B2+Chapters+8+UbD+and+8,11,12+MI

Abstract
Chapter eight of UbD discussed how students should be graded for what they do in the class. The book suggests that not only should some assessments not be graded, the majority of assessments should go ungraded. [|There are many different opinions on what should be graded.] what should and should not be graded. The book suggests that pre-assessments and diagnostic assessments should never be graded. The chapter also mentioned how such grades, (whether they be numbers or letters), should be measured and defined. A single letter or a number means nothing to a student and could mean one thing in one class and a totally different thing in another. They are more or less arbitrary. With this in mind, the chapter discusses how teachers really need to go over what it means for students to receive an A, B, C, and so on. [|They really need to go in depth to talk about what each of those mean, what it stands for, and what it means they accomplished]. Lastly, this chapter discussed the fact that three separate factors should be reported out to the students and their parents when grades come out: “(1) grades for achievement of goals, (2) progress toward goals, and (3) work habits” (Tomlinson and McTighe 135). Students should be assessed on what they are learning – not when they learn it. Chapter eight of the MI book also discussed fair treatment of students – except this time, it was from the classroom management perspective. Teachers often resort to the “yelling” strategy, which just does not work. This chapter provided ways to get students’ attention in a multitude of other ways (based on the multiple intelligences) that I will definitely be trying out in the future, such as clapping a short rhythm and having students clap it back, or just start teaching the lesson and allow students to take control of their own behavior. Some good suggestions were also given in the MI model of how to deal with individuals who might be acting out, although they seemed more tailored to elementary school kids than high schoolers. Chapter eleven of the MI book showed different ways the MI model could be used to help understand, teach, and assess students in our classes who happen to have a disability. Just because a student might have a disability that prevents them from excelling in one or two intelligences does not mean that they aren’t incredibly proficient in others. Teachers so often choose to focus on assessing these students in a linguistic or logical/mathematical way, and that just does not work for a lot of them. Specific lessons can be made to work with the students who are in special education. Each multiple intelligence has lessons that can be used for students in the special education program. For example a teacher can play anagrams for logical thinking, sing songs for musical lessons, or list favorite words that start with a specific letter. Lastly, chapter twelve of the MI book discussed the importance of determining how students think along with what they are thinking. There are a lot of things teachers want their students to remember from day to day, but all too often it goes in one ear and out the other. A good way to combat that is to help students learn and remember in whichever MI suits them best in that department. MI theory is used today to find out how students use their cognitive skills. Teachers tend to teach students to memorize their content.This is something that needs to get out of the classroom. Teachers need to help students develop ways to retain the content. There is said to be no good or bad memories - some students are merely weaker in some of the intelligences that they can’t remember. But, if teachers can help students learn content in their stronger intelligences than they will more likely retain the information.

Synthesis
The main focus our class had on these chapters was how to make sure every student is being graded and treated fairly through a differentiated, MI-based approach. A major point that we all agreed on was that all grades should be given with a purpose - as well as with specific comments for feedback. As Ali said, “All through high school, my grades were accompanied by a page full of comments from the teacher. I remember the first time I pulled up my grades on Mainestreet. I was so shocked because all the teachers gave us was a letter. I wanted an explanation of the grades I got and ways to improve them.” The majority of the class discussed this in one way or another, stating that we all hope to be the kinds of teachers who explain the grades we give to our students. We all put a lot of thought into grading - why not show it?

 Another thing that just about everyone talked about was how we agree with the use of [|MI’s in special education]. By doing this teachers will learn more about their students and allow students to use their [|strong intelligences]. Instead of having students do a particular assignment they would struggle with, have an individualized learning plan for them so they can show they understand the information. This could help students from having to go into a special education class. “When a teacher fully understands how a students learns through MIs then they can provide an environment and class that can help the student grow, learn and not be put in a program that they don’t need to be in.” - Emily. Emily clearly explains this concept well and teachers should be following this idea to help all students in a class. In an ideal world there will be no separate special education classes; there will only be classes that brings all students together.

