B1+Chapters+8+UbD+and+8,11,12+MI

> > > > > > > > > > >
 * 1) Click on edit this page.
 * 2) Use the down arrow on your keyboard to get the cursor underneath the horizontal bar.
 * 3) Type your name, highlight your name and then select Heading 3 at the top.toc
 * 1) Copy and paste your reflection underneath your name.
 * 2) Insert a horizontal bar under your reflection.
 * 3) Click save

Abstract (Allison Reynolds)[[image:Screen Shot Team 3.png width="800" height="472"]]
There were two overall themes to this section of the readings. The first was the aspect and concerns over grading. The general consensus is that the direction of how we grade needs to change. Grading needs to be based off benchmarks and goals, not letters and numbers. These things mean nothing to the teachers and the students. The class generally agreed that they would implement one of the techniques written in the book. Whether it is more [|rubric] based, or pre-written goals for the unit, or even just moving to standards, that the simple letter system needs to go. The other and larger theme was using the intelligences to manage a classroom and work with students with IEPs. First, some of the class liked the ideas to get attention and order in the class, others thought that they were silly and should be changed. Either way, the way to handle a class is to try using new methods that reach the intelligences of the students in the class. Then the discussion of special education was had. Whether or not the student has and IEP, the teacher should be able to recognize the strengths of a student and work with them to grow. The chapter recommended that we move from a negative “what they can’t do” to a positive “what are they strong at” attitude when working with students with IEPs. The class agreed to work with the intelligences, but would rather do it for all rather than focus on a specific group who may need it more.

Synthesis (Ashton Carmichael)
As a class, the general consensus was that the current grading method is not working. We want to move from this outdated scale that is not helping students anyway. We all agree that grading is for the purpose of measuring student mastery and not just a place holder. We want our. As a class, we are in agreement that grades are there to [|measure of growth for the student] and not some weird in between stage of the process. Many classmates agree with, and Kellie made a point that “Work which has been revised should never be an average of the first and later attempt, because that is not an accurate reflection of the end result.” Kellie recognizes that the student has grown since the first attempt, and thus, the early grade no longer reflects their mastery of the content. It is very important to stress the role of grades in our future classrooms. Whether or not students care about these “grades,” they are still responsible for knowing the content, but, more importantly, we are responsible for making sure they have mastered it. Mel makes the analogy that “Grades should be read like the status of a download, if it isn’t 100% or complete, the process isn’t over. An incomplete process should not be cut off and labeled when there is still room for completion.” Students should be given the chance to improve and re-do work without the hindrance of their final work being docked points because of their first try. When done correctly, grading will reflect the individual student’s mastery in our content area. Many classmates feel the A,B,C,I scale would be best for them because it does not allow students to fail, but holds them responsible for completing work until there is sufficient mastery in the content.

Mel Christensen
Multiple Intelligences Theory impacts the ways teachers approach their students and view them as learners. Teachers who are using MI Theory are constantly considering how their students are smart and how they think, not just what they think. These considerations are applicable to any student whether they are a high achieving student or a student with a disability which impacts their learning. Teachers need to take each students’ MI strengths and weaknesses into consideration in teaching as well as in conversations about classroom management issues or discipline. Students will all react differently to classroom situations because they each have their own way of processing information. Teachers need to keep this in mind because chances are if a student is repeatedly breaking the same rule the student does not understand what he or she is doing wrong and might need to view the situation through a different intelligence. Students with disabilities can benefit enormously from working with teachers who understand MI theory and know how to effectively incorporate it into instruction. Generally students with disabilities may have difficulties in some intelligences but be strong in others. Students with disabilities often struggle to engage in school because they cannot access the material they are assessed on or have difficulty with traditional assessment formats. One huge #|step towards engaging these students is to identify which intelligences they are strong in and validating those intelligences. If a student is given more opportunities to access the curriculum through their preferred intelligences they will have a much better learning experience. When appropriate students may substitute the use of assistive technologies which appeal to their preferred learning styles to another method of completing their school work. One simple and relatively low-tech example would be for a student who has a reading related learning disability to listen to an #|audiobook to #|complete part of all of a reading assignment. In this example, the student is still able to access the same content, but through a different intelligence. The student still has the opportunity to practice the reading skills they may be struggling with, by she does not get behind in her work because it took her longer to read than her peers.

