly what Mr. Romito provided. I am intrigued by the idea of the matrix. If both 9th and 10th graders are studying the twentieth century United States, what happens next year? Do the 9th graders (now 10th graders) spend another year in twentieth century U.S.? Or do they choose another topic completely? If so, would this violate the identical education that TJ Elder (my placement school) seems so obsessed with?
ReplyDeleteLorien,
ReplyDeleteI would have loved the "take-apart" center! I agree with you though, twelve centers would be overwhelming. When we are talking about primary and elementary education who do you think is better qualified to evaluate "different kinds of smart," the teacher or the student? I know that as a first grader my "smart" would probably change every day if not every minute. Does that matter? As a teacher do we encourage students to recognize strengths or do we ask students to experiment with all intelligences? Maybe a little bit of both?
I loved the "Take-apart" center as well! I thought it was very inventive and that it really got the kids into what they were learning. All the centers really touched on the multiple intelligences. Having that many centers (12 i think), would be too overwhelming though. How would a teacher get them all done in one day? It definitely let teachers get a view on how their students learned and how they learned best, but it was almost too much for one student in one day, so I am not too sure on how I feel about 12 centers. But the "multiple intelligences" pizza was also a good idea.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that centers such as these only can be applied to middle school or elementary school ages? What about high school? There are still students at that age that need to have the freedom to express the way they learn in the classroom. Do you think that we can do that as teachers or would it seem almost like high schoolers might be comfortable enough in their style of learning?
Erin,
ReplyDeleteI think that both students and teachers are in charge of deciding what the "smarts" are. The students get the choice of deciding what it is, but they have to demonstrate it to the teacher for the teacher to agree. So say for example, a student knows or feels they are more of a musical learning or kinesthetic learner. For the teacher to believe them, they'd need to prove how they learn this way best.
I think that as teachers we encourage students to use multiple intelligences but that we need to know each students' strengths. This way, when we use a certain intelligence strategy in the classroom, we don't get frustrtaed with a student if they cannot exactly catch on like the others. If teachers learn all the different strengths and weaknesses, then it will help us understand them and encourage them to experiment with intelligences that go along with their strengths.
I've noticed in all of the classrooms that we've seen, the teachers have filled the walls with not just posters but useful items. For example there's hanging pouches with each child's name on it for their mail or something like that. I think that a classroom is more "homey" and makes students more comfortable when there are at least a few things decorating the walls. How this applies to multiple intelligences is beyond me, but it was something I'd noticed throughout these videos. What do you guys think about the classroom's physical appearance. Does it distract or aid students?
ReplyDeleteDanielle C
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about applying the "take-apart" center to high school as well. I remember we used to have things like shop class and foods. Are those things still as common in high school? If not, is it our job to bring those kinds of multiple intelligences into our own classrooms, or not? If it is our responsibility, how would we do this without the proper materials?
I like that Romito made a point that I think gets lost in the shuffle of things. He makes the pragmatic statement that the multiple intelligences are not, in fact, equal to one another and that the exercises which cater to one intelligence or another are there to aid students in reaching the goal which they (unfortunately, but inevitably) have to reach when they take the standardized tests. It was nice to hear descriptions of a world where alternative enactment strategies, creative outlets, etc. coexist with standard essays, tests, etc. Granted, I do not think the textbooks we read are merely advocating the exclusion of all these standard forms of assessment completely, but the focus has not really been on typical approaches. It was nice, therefore, to see someone say "Yes, we need to reach out to students with different intelligences and make learning fun and make it accessible. Yes, we are also structuring this in a way that will hopefully make them better 'students', as well", since we are more than likely going to have to face a situation where THAT kind of performance is what is key.
ReplyDeleteI will follow along Nick's thought and agree that I liked how Romito and the narrator point out that multiple intelligences are only a part to a whole. I think when people think of multiple intelligences then they believe that every activity has to be made to use the multiple intelligences to the max, when really they should be used in moderation as stepping stones to the bigger picture. Games, music, or drama can all be used to help solidify the learning that is taking place, but I don't believe it should be used as a final assessment. I like that they point out that catering to the multiple intelligences only enhances the work that will be done later in more traditional forms. I know that my host teacher is very traditional in his ways, but when we talked about multiple intelligences he acted like it would be too much work or too hard to actually bring that type of teaching into the classroom. He was looking at it as if the entire lesson would be transformed into a skit instead of seeing that he can just use a skit as a 15 minute exercise in a 50 minutes class.
ReplyDeleteDanielle,
ReplyDeleteI think the advantage high-schoolers have (and it is sometimes a drawback) is their ability to self-assess. They are young enough to still hang on to their more youthful exuberance (once they are assured of a safe classroom environment) and old enough to know what works best for them and how they learn. I don't think they would be opposed to learning that is less traditional and more creative, however you would have to balance this much more rigorously than you might if you taught younger students who take fewer standardized tests and will have more time to acclimate themselves to the (unfortunately) more traditional learning methods that make up middle and high school, and college.
