Week #5- Assignment 1

Multiple Intelligences:

• How are students "smart" in different ways?

The theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) is the idea that there are several types of ways that people, specifically students, can be smart. For example a student may be lousy at math and problem solving, yet have the ability to compose songs. And another student may be a mathematician wiz but a terrible writer. In the video, Gardner states that there are eight independent multiple intelligences that teachers must consider when in the classroom and preparing their lessons. 1. Linguistic 2. Logical Mathematical 3. Musical 4. Spatial 5. Bodily-kinesthetic 6. Interpersonal 7. Intrapersonal 8. Naturalistic. 

These strengths should be used in a classroom as different ways to hook into student's interest and capabilities. 

• How can teachers use multiple intelligences in the classroom?

A teacher must ask herself, " How can I improve all my students academic performances by taking the best advantage of their different ways of being smart?"

When teachers beleive that there are many ways a student can be smart and each child has unique abilities and strengths, it can change their way they view students and the way they teach. The multiple Intelligence theory helps in allowing this, by enabling two things to happen: 1. It allows students to access many interest points into one topic and 2. It deepens students' understanding of a concept by allowing them to approach it from a variety of angles. 

Gardner believes that if a teacher gives a student more than one way to think about something- there is a lesser chance of the students forgetting it and it helps in retaining the information and making the learning interesting and applicable to their individual lives!