Teachers must consider many factors about how their students learn and what they learn, but ultimately the teacher needs to be able to assess learning and report back to students and parents in a uniform way. Grading spans the continuum between being too subjective to being too calculated. Some important points from Chapter 8 of UbD/DI about grading were that grades should reflect just the learning a student has done and that students should be graded individually and not relative to others. Grades often take into account factors which do not reflect the student’s true knowledge or accomplishments, but reflect more about a student’s organization, work habits, or attendance. The common practice of averaging grades also comes into play here. Averages are sometimes not an accurate reflection of a student’s learning because they are equally likely to be influenced by a student’s early work which does not show mastery as work from later in the grading period which shows proficient understanding. Students need to be graded based on their personal progress, achievements, and work habits and not be assessed in terms of where they rank compared to others in their class.

Leigh Welch
The eighth chapter in the __Multiple Intelligences__ book focuses on classroom management with regards to the eight intelligences. This chapter looks at gaining that attention of the class, preparing for transitions, explaining class rules, forming groups, and managing behavioral issues. The author gives examples for each of the intelligences in all of the previously listed categories. In chapter eleven of Multiple Intelligences the author talks about the use of Multiple Intelligences in the Special Education classroom. This makes so much sense because the author talks about how special education is taught now (focusing on an area a student struggles in and then does more activities that they struggle with), and then gives an alternative. Instead of focusing on and continuing to do activities that the students is struggling with you could teach the content in one of the eight intelligences that the student thrives in. This is improve the Special Education program as a whole and have greater emphasis on identifying strengths, increase self-esteem, and increase understanding and appreciation of students. The twelfth chapter of __Multiple Intelligences__ talks about using all eight of the intelligences in higher-level thinking, such as memory, problem solving, and Bloom’s Taxonomy. These concepts seem simple enough and fit together so well. Gardner suggests in this chapter that no one has a bad memory or a good memory, because a single person has eight memories (one for each intelligence). So even if you are bad in one memory, you could be good in another. The book also talks about problem solving and how you can use all eight of the intelligences to reach every students and raise their higher-level thinking strategies. The eighth chapter of __Understanding by Design__ talks about grading and how it is not set up efficiently for the learner and the parent. This chapter talks about reforming our systems to focus our grading on the achievement and have a reporting system on the progress and work habits. The chapter talks about this program helping students who are struggling and challenging students who get great grades without even trying. I believe that the overarching theme in this set of chapters is tailoring everything you do in your classroom to the exact needs of you students. This goes for classroom management in chapter eight (MI), multiple intelligences in the special education areas in chapter eleven (MI), helping students remember information in chapter twelve (MI), and helping students succeed through the grading system in chapter eight (UbD). All of these areas are going to be reoccurring in your life as a teacher and it is really important to focus on being able to make a system that is going to work for every student. I think that the grading system reform was a very good chapter because it did not only focus on the students that are struggling, this chapter brought up the fact that there are students in schools that get good grades without even putting in half the effort as some of the other students. I think this is very important because you have to know how to help all students, if a student is succeeding in your class grade wise then you might not see that is because he/she is not challenged enough and that he/she is learning bad habits that will stay with them later in life. These habits could include a lack of persistence when faced with a challenge, unwillingness to take risks intellectually, or even, finding pleasure in their workings. According to the author these are three essential skils that are going to be needed later in life that might not be developed because of the lack of effort they needed to put forward.