Workshops, portfolios, and multi-media projects are great ways to allow for creativity while assess for deeper understandings and critical thinking. This is even better if they can publish or integrate this work with the outside world.
If centers were used they would have to be tailored to apprenticeships and majors or talents students wanted to use in college or businesses--just like their projects, portfolios, and workshops.
A classroom's physical appearance should not detract or hinder student learning, nor should it feel like a clinical wasteland. The more utilitarian and creative the better. The trick is not to go too far in either direction. Posters with important educational role models (preferably people who struggled and with whom your students can connect are always good--but avoid the sentimental and cliche), posters with relevant information for writing or research methods are also helpful. Try to keep some open space for movement like Wilhelm suggests--you want to be able to stand at any point in the room and see everything. Avoid rows of desks if possible--it feels dehumanizing.
ReplyDeleteTo risk repeating what everyone is saying, I was also most impressed with Tom Romito's class. I agree that it was nice to see an example of a high school class. I actually wrote in the middle of my notes- before Romito's part- "it seems we're only seeing multiple intelligences used in the younger ages." As Lorien said earlier, I'm also interested in how you would go about getting clearance to run a large group classroom. I liked how the video pointed it out that multiple intelligences in the classroom should be a starting off point, not the whole lesson. I was very impressed with the test score improvement after multiple intelligence theory was applied to the classroom.
ReplyDeleteErin,
ReplyDeleteI have been wondering how the students advance when they group the grade levels too. It seems as if it'd be too repetitive. For example, the first classroom in session four had both 2nd and 3rd graders. It doesn't seem as if the teachers are giving each grade level different material. So do they just repeat the same material from last year? I'm not sure I'm a fan of grouping multiple grades like this. I believe it would be a difficult struggle to provide level appropriate content and work for everyone in the classroom.
I think this session really echoes the memory module. They said in this that having multiple different ways of thinking about a subject will make you more likely to remember the information and not just forget it. That way your brain is making a bunch of connections and connecting to that prior information from a different intelligence to enhance another one. Something else I liked about this was whenever they talked about giving up control; I can only imagine how hard that would be and how bad I would feel if they were unable to understand and it didn't really pan out the way I planned in my head (I'm sure that will happen a lot anyway).
ReplyDeleteRose,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad they clarified that too about multiple intelligences not being the whole lesson but a way to get the students interested and see the ways they are able to learn more effectively. Even in the video he said you can't just let them listen to music instead of reading. Which I was wondering even the last time we talked about MI and now I know that you aren't completely taking words and reading out of the equation, you're just coming at it from many different angles.
What sticks out to me the most about the whole idea of multiple intelligences, especially now from this video, is the fact that students have to get out of their comfort zones. Like in the plant activity, students had to do many different things with their plant like dissect, label, and talk about it. I feel like students, in their lives, will have to step out of their comfort zones in a number of ways and urging them to do so through lessons in the classroom is a safe step. Even now there are some learning styles I am not completely comfortable with and I might blame this on not being forced out of my comfort zone when I was young and also not having those styles reinforced as I progressed through school.
ReplyDeleteLorien,
ReplyDeleteYour comment about seeing all different learning styles in one room reminds me of my placement. I am placed in an inclusion classroom and I have never experienced anything like it before because my high school did not mix "tracks." There are the general ed students, then there are a couple of who I could consider college prep students because they are a little bit ahead of the others, and there are students in the special education program in the class as well. I have seen these classes accomplish great things and it has driven me to consider being placed in an inclusion setting when I enter the job market.
I will offer a big "hear, hear" to Abby's comment about how it sort of mirrors the memory module. Multiple intelligences are seemingly just as important for those who do not have them as for those who do. (That sentence just does not look right to me; it looks clunky but this is not a paper.) Basically, we learned about repetition and learning things a multiple number of ways in order to strengthen the "protein bridges" and make the connections stronger. You might be able to understand something one way, but if you are forced to step out of your comfort zone (per Marina), it forces you to learn the material. At best, you've learned something in a way you would have never tried if left to your own devices. At worse, you still repeated the information and strengthened the connection you've already made.
ReplyDeleteMarina:
ReplyDeleteI've noticed the same thing in my placement (although it is not an inclusion class). There is a pretty decent gap between the students who are clearly way behind in reading level and some who are actively making connections left and right. We actually sat down before class one day before we were going to do a frontloading thing and set up partners and I was pleased to find (well, pleased isn't the correct word, I suppose) that my few days of observation generally gave me a decent enough conclusion as to who the stronger and "weaker" students were, as my host teacher and I discussed the groups. It was actually surprising to see the headway, as most of the groups ended up staying on task and coming up with some great stuff- I wish I had been able to see to it that each person was participating adequately (next time---things were crazy.)
