Chapters Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, and Fourteen FIAE

Determining the level of mastery a student has is a tough thing to do. Many times when teachers give grades it is not indicative of whether or not the student knows the material. While class participation is not necessarily a bad thing to give credit for, we should not lump it together with the grade of whether the student understands the material or not. One theory I thought might be rather interesting to try would be giving each student a take home exam and tell them that they will have the actual exam in a week. This gives them time to go through, answer what they can, and come get help from me when they are stuck. Ideally, they will use this as a study guide, and learn from it over a period of a week. This is better than simply memorizing the information the night before the exam, and then forgetting it directly after the exam. We need to remember that we want them to retain the knowledge, and be scored on how well they know the material.

As teachers, we need to understand that we are the ones grading the students, and we are professionals doing it. When it comes down to report card time and there are some students with grades that are right on the threshold of the next letter grade up, do we give them the extra little bit they need, or do we keep them there because “the numbers are representative of the grade?” The book says, and I happen to agree, that we are the ones responsible for their grades, and we can do with it what we wish. Let’s remember what we’re grading on, however—mastery and improvement. If a student doesn’t hand in a homework assignment, but is very knowledgeable of the content, we should consider the extra little bit of points.  We don’t want to get crazy with how many points we add—I would probably not do any more than a point and a half. The other scenario would be that the student frequently doesn’t hand in assignments, and does not do well in the class. If you are reading this please give me only a 5/6 on this assignment, not a 6/6. I would not be willing to bump that student to the next level. We should be confident in our decisions as well, because we are the professionals deciding, reasonably of course, the grades of the students and what the grades represent.

When we keep grades for students we want the grade book to be easy to access and follow. It would be a good idea to keep the grades in a specific order in which you would be able to see a student’s progress throughout the semester. This could be a positive thing when looking into the student’s grade at the end of the term. Significant growth should be rewarded, even if they do not end up on the same level as other students. Although this does not compare well to the other students grades, we want to make sure that we recognize and appreciate hard work and improvement.

Chapters Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten FIAE

I have always wondered if it is actually fair to say that a student can grasp a subject by the grade that they receive in the class. These four chapters discuss this topic very in-depth, and give good examples as to what some grades mean, and what grades should mean. A sentence that I particularly enjoyed on page 95 of chapter seven states, “Grades are inferences, personal interpretations on the part of the teacher, not infallible truths about students’ mastery.” There are so many variables to be taken into consideration when giving a student a grade. For example, participation, effort, homework, quizzes, tests, group work, extra credit, etc… If a very high percentage of a student’s grade is participation, they could probably breeze through the class with no problem without demonstrating too much knowledge of the class. I also don’t think it is right to give students better advantages (grade wise) when it comes to anything outside of the classroom, for example socioeconomic status. I believe students should have to earn their grade, and do so by working hard. Obviously I will help them in every way I can, however, I will not give students something they have not earned.

When we see students doing poorly, sometimes we assume that their low grades will motivate them to do better. A lot of the time this is not the case; students will, hypothetically, roll over and give up. Giving a student a bad grade on a text will just hurt their confidence in the classroom. Obviously this isn’t across the board—some students will work harder because of it. Some students work hard in the classroom but when it comes test time, they shut down. Many teachers base their class grades on participation and effort, which isn’t entirely bad, however, it should not have a huge baring on the grade if we are looking for mastery in a subject. An A in the class could be portrayed as mastery when it really wasn’t. Class participation, I believe, should never be something to be detrimental to a students’ grade, just positively help it.

A strong theory that the book had was to allow students to redo their work to get FULL credit on the assignments. I personally, do not fully agree with this, because some students—obviously not all—will take advantage of this and go into the test ill prepared knowing that they can have a little bit more time to study later on. The honor system is a great tool sometimes but it can bite you as well. Also I think giving students partial redo points will give them the incentive to do better the first time.

When it comes to homework, I strongly agree with the fact that it is used as a learning too, and should never be graded. We should check to see that they have done it, and put minimal weight on that, although students learn from it, I know I do. I will give feedback to students on their homework who need it because it can be a very powerful learning tool. Many times I try a problem superficially if I know it is something I can’t do yet, and will wait for the teacher to do it on the board the next day. This helps me understand it rather than doing it wrong over and over again, reinforcing poor work. 

Chapters Eight UbD; Eight, Eleven, Twelve MI

Chapters Eight UbD DI Eight Eleven Twelve MI

When grading students’ work, it is very important that we establish what we are grading on. Giving a student a grade without specifying what he/she received the points on is very ambiguous, and could enforce negative qualities on work. We should also keep in mind the important parts of what we are grading. Does it make sense to really penalize students for forgetting to put their names on papers? Perhaps if it is a reoccurring theme we might do something about it; however, that takes away from the important parts of the scoring. If we grade by telling students that there will only be a certain amount of As, Bs, Cs, etc… then we create an environment in which students who get the As are the winners, and students who get below that are the losers. Why not let every student have the ability to get an A? Isn’t that what we are ultimately aiming for?