Paul Santamore
Chapter eight in Ubd focused once again on grading and how to grade the correct way. From grading stems reporting those grades to the student, which may be the hardest part of the process. Grades should always be focused upon pre-written and specified learning goals and standards. This will help to continuously provide the students with the motivation and direction that they need in order to stay on track for the class. The book advocates for a diversion from the normality of normal grading systems. We should grade the students on standards, effort, and heart, rather than if they simply answered wrong or right. Differentiation should be applied in the ways that you grade their products, because this will allow for the greatest amount of opportunities for improvement. The list of MI readings starts with a discussion of classroom management in terms of the MIs. It first speaks of how we should gain the attentions of the students. Maria Montessori advocates for all of the learning styles, because she understands that student attention must be gained early in order to keep their interest levels high in the long run. Transitions during the school day can be fairly complex, but the book suggests using multiple MIs in determining how to cope we these as well. Communicating rules is another predicament in the classroom because some kids need things related in different ways than the teacher may be comfortable putting forth. In the end, this chapter focuses upon using all of the MI while still keeping classroom control. Chapter eleven in Mi covers how special education is necessary and should be considered when using MI theory. The book suggests that special education is advanced by the studies centered on MI theory, because it allows us to categorize special education students into non-discriminatory learning styles and fields. I think that this is vital because as we can see, there are some very successfully disabled individuals in our world. If we continue to put disabled or special education students into these stupid categories that simply pigeonhole them, we will never be giving them full and equal rights. We should develop their IEP and special plans while keeping all eight MIs in mind; this will help to grow these students in a progressive and equal way, which will benefit all of us in the long run. Chapter twelve is centered on the cognitive benefits of MI theory. Areas discussed within this chapter were memory and problem solving. Basically the book shows that by using MI theory we are better equipping our students’ brains to grow and develop in a balanced way that helps them down the road as well. All of these chapters have to do with increasing the mental and educational capacity of all of our students. Starting with actually teaching them the material and ending with tests and quizzes is the wrong approach; we must work harder in the middle to give our students the biggest benefits possible.

Bianca Stoutamyer
UBD/DI chapter eight talks about grading in the classroom. “Grading can be viewed as a two-part process: (1) assigning symbolic letters or numbers at the end of a specified time…and (2) reporting the evaluation(s) to students and parents,” these two processes can be done in a multitude of ways (Page 129). However, standardized grades do not work well in a differentiated classroom. The idea of not including all of the assessments into the grade book was interesting for me because most teachers include everything you do during the school year in the grade book to not only boost grades but to boost confidence of your students. Leaving out some of the assessments seems like a good idea in theory but if students do really well on the assessments it would be discouraging for them to not have those in the grade book. Chapter 8 of multiple intelligences was about keeping control of the classroom and getting control of the classroom through multiple intelligence techniques. My favorite technique for getting the students attention is the interpersonal strategy of whispering in the ear of one student and having them spread the message. Not only is this a quiet way of getting the students attention but it also allows you to see how the students communicate with each other. Chapter 11 of multiple intelligences talks about how multiple intelligences works with special education. The quote, “Using MI theory as a backdrop, educators can begin to perceive children with special needs as whole persons possessing strengths in many intelligence areas,” not only is this quote aggravating for me it suggests that before multiple intelligences that students with special needs were only looked at as trouble cases and weren’t seen for their strengths (Page 103). This disgusts me, as a teacher you are supposed to see all of your students as “whole people” not just a piece of a person. The chart on page 106 about people with personal challenges was interesting and could be used as a project idea for students to research how these people succeeded in life with their multiple intelligence and their personal challenges. The idea of multiple intelligences being able to help limit the number of referrals to special education and increase self-esteem in your students are both positive results to come out of multiple intelligences in the classroom. However, I wouldn’t ever have needed this book to know that all of my students have strengths whether they have special needs or not. The final chapter talked about multiple intelligences being important in how student’s problem solve, memorize and promote Christopherian Encounters. This is another thing that I knew before the book without knowing that there is a term for everyone’s different ways to memorize and learn. I would never have thought for students to spell out words with twigs or to spell words with your body in order to help my students memorize spelling. I would use most if not all of the examples given in the chapter to help my students memorize and problem solve. All of the chapters had to do with doing things right for your students.