I really liked seeing the high school classroom set up as it was in Tom Romito's classroom. It was really cool to me to see how two grades as well as different learning levels were combined -- such a good idea. It looked like the students really enjoyed it as well. The teachers in the classroom did such a good job having the students do something creative that isn't practical for, say, a standardized exam, however it was a creative was (a hook) to lead up to the practical way of applying knowledge as it would be an a test/exam (for example, in essay format). It is a good model of a classroom to follow.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the "take-apart" station in the video that showed the classroom of younger students. I know the idea of such stations wouldn't be practical for older students, but it's a cool idea that I think works really well for younger students. I guess it could be similar to writing/reading workshops in the sense that there are different stations set up, and students can choose stations. I wonder how prevalent these kinds of stations are in most schools -- any grade.
ReplyDeleteI really like the use of the multiple intelligence “stations” in the classroom. I think this a great way to keep students interested and it helps them discover what their interests are and what types of way they learn best. I like that they have twelve different choices, it may be overwhelming for some students, but I think most of them will like that they have a variety to choose from. I am curious as to how teachers are able to construct all of these different stations with such limited resources. In most classrooms, there are only two or three computers, so I think arranging the stations could be a challenge for some teachers.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rose that it was good that the video made sure to mention that multiple intelligence/ group work is not something teachers can use throughout the entire lesson, it needs to be followed up with something more traditional, such as the essay Romito assigned to his students.
Lorien I am going to go along with what you said about the physical appearance of classrooms because I agree with you. I feel that a classroom shouldn't distract a student but shouldn't feel like a wasteland either. The more colorful the posters, it is easier to distract students, but with some helpful posters, like with materia they will be studying, or even with posters of books they are going to be reading, it's a lot better. It does help with the creative environment and I really saw this whenever I judged a lot of the teacher's rooms in placement. I feel the rooms with the groups of desks are more inviting and give a more "community" feel that is needed in a classroom. The rows of desks make me feel like I am in a military school and that i am going to have a drill seargent coming at me. And I notice that students in a very bland classroom tend to not focus or have as much as energy as a classroom with posters and such.
ReplyDeletei also agree with Amber and Rose about the idea of sticking to a traditional assessment too. I loved the idea of having all of the multiple strategies in the classroom, but at the same time, it can get very repetitive. But how could teachers prevent things from being repetitive? Do you think that they use the same strategies year after year? Or do they at least attempt to make it original?
ReplyDeleteI was floored by the opening lines: "One child plays the violin, and we call it talent. One child fixes things, and we call him handy. One child talks to his classmates, and we often call him a distraction... When we categorize things in this way, we may be losing important teaching and learning opportunities." I hadn't thought of these descriptions in this way before. I hadn't realized that they could very well be backhanded compliments.
ReplyDeleteAs Erin said, "I feel that until now, most of our reading and learning has avoided secondary education. I wanted to see Wilhelm's action strategies in a high school setting and that is exactly what Mr. Romito provided. I am intrigued by the idea of the matrix." I could not agree more! Seeing something in action that we have read about makes it so much easier to actually imagine doing that in "my classroom"!!
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed getting to see my kids do a version of "Dramatic Tableaux" this past week, and it was super amazing to watch!!
I"m having trouble getting to know my students. Not that I've had a chance to teach them yet, but I was worried about getting at the best way to teach for our class, but it's hard to see than I thought. It's not like I can read an aura and be able to tell which students learn this way and which student's process information this way. What are u guys seeing in your experiences in the classroom?
ReplyDeleteAmber,
ReplyDeleteI think that your right about some students getting overwhelmed by so many different choices. How would you pull this off in a small space? My host teacher has 30 students in 1st block and he's teaching in half a classroom really.
I'm not sure if group work and choice work needs to be followed up by traditional work, but more pulled together work if you know what I mean. For instance, I wouldn't just assign an essay if the students had been working in groups. I think we really need to stagger our techniques and break up the monotony.
This is in response to Danielle's response to Lorien...ha. I am having such a hard time in my classroom because of its physical appearance! I love that used the term "wasteland" because thats what I feel like the space is and the posters are. They are not visually attractive or stimulating in the least. They aren't colorful or anything. He also covers up the natural light coming in through the window with a black curtain and drives me crazy. I don't know how the students would feel motivated from the look of this classroom. I think that using posters as memory modules would be helpful at least. Repetition of information learned in class or information presented through drawings on poster...anything except for nothing! The desks in the room are kind of facing each other and there is space for him to walk around which is a positive, but I don't think he uses it to his advantage or for the benefit of the students. I definitely think that the physical environment of the classroom is something I could help him work on.
ReplyDeleteThe more I learn about multiple intelligences, the more I'm convinced that is something that every teacher needs to embrace, or at least consider. I like that the video shows the benefit of teaching with MI's in mind has on all students. The stations the students go to that are geared towards MI's presents a win/win situation because it can be a point of access or it can help to reinforce the material. They say that it also offers various points of view for students to consider. My question is, if students have a certain intelligence, is it realistic to think that they can distant themselves enough to consider other intelligences? Or will they think it is boring because it isn't the way that they learn?
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