 A final part of the chapters our class focused on was how to use the [|MIs] as a part of [|classroom management]. Brittany stated, “If you don’t tell a student how to behave in the class in a way that they will pertain the information, as a teacher, we can’t expect change from the student.”Most of the class agreed with what Brittany said about the behavioral portion of the chapters. How are students supposed to behave when the teacher never gives them guidelines of what s expected of them? This not only applies to behavioral aspects, but also to anything done in the classroom; projects, homework, in-class work, etc. According to the class, teachers need to be clear with what they want and what they expect from their students. By doing this, their students will have something to refer to and something that will act as a guideline to them that they can reference at anytime during the particular class.

Andrew C
All four chapters discussed different ways to assess learning using MIs and the importance of focusing on MIs with all students. UbD chapter 8 discussed how standardized grading does not match up well with a differentiated classroom. That type of grading only looks at specific things and does not cover a broad spectrum of knowledge. Grades should be based on clearly defined learning goals and performance standards. These need to be something that anyone even those who are not your students can understand and clearly follow. You can’t just take a snapshot. Grades can be very misrepresentative of what the students have learned. Using averages does not work cause it doesn’t always demonstrate what the student has learned. It’s more important to know what the student learned then when they learned. This can be related to what MI chapter 12 said about using Blooms taxonomy and the MI theory together. It is a great way to be sure you touch upon all aspects of learning.

UbD chapter 8 also talked about how not everything should be graded. There is a need for formative assessment. I will definitely use lots of formative assessment in my classroom because it is a great way to change your teaching from day to day to effectively tailor to what the students need more instruction on. It is also important to remember that students deal with a lot of outside the classroom factors that can affect their results on a type of assessment. As the teacher I need to be sure to recognize that students can be affected by outside sources and if they are then work around it with them and make sure that they are not graded poorly because of it.

MI chapter 8 did a good job presenting many useful ways to use MIs to get students attention. It makes sense that using the MIs makes it easier to get all of the student’s attention. It is the same with using the MI theory when working on student’s memory and problem solving. Some of the attention getting tips in MI chapter 8 was really useful. I will definitely use some of them in my classroom. This chapter also talked about the importance of using MIs when discussing the rules of the school and classroom with your students. As has been mentioned many times the MI theory makes it a lot easier to convey any information more effectively to a wide range of thinkers.

MI chapter 11 briefly talked about how to use the MI theory in a __#|special education classroom__. It focuses on what students are good at and build off that instead of only worrying about what they can’t do. The chapter also said focus on what students are good at and build off that instead of only worrying about what they cant do. The last thing I really took from this chapter was if everyone taught using MIs then there would be a lot less students in special __#|education programs__.

Ali P.
Chapter eight in //Understanding by Design// discuses grading and how it should be specific to the student. Grading should measure students achievements and not their misunderstandings or failures. Teachers need to be extremely clear with their students about what they are grading and how they are going to grade it. Rubrics are a great grading source for teachers. Teachers need to keep in mind differentiation when grading. They need to fit the grade to the student and not the student to the grade. The more specific a teacher can be with a grade, the better. All through high school, my grades were accompanied by a page full of comments from the teacher. I remember the first time I pulled up my grades on Mainestreet. I was so shocked because all the teachers gave us was a letter. I wanted an explanation of the grades I got and ways to improve them. Much of what teachers grade is how students act during class. Chapter eight in //Multiple Intelligences// describes ways to address classroom management using the intelligences. This would mean that before you mark a student’s grade down for misbehaving, you must first try to communicate with the student by using the intelligences to connect with them. Every student is going to respond differently to each type of discipline. If the teacher can try to use each of the intelligences in their discipline, then they are going to be more apt to get through to the student and dismiss misbehavior. I believe that misbehavior should not affect a student’s grade until it becomes a serious problem and is disrupting to the rest of the class. There are many reasons why a student may use bad behavior, many of which are uncontrollable. While dealing with misbehavior, we must also use the intelligences to teach students with learning disabilities. Many teachers follow students IEPs. IEPs state what students struggle with in school. IEPs do not mention students MIs or their strong points. I think it would actually be much more helpful for a teacher to know what a students talents and intelligences are instead of their weaknesses. When I become a teacher I would like to hone in on my students intelligences and record which ones they excel in. I would like to pass these notes onto the next teacher my students have. I feel this will set them up for success not only in my class, but in the ones to follow as well. As teachers, we are suppose to look for the talent in all of our students. By knowing our students talents, we are able to help them learn how to learn. Chapter twelve in //Multiple Intelligences// describes the importance of using all of the MIs to create a interesting and engaging lesson. If we are able to keep the students interested, we should naturally be able to teach them as well. I feel that the projects we have been creating in class are a great example of the projects I would like my students to create in my class. I really want my assigned projects to interest the students and engage them with the classes content. I feel that if the students are engaged with the project, they are more apt to get good grades and to succeed.