Allison Reynolds
I, as a teacher, need to be aware of all the things that can happen in my classroom. I need to be able to see that my students are learning in an environment that supports their learning styles. This works with classroom management. Chapter 8 focuses more on the idea of using each of the intelligences to create a system for classroom management. This section really helped me because I am worried about how I will handle difficult situations in order to keep my class moving through my lessons. I liked the idea of having different signals to show the transitions of class. Many students will lose track of what they were doing when the class transitions, thus they start talking and the teacher loses them for a few minutes. Those minutes add quickly. I would like to use these ideas in order to keep my students with me as well as work with the multiple intelligences. The next two sections of readings dealt with working with students and their cognitive abilities. We have discussed working with a great range of students, but what about students with a cognitive disadvantage that signifies that they are in special education? I love the idea of multiple intelligences in special education because it helps reduce the labels. I know that I have worked with students who are in special education that are incredibly talented in one area. My friend Hayden is very spatially inclined where he loves maps and paths to drive. He got us through a detour on a school trip when the new bus driver wasn’t familiar with the area. He saved the day and everyone was excited, but not nearly as Hayden was. I want to bring that to my classroom because if gives everyone a chance to be on the same playing field. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. So, we as teachers have to work on getting students to think outside of the box and work on their intelligences. The Christopherian idea in chapter 12 was interesting. It forces students to work with something they are not used to and make it one of their strengths. I would bring that in to my classroom. Students need to think critically in order to learn. Another topic mentioned was one that we have been working on: grading. Chapter 8 in UbD/DI just discussed what we now know about assessing. I never thought of grading my class on a curve. This book brought up how it would not work for differentiated classes. I never thought I would want to use one but now I know I definitely won’t. Thinking about it, that really forces the students who are not strong in this area to just get a good grade. We could just not “grade” the paper and see where they are. Grading on the curve is a cruel way to compare grades to the others and force students to worry about the number rather than the information. I would not use this in my class and I am looking forward to using the step by step assessment to see where my students are.

Megan Hoffman
Chapter 8 of UbD focuses on grading and how to grade well as well as how to report grades. There are 6 principles that the book refers to as essential to effective grading and reporting. One principle is that you should have clear standards and goals. I think the most effective way to get these specified standards and goals across is to use rubrics because they lay everything out in a clear and organized way if done correctly. The chapter also touches upon the notion that grading and assessment isn’t necessarily the same thing. Assessment is merely collecting information about a student’s progress and grading is an end judgment on their achievement. Another important point is not to base grades on averages; the reasoning behind this is that if the point of education is to learn- it is unfair to put a time frame on it. This ties in nicely with the concept mastery that many schools are now implementing. Chapter 8 of MI focuses on the classroom management aspect in relation to the MI theory. I found the getting students attention section a bit silly because, at least the way I read and understood it, to do all of those things at the same time would just cause distraction in my opinion, it might be better to use every strategy at least once per day. I really liked the section in forming groups with different intelligences, that way more ways of thinking can be brought into the group and someone’s strengths can account for another’s weaknesses. Chapter 11 centers around the MI theory in relation to special education. The author makes a great point; he says “Over the history of the Special Education movement in the United States, educators have had a disturbing tendency to work from a deficit paradigm- focusing on what students can’t do- in an attempt to help students succeed in school” (MI pg 149). This is something that I feel strongly about because my husband was placed in a special education because of his ADD. What resulted was teachers “dumbing down” material rather than focusing on relating the material to what he is talented at like auto mechanics. I think that the MI model would benefit the special education system greatly. Chapter 12 focuses on using MI to develop thinking strategies. Armstrong says “How students think has almost become more important than what they think about” (MI pg 161). The first section within this chapter deals with memory and it gives an 8 way example of how to help memory, the example it uses is in spelling words. One way for the bodily-kinesthetic learner to practice spelling words is by using things like modeling clay or using bodily movements to display things like syllables. The chapter also shows how to use MI in conjunction with blooms taxonomy to help students achieve better thinking skills.