When getting a classes’ attention, we can’t simply use the typical, “CLASS!” and expect them to obey. This is merely using the linguistic intelligence, and may not affect the students who learn best with the other seven. One paragraph talks about displaying a large digital countdown clock so students can see how much time they have until they leave the class. I do not agree with this strategy because students, especially the ones who do not enjoy the class, will be more engaged in the clock than they will in the lesson.

In our classrooms, we should not regard children with special needs solely in terms of deficit, disorder, and disease. Instead, we should work within the parameters of a growth paradigm. Learning disabilities do not, in fact, only deal with students who are special needs. For instance, a student who is lacking in the musical intelligence, like me, could have a learning disability in the musical intelligence. In examining the differences between the deficit program and the growth program, we should be learning much more in the direction of the growth program, as it is more beneficial in nearly every way. IEPs, which are also mentioned in both of the programs, are too often given to students and lack the most developed intelligences while focusing on the weaknesses. This does not do us any good. This does not provide a lot of assistance for the teachers, as one of the most important things to be able to do is relate to the student based on their intelligences.

“How students think has become almost more important than what they think.” I like this quote, because we need to make sense of the students’ cognitive skills. I often think that I have a poor memory when it comes to certain things; however, after reading this chapter it makes me feel better that I may be better at remembering things if the information was provided to me in one of my intelligences. Now I can understand why this would be so beneficial to do in the classroom to get students to memorize the material better. We want to make sure, however, that students are not simply memorizing, but learning by discovery and actually soaking the information in. This will really help students out as well as me when it comes to moving on to other lessons in a timely fashion. 

Chapters Seven, Nine, Thirteen, and Fourteen MI

When considering the intelligences, we should also consider the best way students learn using them. Would it make sense to have the students of a specific intelligence, for instance linguistic, be spread throughout the room? What purpose would this have in our classroom if these individuals couldn’t talk together or communicate through their intelligence? As long as we differentiate and include all eight intelligences within out lesson then there should be no reason to separate the students. Doing this in the classroom can greatly expand the parameters for student exploration in each intelligence. Although students might do best with an activity based around their intelligence, should we let them venture into another? While the book suggests that it depends on the activity, I say it doesn’t matter. Let students explore; why refine their learning based on what we think is best for them in this case. We should do our best to provide students with experiences that activate all of their intelligences.

Just because a school provides a variety of different subjects does not mean that it should be considered a multiple intelligence school. An analogy that I like to use for this is: just because a pitcher pitched in the major leagues doesn’t mean that he is going to be a good coach. We need teachers who are going to differentiate and use a variety of strategies in order to accommodate for students of all intelligences. Each subject needs to incorporate all eight intelligences. I know that when I become a teacher, I will certainly use all eight intelligences in math; however, it will take the cooperation of all teachers, administration, and the students to create a totally MI school. If a school wants to be considered an MI school, it should consist of a lot of different specialists that are responsible for certain areas. The book proposes a theory that if schools want to be considered MI schools in the future, they should start looking less like schools and more like the real world. I think there is some truth and some false to this statement, although I can see the intent.

To prepare for the real world, a few important concepts for students to grasp are computer technology, cultural diversity, and career counseling. Many intelligences are used for each of these to be grasped. In the U.S., there has been a drastic increase in the amount of cultural diversity more recently than ever. When observing intelligences, it is important to keep in mind the MI theory: an intelligence must be valued by a culture in order to be considered a true intelligence. We should not think, however, that certain cultures only value one intelligence. Every culture uses all eight intelligences.

Every culture also uses the concept of existential intelligence. The book suggests the most appropriate way to integrate this concept into our classroom is to help students think about the existential dimensions of whatever they are studying and that assists them in considering the ways in which some professionals have incorporated existential concerns into their own work. The existential intelligence is used in nearly every subject as well, and should be touched on when necessary. 

FIAE Abstract & Synthesis Chapter Three

Abstract

This chapter, titled Principles of Successful Assessment in the Differentiated Classroom, spoke a lot about the different types of assessments and what to do and what not to do in helping students understand material. Many practicum students were skeptical of the idea of giving their students the end of the year exam on the first day. They think that it is only giving students an idea for the information they need to study for while blocking out the rest. Some other people, however, said that they would use this strategy because it gives them clear goals and guidelines of where they are going, and the essential ideas they will need to master. The students can show their knowledge by the three main types of assessments: pre-assessments, formative assessments, and summative assessments. There are many different styles to these assessments, and some people might prefer one over another. We need to make sure that there is meaning to the type of assessments we give students. It is also important that we provide the information to the students in such a way that they can all succeed.