Nicole C.
The main focus of this collection of chapters was how to make sure every student is being graded and treated fairly through a differentiated, MI-based approach. In chapter eight of the UbD book, it discussed how to do this through grading. In many classrooms – no matter how well they are being taught through the MI method – there ends up being a single, numerical grade that does not fully report how a student is doing in that class. The chapter states (and I agree) that grades should be used primarily for feedback, not for comparison between other students. I really liked the suggestion that three separate factors should be reported out to the students and their parents when grades come out: “(1) grades for //achievement// of goals, (2) //progress// toward goals, and (3) //work habits//” (Tomlinson and McTighe 135). Students should be assessed on what they are learning – not when they learn it. I believe this fully, but I am still a little concerned as to how this will work in my future classroom. Sometimes, students need to master a certain skill/knowledge before they can move on to what is next in the unit. How will I make sure that every student reaches that point by the time we are supposed to transition? What will happen if some students do not reach that point in time?

Chapter eight of the MI book also discussed fair treatment of students – except this time, it was from the classroom management perspective. I have always struggled with gaining students’ attention because I don’t particularly like to yell my head off to make someone listen to me. This chapter provided ways to get students’ attention in a multitude of other ways (based on the multiple intelligences) that I will definitely be trying out in the future, such as clapping a short rhythm and having students clap it back, or just start teaching the lesson and allow students to take control of their own behavior. Some good suggestions were also given in the MI model of how to deal with individuals who might be acting out, although they seemed more tailored to elementary school kids than high schoolers to me.

Chapter eleven of the MI book showed different ways the MI model could be used to help understand, teach, and assess students in our classes who happen to have a disability. Just because a student might have a disability that prevents them from excelling in one or two intelligences does not mean that they aren’t incredibly proficient in others. Teachers so often choose to focus on assessing these students in a linguistic or logical/mathematical way, and that just does not work for a lot of them. When I have these students in my future classrooms, I will try to work with their special education teachers, counselors, parents, and peers to discover which MI(s) they learn best in, and then incorporate those into both my teaching and my grading. I want every student to have an equal opportunity to learn.

Lastly, chapter twelve of the MI book discussed the importance of determining //how// students think along with //what// they are thinking. There are a lot of things teachers want their students to remember from day to day, but all too often it goes in one ear and out the other. A good way to combat that – and one which I hope to try in my future classes – is to help students learn and remember in whichever MI suits them best in that department. I will then attempt to use Bloom’s taxonomy (shown in the chapter on page 169) to assess just how deeply they understand what they have learned.