Carinne Haigis
These chapters all addressed different ways to support student success using the multiple intelligences and differentiated instruction. Chapter Eight in the MI book shows how to use the MI’s to manage a classroom. This chapter provides methods and techniques on how to use the MI’s in classroom management in order to be a more effective educator and to maintain student interest. When the author describes various way of garnering student attention, I could not help but think of the actions I have witnessed in the lunchroom during my weeks in the field. Whenever the students grow increasingly loud or it is time for recess, a teacher will put her hand up for everyone to see. As the students notice this, they too raise their hands until everyone has ceased talking and is waiting to be spoken to or dismissed. This method works well because, as Anderson describes in this chapter, instead of merely shouting at the students to quiet down and competing with the chaos of the lunchroom, the teachers are using both visual and kinesthetic concepts to gain student attention. Chapter Eleven of the MI book shows how the multiple intelligences can be used in the field of special education in order to focus, “on a wide spectrum of abilities” (Anderson 149). Because MI theory emphasizes learning about how students learn and in what ways they are “smart”, this theory has the capability to redefine how the world sees special education. If teachers use MI theory in their classrooms, they should have an in depth understanding of how their kids think and learn. If a teacher can then incorporate this knowledge when planning a lesson, the special education students in the classroom will become, simply, students. Chapter Twelve discusses how students think. As Armstrong writes in the introduction of this chapter: “//How// students think has become almost more important that //what// they think about” (Armstrong 161). Students who have different intelligences can and will think in different ways. As a teacher, it is incredibly important to recognize this and understand how this information impacts how he or she ought to teach the content material. One of the areas where students will think differently is in the area of memory. When I was in school, because I was a linguistic learner, I always came up with my own sayings and pneumonic devices to help me remember material. It was interesting to see that there is a method like this for each intelligence. Musical learners can make up songs and bodily-kinesthetic learners can come up with ways to move or even make up dances to help them remember material. It is crucial to know that not every student will be able to simply memorize. Chapter Eight of the UbD book has to do with grading and the understanding that if a student fails, it is really the fault of the teacher. Teachers should learn from the grades of their students and know that if an individual fails a test or an assignment it is because they have not yet mastered the skill and may need more time in order to do so.

Ashton Carmichael
One of the focuses in this chapter was “MI Theory in the Development of IEPs.” The section explained how students who struggle in one particular intelligence are given MORE work in that intelligence to try and improve their scores. The section also mentions how the areas the child IS doing well in are overlooked and not discussed. The chapter then focuses further on how Multiple Intelligences will effect the special education system. Armstrong proposes that with the use of MI’s in the classroom fewer students will be referred to the special education program because their learning will be supported inside the classroom. The author suggests that special education teachers would become more consultants than a “pullout” teacher. I would especially like this. I would have someone I could talk to who knows the needs of the students and give me suggestions on what to do to improve his/her mastery. It would be great to collaborate with other teachers to make the learning available to every student. The idea that children who act out are screaming for help has been pounded into our heads this semester, and we need to reach out to these children. But sometimes, students just misbehave in the classroom. Armstrong talk about this in Chapter 8 of Multiple Intelligences. The chapter gives examples of how teachers can use each of the intelligences to: gain students’ attention, prepare for transitions, communicate class rules, form groups, and manage individual behaviors. Under each category, the author lists each of the intelligences and examples of how to differentiate for each of the learning styles. The author states that “Naturally, MI theory suggests that no one discipline approach is best for all kids. In fact, the theory suggests that teachers may need to match different discipline approaches to different kinds of learners” (Armstrong 118). This quote is in the context of using MI theory for discipline. I think the idea of using this would be effective, but keeping it going and using it effectively would be difficult. Once a system was established, I think the concept would work wonderfully for the classroom. It would show personal relationship between the student and teacher and the student would learn from the behavioral discipline. Chapter 13 of Multiple Intelligences talks about the memory skills involved in learning and how MI’s can help students in these area. One example is memory. The chapter suggests ways within each of the intelligences to help students memorize, in this case, spelling words. This is really beneficial. I don’t see the availability of doing all of these within the actual classroom setting, or at least not all of them, but introducing the idea to the class and giving them the option would be worthwhile if they took the initiative to do it. I think that if a student is developed in that intelligence, they will take the time to try it out and see the pros of the style. Chapter 8 of Understanding by Design primarily focuses on the grading process. The authors of this book make the statement that grades should be more than a number/letter relationship. I couldn’t agree more. The letters and numbers mean more than just letters and numbers, they are a reflection of the students’ mastery and progress up to the mastery. The authors raise the concern that grading can make some students feel less adequate. The authors address students with Learning Disabilities, language issues, and such as students who may struggle in this norm based grading system. In response, the authors suggest we assess on three factors: grades for achievement of goals, progress toward goals, work habits. This makes more sense than grading with just numbers and letters. This way gives exact points of assessment and students are not getting one cumulative grade on their performance.