Synthesis

It is the most helpful for students when there is meaning to the information we are giving them. If we give students a pre-assessment, be sure to tell them how they did (at some point), and why they took it. If you give students a formative assessment, explain to them why they are taking it and what they should take from it. We can see if the students are retaining the knowledge by testing them on similar material a couple weeks later. If their scores go down, we know that they are memorizing, not learning, and we need to adjust our teaching methods. Summative assessments have the worst reputation, and probably for good reason. At the end of the course, a big summative assessment is not used as a learning tool, only a tool to see how much students have learned. This is unlike the formative assessments where we can see what they have learned, and help them after the fact to get better on things they need to work on. Many students in here said that they would devise a different way to assess students because they did not like the typical “big test” at the end of the course. There are many other types of summative assessments that we can use other than the typical “big test.” Perhaps if we actually make an effort to have students enjoy what they will be tested on they will have a better understanding of the material. Allowing students to express their intelligences in different ways makes it so their knowledge is unveiled. We can also help students learn when we make sure that they understand their homework, and show them specifically what we want them to do. If they are unsure of the task, then they are more likely not to do it. If they do not do some of the homework assignments then they could miss out on key concepts that are essential to the class.

Chapters 6,7 UbD DI and 5,6 MI

Chapters Five, Six MI; Six, Seven UbD DI Synthesis

It is important, in the multiple intelligences classroom, that the teacher keeps the educational objective firmly in mind, and continually shifts methods of presentation between all of the intelligences to capture all of the students’ learning styles. Creatively combining these intelligences in the lesson is a great way to “kill two birds with one stone” and get every student involved in the class. A great way to integrate all of them in is to draw pictures, show video clips, play music periodically, use hands-on experiences, makes hand gestures, gives students time to think, asks group questions, and reference nature. It would not be too difficult to nonchalantly add these into my lecture, and accommodate for all student learning types. This multiple intelligence theory, however, suggests that no one set of teaching strategies will work best for all students at all times. There are practically an unlimited amount of strategies for teaching students based on their intelligences, although, some will be more effective than others.

In my classroom I will use a variety of strategies for teaching my students, and some great ideas were given in chapter six of MI. I was always a big fan of my teachers telling stories in the classroom, so I think it would be very powerful to incorporate a good story that relates to the lesson into the class. Students always think that they are getting the teacher to waist class time when they “trick” the teacher into telling a story but if I can make it fit into the lesson it will be great. Brainstorming activities are also a good idea, and can work well for a variety of intelligences depending on how you chose to go about it. If you have the student reflect for a bit and then share, you’re targeting the intrapersonal student, and by sharing in class you are targeting the interpersonal student. During any of the strategies, however, it is important that we keep in mind we need to talk with students, not at them. By doing these strategies we are also differentiating our classroom, which is a necessity today.

Differentiated classrooms are developed to ensure all students have access to high-quality, meaning-focused curriculum. This is very important, because the student people would think of as “not intelligent” can be in a differentiated classroom and have their individual intelligences come alive. Differentiation also reminds us that there will be times when a strategy can be used effectively with the entire class, work effectively throughout the whole class, and work effectively only with specific students or groups. We need students to be receptive to these strategies, and we can do that by establishing “orderly and enabling” learning environments which are mostly likely to teach for meaning and understanding.

For a student to come to an understanding of big ideas, it requires them to construct meaning for themselves. Teaching for understanding is huge, and is what separates the good teachers from the great teachers. It takes time to be able to figure out how a student will understand something by discovery, however, once they do so it is the best way that they can learn. Teachers can do this by uncovering the content. An iceberg is a good analogy, as only a small portion of it is visible, although there is an unbelievable mass unseen beneath the water. 

MI Chapter Ten

MI Theory and Assessment

When assessing students based on all of their multiple intelligences, it is important to have them put their learning in context. Put them in a situation where they would be expected to show their learning in real life. As teachers, we need to be able to recognize where students’ intelligences are, and we can do that by observation. Observation may be one of the best ways to discern which students may be matched with which intelligences. Also, Gardner makes a good point about integrating student interviews, or how I would like to call it, student/teacher discussions, into the classroom. These would be one-on-one sessions where the teacher could meet with the student to discuss their strengths, weaknesses, progress, interests, goals, etc… This shows students that we are interested in helping them succeed. It is important, however, that we actually put these interviews to good use and blend the responses into the lessons. I like the idea of these meetings because it allows the students to have their own bit of autonomy from their parents regarding parent/teacher conferences.

On standardized tests (assuming we give them), I think it is important to give students the opportunity to choose how they might answer a specific question. Perhaps they can show their knowledge by writing, drawing, relating, analyzing, etc… As long as what they show us is clear, and that they can articulate their answer in some way, then I would deem it acceptable. Some students express their knowledge differently than others; a prime example being the eight multiple intelligences, and we need to be accepting of that.