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Cameron B.
The chapter in UbD discusses the concept of grading. How it should be done in the class that makes sense and shows students exactly how they are doing in the class. The importance of grading fairly is talked about if a teacher has a student who performs above normal in a class where other students perform at a lower level or vice versa that the students are graded solely on their products and not being compared to the rest of the class. Also the talk about differentiated instruction and how that is related to grading was discussed throughout the chapter. Managing the classroom can be done by using the multiple intelligences. For example a teacher can play a piano chord and students would then know to listen. Or a teacher could flash the lights to signal to the class that attention is needed and those who are spatial learners will focus. Other techniques can also be used, a teacher can move their hand to their mouth to signal to be quiet for kinesthetic learners, one that I like is simply to start a new lesson and let the students realize they need to pay attention. Teachers can also have signals for transitions in the class. For recess time a teacher may stretch as if about to workout or play a specific song that relates to lunch time or the end of class. Class rules can also be taught through the multiple intelligences. Teachers can have their rules written out for students to have, or they can be numbered for a teacher to reference too. Teachers may even make the students responsible for making the class rules. The same is done for techniques on how to manage individual students who are misbehaving in class. A great concept is using the MI’s in special education since teachers can focus on specific intelligences to work on with the students and leads to further understanding of the students. Specific lessons can be made to work with the students who are in special education. Each multiple intelligence has lessons that can be used for students in the special education program. For example a teacher can play anagrams for logical thinking, sing songs for musical lessons, or list favorite words that start with a specific letter. A major focus of teachers today is helping students develop thinking strategies. MI theory is used today to find out how students use their cognitive skills. Teachers tend to teach students to memorize their content. The students then cram all of the information in and after the test none of the information in retained. This is something that needs to get out of the classroom. Teachers needs to help students develop ways to retain the content. There is said to be no good or bad memories. Just that students may be weaker in some of the intelligences that they can’t remember. But, if teachers can help students learn content in their stronger intelligences than they will more likely retain the information. The chapters all talk about using the MI’s to help students retain information and how to use the MI’s to hold students attention in the class.

Tyler R.
Chapter 8 of UbD discussed how students should be graded for what they do in the class. Something interesting that I learned from this chapter is that the book suggests that not only should some assessments not be graded, the majority of assessments should go ungraded. This was a surprise to me because in my high school experience my teachers would treat a test or assessment as a chance for us to get our grades up. If students were not doing well on other tests or not doing their homework, they would have the opportunity to take a test and get their grades to improve. With this in mind, everything was graded. However I like what the book suggests. It suggests that pre-assessments and diagnostic assessments should never be graded. I believe that this is correct because these tests are more for the teacher to see where their students are at rather than they are for the students. As a future teacher I will never grade my students on pre-assessments because of those reasons. If I were to grade them, it would only be fair if everyone received a one hundred on them. The chapter also mentioned how such grades, (whether they be numbers or letters), should be measured. A single letter or a number means nothing to a student and could mean one thing in one class and a totally different thing in another. They are more or less arbitrary. With this in mind, the chapter discusses how teachers really need to go over what it means for students to receive an A, B, C, and so on. They really need to go in depth to talk about what each of those mean, what it stands for, and what it means they accomplished. As a future teacher I could certainly see myself doing this.

Chapter 8 of MI led off with yet another new thing to me. This was the fact that teachers can use the MI theory to get their students attention. At this point I’m starting to wonder if there is something that MI can’t do. This was absolutely brilliant in my opinion. The chapter listed off ways that each MI learner could have their attention taken by the teacher. Some of the examples I would have actually had never have thought of. As a future teacher if I see that I have certain students who have a hard time getting focused and settled in I will be able to use the MI theory in order to grasp their attention.

Lastly, I thought that chapter 11 of MI really spoke about something that we don’t really think about. This was that unfortunately in today’s world educators, administration, the government, etc. look at people with disabilities in a deficit paradigm. This is completely true. When people with disabilities are assessed, are they assessed by what they can do? No. They are assessed on the things they have trouble doing, the things they cannot do, and so on. I just thought this chapter raised a good point about how we really need to change our mindset.

Emily H.
These chapters from UbD/DI and MI range from a wide range of topics. The UbD chapter focuses on grading and reporting achievements using UbD and DI. This is something that I did not have a great idea on when it comes to differentiated instruction and learning by design. Chapter 8 breaks down six principles to grading and reporting. It makes sense for grades and reports should be clearly stated and specific. Performance standards should be clearly stated to students along with the learning goals that the lesson will be graded on. The stages of the unit talked about in other chapters and what we’ve been doing it class go perfectly along with the principles of grading and reporting. Valid evidence should be used to grade each students. When evidence is not valid it is hard for us to grade a product and students will not understand why they got the grade they did. The final principle, which is the last I will describe, is that grading should not be based on norms, but on criteria established by the teacher. When norm based grading is used then students only view their grades on winning and losing, not improving. Students think like this anyways, but education uses the winning and losing system to justify grades. All of these principles is good for us to keep in mind when we are setting criteria and goals for our students when we grade them.