Chris Whitney
Chapter 8 of the Ubd book talks about the process of grading and what precautions to take when giving students grades for their work. Students should always have a clear understanding of the goals that they are required to meet. There needs to be a change in the way people in education view grades. So much meaning is lost when only a simple letter grade is the only indication of mastery in a course. That A- or C+ does not accurately describe how well a student can multiply or write. Teachers also need to put the burden of failing students on their shoulders. After all if a student fails then the teacher is not doing their job in effectively reaching that student. Chapter 8 of the MI book was great for me because it talked about how teachers can use MI techniques in classroom management. Classroom management is one of the areas that I was nervous about when I entered the classroom. At this point in all of the books, it has been well established that the best way to keep the attention of students and connect with them the best is through the use of multiple intelligences. So it makes sense then that when teachers are trying to keep control of the classroom, they use multiple intelligences here as well. One example of this I could see during my time at Mt. Blue High School, was that when my mentor teacher needed to get the attention of his kids, he would play classical music. He would play a song for 10 seconds, and when the 10 seconds were done, the students would be done talking. It was a unique way to get the attention of his students and the most important part was that it was effective. Chapter twelve discusses what has basically been true all along that students learn in different intelligences and that it is important for teachers to recognize this, and attend to all students needs. This chapter also discusses how students multiple intelligences affect their memory and ability to memorize things. Not every student will be able will be able to memorize by looking at words or hearing them out loud. This is important for teachers when reviewing material because not every student could be benefiting from that lesson.

Kaite Bukauskas
Chapter 8 in UbD was about the ways in which teachers can go about grading and reporting academic achievements. It divided grading into two parts- the process of assigning a number or letter grade to evaluate student performance and the process of reporting this grade to the students and students’ parents. This process of providing feedback is meant to encourage the learning process and the individual students’ academic success. The text states that there are six key principles to an effective grading system. Any grades and progress reports that are given by a teacher should be based on clearly specified learning goals and performance standards and all evidence that is used needs to be valid. To follow with this idea, grading should be based upon established criteria instead of subjective norms. This means that an educator should not report a student at achieving a particular grade in comparison to his or her peers. Reporting student success against one another can be problematic because it could earn a student an A because he or she is in a class of lower achievers or it could earn a student a C solely because he or she is surrounded by advanced students rather than providing this student with the grade that he or she actually earned based upon his or her learning process. This also creates an unnecessary feeling of competition in the classroom. This principle stood out to me because grading on a curve and grading based upon an individual’s status as compared to his or her peers is the way that most of my high school teachers tended to grade. As a teacher I would want to avoid this and to instead base grades upon criteria and individual progress. Chapter 8 in the MI text was about multiple intelligence theory and classroom management. Every classroom is made up of students who possess various needs and interests therefore it is natural for rules, routines, regulations, and procedures in a classroom to be challenged with disruptive behaviors and distractions. This chapter reviews the ways in which a teacher can address such issues by utilizing strategies that involve all of the multiple intelligences. The text utilizes an example of a common teacher strategy to get a class’ attention by solely using a linguistic approach of verbal words such as “quiet”. The chapter suggests instead to use a variety of strategies such as a musical clapping routine to capture student attention, or using bodily-kinesthetic approaches such as a finger held up to a mouth to symbolize silence or holding up an arm in a specific way. The text suggests utilizing the MIs in a similar fashion to transition into routine events with less distractions, such as transitioning into lunch period, recess, and dismissal, by using strategies that appeal to the 8 MI components. Chapter 11 focused on using the multiple intelligences to develop a growth perspective on special education in place of the traditional deficit paradigm. Unfortunately students with special education needs often are labeled by a specific impairment and are managed heavily by standardized tests, program kits, and isolated from mainstream classes for specialized treatment. Multiple intelligence theory encourages teachers to avoid labels and to instead find student strengths in the other intelligences to customize the learning process to help them succeed. This encourages educators to help students pursue as normal of a life pattern as possible by advocating for their strengths and ways of learning. The texts describes ways in which individuals can have a deficit in any of the intelligences, such as dyscalculia being a deficit in logical-mathematical and dysemia (difficulty reading nonverbal social signs) being a deficit in interpersonal intelligence. Reviewing the various weaknesses and strengths that can occur in student intelligences can inspire a teacher to utilize both when working with an IEP, rather than focusing on only an individualized deficit treated with a standardized strength.

