41 - Do you know in what areas you are intelligent?

    It was an eye-opener for me when I learned at a teacher workshop the Multiple Intelligence Theory which was created by  Harvard professor Howard Gardner. I was ecstatic!  Always, I had difficulty learning math and science, expecting myself to be like my twin. I knew I excelled in P.E., art, and music, but I wanted to do well in all my subjects without studying like crazy.  I realized that I needed to make my students aware of the eight intelligences and teach them that everyone has all eight but to varying degrees. Also, I needed to teach them some techniques which were conducive to their learning style that would allow them to learn faster.   
   My students were thankful when I taught them these lessons, and some asked if they could keep the material so they could go home and share the info with their families. A few students even came up after class and told me that they had always thought they were stupid but now realized they were smart in other areas.  This new knowledge helped me change some of my lesson plans so students could do various projects in their strongest modality.  The Multiple Intelligence Theory supports the thought that one approach to learning does not work for all students.  

    Maybe as a parent with young children, especially those who have kids that have been identified with learning problems, autism, A.D.D., A.D.H.D., etc., or a parent who homeschools, understanding this theory can help your child feel more comfortable with the specific way he/she learns and realize that he/she has strengths in specific areas. As a parent, there are many sites relating to this subject to help you incorporate the different styles of learning into a lesson.

Types of Multiple Intelligence:  

1.   Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence - uses the body to convey feelings and ideas, has good hand-eye coordination, and motor skills are more advanced than the average person's 

2.  Interpersonal Intelligence  -  the ability to recognize and understand people's desires, intentions, moods, emotions, and motivations

3.  Intrapersonal intelligence  - the capacity to be self-aware and in tune with inner feelings, values, beliefs, and thinking processes

4.   Logical-Mathematical Intelligence -  refers to the ability to make calculations, develop equations, and solve abstract problems easily

5.  Musical intelligence – the ability to recognize and produce rhythm, tone, pitch, and timber 

6.   Naturalistic intelligence  -  the ability to both identify and distinguish between different types of animals, plants, or other things in nature

7.  Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence  -  has well-developed verbal skills and is sensitive to the meaning of words, easily analyzes information and produces work that includes written and oral language including books, speeches, and emails

8.   Visual-Spatial Intelligence - comprehends graphical information such as maps and thinks in images and pictures, to visualize accurately and abstractly
 Everyone is smart!

   Multiple intelligence and learning styles are often confused as the same thing; however, the terms cannot be used interchangeably. Multiple intelligences represent the different intellectual abilities and learning styles that describe how a person actually approaches a range of tasks.  I was surprised that few teachers used this knowledge to teach their students different ways to learn things based on their intelligence.  

   For example, Nicole had difficulty memorizing her spelling words when she was little, and yet our little girl could hear a song and hum it or sing it, so I had her spell out her words to her favorite Peter Paul and Mommy tape that her dad had made for her. After her initial 6-year-old giggles, she settled down and learned those words twice as fast, and the stress of trying to remember the order in the letters came in disappeared because she was concentrating on the tune.  

   And Kyle who was very physical hated memorizing anything, so I got him up out of the chair, and he moved around, sometimes karate chopping or kicking the air while he was memorizing.  Both kids loved spelling or practicing math by writing it in the air. As they got older, their confidence grew, and they didn’t need to use these techniques, but it sure gave them a feeling of confidence when they were young that they could memorize anything.