The chapter in the MI book was using MI theory in special ed. I find it interesting to look at special education in this. It lets educators look at students in a different ways. Learning disabilities is something that I know a lot about, since I have experience with learning disabilities in classroom. I wish that when I was a student the MI theory wasn’t just starting out. Verbal isn’t once of my strong MIs because of my learning disability. I was put in resource rooms to work on my verbal skills, however I felt like that was the only thing that I was known for when I was younger. Teachers never really gave me a chance to develop other MIs. Even with all the work I did with my verbal and linguistic skills, they still aren’t as strong as those without a learning disability. The book says the students who are strong in the special and kinesthetic MIs have a hard time linguistics, which was the case with me. I also find it interesting to look at IEPs. An IEP was something that I had growing up, all the way up through high school. I would love to go back and look at the IEPs that were for me so that I can have an idea of how it helped me learn so I can provide the same to my students. If the MI theory was used more in classrooms, there would be less need for special education classes, which have been growing in size. When a teacher fully understands how a students learns through MIs then they can provide an environment and class that can help the student grow, learn and not be put in a program that they don’t need to be in.

Jackie B.
Chapter 8 was a really great chapter for me to read because it connects so well to my chapter that I’m doing for the classroom management textbook in Dr. Theresa’s class. This chapter discusses classroom management in the classroom. The book gives some really great examples for getting students attention such as writing the words silence please on the board to get the attention of the class (this being for the linguistic learners) or clapping out a rhythm for the class to signal that it’s time to be quiet. A really fun way you could do this is by whispering into a student’s ear and say it’s time to be quiet, pass this around. I personally would have enjoyed that when I was school, though I think that’s more directed towards 4th, 5th and 6th grades. The chapter continues on to give some really great ideas on how to deal with transitions and various types of students and their attitudes. In Chapter eleven, we read about how you can incorporate the MI’s into lessons in special education. Using multiple intelligences in special education can give teachers an idea of the strength’s and weaknesses of those who are disabled. Some examples of people who were considered to have a “disability” who were also extraordinarily gifted were Helen Keller who specialized in Intrapersonal intelligences, Albert Einstein who specialized in logical intelligences, Edgar Allen Poe, who specialized in linguistics, and Vincent Van Gogh who specialized in spatial intelligences. The chapter also shows us the good that can come out of teaching MI in the special ed ucation classrooms. These teachers will become master’s of MI, there will be a self esteem increase //because// teachers are teaching to the student’s strengths instead of their weaknesses. In Chapter 12 learn about how cognition can be linked to the MIs’. Memory can be a big thing for students. I remember I would learn something and then forget it the next day or even worse, that night when I got home to do homework. With memorizing spelling words as an example, the book gives off different way students could memorize the words using different MIs’, such as singing a song, visualizing the words, or spelling them out with natural materials such as twigs and leaves. This chapter also talks about Blooms Taxonomy. The book claims that “Bloom’s taxonomy provides a kind of quality-control mechanism through which one can judge how deeply students’ minds have been stirred by a multiple intelligence curriculum (169, Armstrong). Lastly, in chapter 8 in UbD/Di we learn about grading and how we should grade our students. It’s interesting that they say students shouldn’t be graded on forgetting to put their names but if it becomes a common occurrence which gives me the task of trying to figure out just who the paper belongs to then yes, I will be deducting a point or two because I’m teaching students in middle school or high school and by this point they shouldn’t be forgetting to put their names. I’m also a strong believer in the curve. Maybe this is the case right now because I’m currently a student and any curve is beneficial to me but I don’t really see anything wrong with the curve. I personally think it’s beneficial to students to have it because it raises the grade average especially if I made a test and it was way too hard for my students and I didn’t see this until after everyone had taken the test. Overall I was able to see how these chapters connected in the varied learning styles that we're taught to use and how we should play up the student's strengths not knock them down for their weaknesses. = =