Jason Bragg
Chapter 8 of MI talked about getting the attention of students based on the way they learn. The book gave some great examples, such as for linguistic learner, teachers should write the words “Silence Please!” on the board. Another example was to clap a rhythm and to have students clap it back. My teachers used this example when I was in grade school, and it was very effective. As soon as the students heard the clapping, they stopped talking and clapped back. The general idea of this chapter was using MI to manage the classroom better. Some of the other ideas presented in this chapter include using MI to communicate classroom rules, or how to meet with students individually based on how they learn. These are valuable ideas that I will definitely turn to so that I can manage my classroom. The next chapter (chapter 11 MI) talked about one of my favorite ideas: incorporating MI with special education. Rather than labeling a student with a disorder and educating them based on their disorder, teachers should educate these students based on their combination of intelligences. The book basically says that when a student has a disorder, then they may have trouble learning a certain way. For example, students with dyslexia are linguistic deficient. Therefore, teachers should not teach these students with anything written. They could use audio instead so that these students can understand the material. MI theory can also help teachers understand a student’s strengths and weaknesses. This will help teachers during IEP meetings, where topics such as a students strengths and weaknesses are discussed. I also really liked how this chapter seemed to categorize students with special needs in the MI categories, rather than based on their disability. The first topic covered in MI 12 is that each student will remember things different, based on their specific combination of intelligences. The book gives examples such as singing rather than speaking for musical listeners, or moving your body to represent letters for kinesthetic learners. One of the keys that helps me remember things are pneumonic devices, such as Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally for PEMDAS. I also found the idea of grading on a curve to be very upsetting. I had teachers who graded the class base on a curve. Those of us who did well and worked hard for our grades felt like we achieved less than we did because the curve helped other students get good grades. A grade should represent the student’s achievement based on the class structure, rather than based on how everyone else in the class did. As a teacher, I will not use curves. I want my students to work hard and to earn a grade based on their achievements. I also agree with the idea that certain items should not be graded. Some examples include pre-assessments, and formative assessments before feedback is given. This is because pre-assessments should be a tool for the teacher to understand how much the students understand. Teachers should also not grade a formative assessment until feedback is given because teachers need to give the students a chance to correct their work.

Kellie Sanborn
These chapters focused on the importance of grading processes in a differentiated classroom, how multiple intelligences can integrate into these, and the overall classroom environment of a class which places focus on the multiple intelligences. It is crucial that each of the multiple intelligences be understood at a level beyond just the surface. Educators should understand the cognitive process and strategies which are strongest for each multiple intelligence, and they must be able to communicate to students that there are many success stories from each intelligence. I found the chapter “MI Theory and Special Education” particularly interesting and inspiring because it focused on success and ability rather than disability. I especially enjoyed reading the examples of people with different “disabilities” who were extremely successful in each different sector of the multiple intelligences. I also found the chapter “MI Theory and Cognitive Skills” to be very crucial for educators because it elaborated on several different strategies for each MI for learning about different subjects. I thought that the chapter “Grading and Reporting Achievement” from UbD/DI was a chapter that will be very useful in the designing of my unit because it helped to consider grading process and what should and should not be graded. I now know that in grading I should focus more on the end result and the assessment of learning rather than process it took to get there. It is not fair to punish a student because they did not understand a concept the first time around, because they may take more time to develop understanding or the particular assignment may not have targeted their learning style. I thought that this was where the chapter tied in closely with the MI chapters, because it is important to understand that if a student is being assessed in a way which does not reach their intelligence strengths, then it is not fair to grade them on that concept. Grades should be a reflection of the whole, not of each particular event. The UbD chapter also reminded me that it is important to separate achievement from other factors of the learning environment when grading, so things like attendance, homework, and participation should be graded separately from overall understanding. In addition to grading based on strength, it is important to set up a classroom which allows students to play to their strengths. The chapter “MI Theory and Classroom Management” was very helpful for me because it suggested so many ways to create a classroom which allows all of the different types of intelligence to thrive. Students should have opportunities to learn and also to behave through use of their strengths. A student who is not a linguistic learner, for example, should not be asked to focus and transition only through verbal commands. Teachers should differentiate the way that they deliver not only academic instruction, but also instruction on behavior. Classrooms should be set up in a way which allows for students to thrive behaviorally, and therefore academically. The combination of these four chapters reminded me that it is important for me as an educator to remember that all students are different and learn differently, and therefore their strengths should be focused on above all else.