Phillip C.
I really enjoyed these readings and how some of them focused on grades. I have been curious on how these books would view grading and haven’t really developed a theory on how I should grade anything yet. The part that helped me most with this dilemma was UbD chapter 8. It listed the six key principles to grading and reporting grades, and I think I agreed with all of them. The first one stated that grades and reports should be based on clearly specified learning goals and performance standards. It also mentioned providing descriptions of qualities in student works for each symbol in the grading scale. I find that this would help students realize what they have to do more, like a rubric. The second principle was that evidence used for grading should be valid and should reflect what students can do regardless of tangential factors. The third one was one I really agreed with. It stated that grades should be based on established criteria and not based off arbitrary norms. This means students shouldn’t receive grades relative to what their classmates do. This would be extremely unfair, especially for special needs students or if the class had a gifted student to the point where they could skip a grade. The last three principles were not everything should be included in grades, avoid grading based on averages, and focus on achievement and keep other factors separate. While it may be hard to follow all of these principles at once, I see them as good guidelines. I was also very interested to read about classroom management. The strategies for getting students attention were very helpful to me. I think that the one I would have used before any of this reading was just starting the lesson and letting students be responsible for themselves, but flicking on and off the lights was another option I liked. I still think just starting the lesson would be best for high school students as it would teach responsibility. They also had good tips for preparing transitions, communicating class rules, forming groups, and managing individual behaviors. I think managing individual behaviors was the most helpful section to me because it was the one I was most nervous about. The theory of multiple intelligences was also nice to read about in the context of special needs students. This stressed that it would allow educators to look at special needs students as “whole persons possessing strengths in many intelligence areas.” I personally knew a special needs student at my high school who was an amazing visual learner. He was very gifted in computer design classes. Having the view of the growth paradigm is one that I think any successful teacher needs to have rather than looking through the lens of the deficit paradigm. In the cognitive chapter I found the idea of having a bad memory possibly being a bad memory in just one or two intelligences interesting. I think it is true too. I have a great short term spatial memory. Its somewhat photographic and was very helpful for vocab quizzes. I could not retain that information long term though. My kinesthetic memory was much better longterm.

**Jackson F.**
In assigned readings the majority was about using MI theory in the classroom in certain circumstances/situations. MI can be used to help get students attention in a creative way to let students know it is time to begin class. Different intelligences will take to different methods a teacher incorporates into the class. One example they use in the book is using MI to communicate to the class in a more creative way. Using these strategies can be incorporated to communicate when it is time to go on to something else. In one section they talk about using MI to communicate the classroom rules. They also say that teachers should get students to help incorporate their intelligences in the creation of these rules. Another topic in the chapters was how to deal with students behaviors. As we known all students are different and require special attention from time to time. If a teacher knows student intelligences then an effective plan can be made up to deal with the students behavior. The next topic was about MI and special education; it is said that for every intelligences there is a disability that goes along with it. The important thing to look at though is not the students’ weaknesses but the strengths that he/she has that could be used to develop intelligence. It is also important to improve the self esteem of those students because without positive feedback they may use the disability as an excuse to why they cannot learn specific subjects. The next topic read about was on how MI and cognitive skills correlate. In the book it says that there is no such thing as having a good or bad memory. Instead memory is linked to the intelligences an individual has. This is also the same for problem solving; students have their own way of problem solving so why force them to use a less effective way to solve problems? I thought the chapters did a great job of explaining MI in different situations. I liked how they talked about how MI relates to special education and how every intelligences has a disability that accompanies it. I feel like I am musically impaired in some way or form. I would like to incorporate strategies that they propose in the chapters to use in my classroom for signaling certain times in my class. I would also like to use MI to develop a set of classroom rules and expectations.

Brittany R.
In Chapter 8 of UbD, it discussed how important it is to realize grading is merely a moment in time during a students learning. All students will learn at different rates and may reach certain milestones in a lesson later than most. This idea is what makes grading difficult because it requires a teacher to be more flexible and adaptive. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Six Facets avoid these situations and create a better understanding in the students we will encounter. I think grading should be a reflective for the teacher and his/her progress. Dr. Grace made a great point in class that if all your students are failing a quiz/test/ etc., you aren’t meeting your needs as a teacher. Ironically, I have a teacher that administered his first quiz this semester where only 8 people out of his 21 students got higher than a 40. His reaction? Blaming our study habits. Lucky for me, I got a 100 but it was obvious that there was more of a reason for our “failure” as a class. Chapter 8 of MI, talked about disciplining students based on their learning styles. I will say I hadn’t really thought about using multiple intelligences’ in other ways then in lesson planning but this makes sense to me. If you don’t tell a student how to behave in the class in a way that they will pertain the information, as a teacher, we can’t expect change from the student. In previous chapters, we read about how students may be acting out because their teacher hasn’t been addressing their learning style. It is important to utilize the way a student learns in order for them to succeed to their full potential. In Chapter 11, it talks about how to address students with disabilities. It mentions individual education plans or IEP’s and they sum up students areas of unsuccessfulness. It does make sense to include MI’s in an IEP so the students teachers can adapt their teaching style to the students needs while, not only teaching an entire class, but when addressing a students knowledge individually. A good friend of mine, who graduated from UMF last year, works as a Special Ed teacher in a local junior high. He does IEP’s all the time and I am curious to know if he has used MI’s in his evaluations. Obviously due to student confidentiality I wouldn’t be able to see them but this is an idea that I could talk to him about to give him different ways to work with his students. As I stated previously, using Blooms Taxonomy or the Six Facets is important in evaluating a students’ knowledge. Chapter 12 talks about this application and how important it is in determining how and what students are thinking while you are sharing information with them. By breaking down their knowledge into the sections of Blooms and/or the Facets, teachers will be able to deeply evaluate how the students are taking in the lesson that you have given them. I intend to aim for this deeper evaluation in my classroom.

Meng H.
This time the reading is chapter 8 of UbD, chapter 8, 11, and 12 of MI. These four chapters cover In terms of grading based on the UbD and differentiated instruction approach, the UbD book advocates a new system of grading and reporting. Just like comparing a single test score to a snap shot of the student, the new system of grading is like a photo album. The grading system consists of tests, portfolios, checklists, projects, and other evidence the teacher could collect regarding students’ learning in a fixed period of time. The reporting system focuses on three factors of a student’s learning, the achievement against the essential goal, personal progress, and work habits. The evidence could a teacher assemble to base the grading on are discussed in detail in earlier chapters in the UbD book. This chapter focused more on the grading and reporting part. The author stresses that one single grade that includes achievement, progress and work habit is flawed in terms of that several students can get the same grade for different reasons. This puzzles me because we still use this system of grading at least at UMF. Some professors break down the grade based on different assignments, quizzes, projects and tests. There is usually percentage for turning work on time, which is actually work habit, as the UbD book points out. Then a student usually gets a single grade for the whole semester in reflection of his/her achievement, progress, and work habit. However if there’s a break down on grades, then the student can somehow figure out all three different factors if he/she examine the breakdown hard enough. Classroom management based on the MI theory worries me a little. I understand that there are times that students will be loud and disobeying, then the different approach targeting different MI will more effective in quieting them down. My concern is that some of the MI approaches are not realistic in a high school classroom setting. Those approaches could be better fitting in an elementary level. One would think that as middle school and high school students, they would have better self discipline and respect for the teacher to keep carrying on loud conversations when class is supposed to begin. But I will keep this chapter in mind when I have my field experience just in case that I will need to use some of the techniques. I agree with what the MI theory and special education chapter discuss. Students with IEPs are labeled to put emphasize on their MI weakness, on the other hand, there’s no obvious ways that their MI strength are stated or exercised to help them learn. I applaud the idea of an inclusive classroom that students with IEPs are with their peers without the segregation of a special ED room. A special ED/MI specialist would be in the same classroom with a regular teacher to assist in ways that would best suit the IEP students. My concern here is that because school or district budget that there may not be enough special ED/MI specialist for every classroom or even every school. What happens then? I agree it is the teacher’s job to provide the best environment for every student to strive and learn, but some of the reading we’ve done in this class seems like stretching the teacher pretty thin. Hopefully my field experience with a effective teacher will prove me wrong.
 * grading and reporting achievement, progress, and habits (UbD 8)
 * classroom management (MI 8)
 * special education (MI 11)
 * cognitive skills (MI 12)

Joe S.
These chapters work together to introduce how MI theory can be used to highlight all students’ strengths, and are tied together by the section on grading/informing parents on how students are progressing. Some important factors in these chapters are the idea of MI theory to facilitate classroom management, by communicating with the class using an intelligence that is novel and that they can easily identify with, as well as increasing MI considerations when teaching students with disabilities. The passages then shift gears towards knowledge, and more importantly, understanding, where it is important to encourage students to utilize different components of their specific intelligences when seeking understanding, as the individualization of these connections will promote the most in-depth understanding of material. Finally, the passage discusses grading, which it defines as a goal to communicate how students are progressing in the class to using a simple system, which seems to go against the complexity of UbD and differentiation. The chapter also goes into detail about what should be factored into grading and some flaws within the grading system.

Classrooms can be difficult to maintain control of sometimes, which is why the passage recommends using a variety of approaches to calm students down and recapture a learning environment. An example the book uses is of a teacher who cannot quiet her group down, so she progressively gets louder and louder in vain attempts to establish her authority. The problem with this is that students do not respond well to this type of control. For one, they have been conditioned into ignoring it and proceeding to continue their own agendas, and for two, it does not stimulate them in any way or appeal to any of their intelligences. For this reason, the author recommends using alternate methods of quieting classes down, such as tapping a rhythm for students to complete.

A fascinating part of this passage was the idea that students with disabilities can benefit from using the MI theory. The author asserts that promoting growth in these areas will take away from labeling students as “learning disabled,” and instead focus on their strengths as opposed to their weaknesses. Doing this will increase students’ self-esteem, and increase the teachers’ understanding and appreciations of students’ differences.

Another great passage to consider from this excerpt was the component for understanding, where the author went into detail about some of the famous minds of our history. For example, “Einstein acknowledged the operation of musical thought in a logical-mathematical/spatial domain when, referring to Nils Bohr’s model of the atom, with its orbiting electrons absorbing and releasing energy, he wrote, ‘This is the highest form of musicality in the sphere of thought.’” What this passage states is that students should be encouraged so utilize whichever component of the MI theory they are most comfortable with to ensure understanding.

Finally, grading is described as a “conflicted exercise,” that is very difficult to do in a differentiated classroom that values differences and varying interests. Grading and reporting of grades are important informative responsibilities of teachers, as doing so allows students and parents to understand how a child is progressing in their education, but if grading is not done correctly, it can go very wrong. That is why it is important to include only what is important to measure into a grade, and not extras that may misguide students or parents into thinking that the student does not have as much understanding as they might. Some factors that make this task difficult are when a child does not complete work, is late passing assignments in, or has poor work ethic. Even though these may be reasons to subtract points, doing so on a final grade may misinform parents, suggesting that a student has not mastered material that they may have.

Clayton P.
These chapters discussed topics that are more difficult than they sound. UbD Chapter 8 was all about grading in a differentiated classroom. How do you have a standardized set of grades in a differentiated classroom? This is a challenge for any teacher, young or old. The chapter basically said that it’s impossible, but to give it your best shot anyways. Grading on its own would be very difficult if you didn’t have a standardized system of grading. The grade that one gets on an assignment can vary greatly for the same work, depending on the situation. This is also discussed in FIAE Chapter 7. MI Chapter 8 was all about getting students’ attention. I know from experience that teachers don’t like it when you are not paying attention. But the way to regain a student’s attention can make all the difference. This chapter suggests using the students’ MIs to get their attention. For example, for musical intelligences, the teacher would sing part of a song and the class would finish it. Or, alternatively, for a kinesthetic intelligence, the teacher might raise their hand and the students’ would raise their hands or do some other physical motion. MI Chapter 11 dealt with using MIs in special education. Most of the time, special education students are deficient in MIs that are related to math and other basic content areas, but extremely proficient in other MIs that are in other areas, such as art, music, and gym. This chapter basically said to try and help them develop their strong MIs rather than try to develop their deficient MIs. MI Chapter 12 discusses mixing all eight MIs together in one lesson. This gives all students a chance to expand their MIs in any given content area. This chapter also discussed the integration of Bloom’s taxonomy into the lesson to facilitate the learning process.