MI+B2+Chapter+11

**[|Synthesis]**
In Chapter 11 of //Multiple Intelligences// the text covers multiple intelligences and its relationship to special education. It goes on talking about the history of special education and the fact that we focus so much on what students can't do as opposed to what students can do, in order to help them succeed in school. The chapter states that, "MI theory suggests that '[|learning disabilities],' for example, may occur in all eight intelligences." As educators we need to focus on the strengths of special-needs students. Students may be able to use a stronger intelligence in order to master certain material, rather than struggling with the information because they are forced to use an intelligence that may be less developed for that individual student. Using MI's when developing [|individualized educational programs] is discussed within the text. Some of the other points that are mentioned are topics such as: fewer referrals to special education classes, a changing role for the special education teacher, a greater emphasis on identifying strengths, increased self-esteem, and an increased understanding and appreciation of students.

Abstract
There were quite a few ideas that were mentioned more than once within our chapter reflections. MI theory can be effectively applied to special education. MI theory is a great learning tool to implement when creating an individualized educational program. Adopting the MI theory is a great way to reach a larger number of students when it comes to mastering material. It is very important, for us as future teachers, to focus on students' abilities as opposed to their [|disabilities]. Disabled students have really become singled out and labeled as "different". MI theory can be used to mainstream special education students. There are deficits within any intelligence, but by using a variety of intelligences you are able to help students grasp material that might have been thought too difficult for the student when using only one intelligence. When singling students out it may hurt their learning more so than help it. Current teaching is far more focused on a students weakness within intelligences than they are the strengths of other intelligences. It is nice to hear "special needs reframed as a growth paradigm instead of weakness". There happens to be a wide range of disabilities and we have to work towards helping/understanding each of them to the best of our ability instead of segregating/isolating those particular students.

Cam
Chapter 11; MI and Special Education In this chapter teachers are happy to know that the MI theory also applies to the special education students. This theory does not call the individual out on their disabilities, the student is seen as an ordinary learner. Students that have disorders in some intelligences can possibly, could or can, excel better than the average student. These strengths just need to be uncovered and practiced within the classroom. Students need to be aware that there have been individuals in the past with disorders that have single-handedly succeeded. All of the learning strategies should be applied to all students, even special needs students. The IEP, individualized educational program, is a section of MI theory that focuses on a student’s weaknesses, trying to develop and strengthen them. Overall, if teachers adopt the MI theory, then they will see the progression of the special education students. This chapter impacts me because I can personally relate to the special education program. Ever since the first grade, I was involved year after year with special education teachers. It was difficult for me because sometimes I experienced other students singling me out, calling me a “sped” and also saying I get the answers to the tests when with my teachers. During eighth grade, I felt the need to test out of the program and spread my wings. Turns out, I outscored the tests and was finally on my own. I do not see the special education program as a bad experience because it turned me into who I am and I made friends that I still have today. This is very helpful for me as a teacher because I can incorporate this into my class. This impacts my students because I can relate to them. I know what it is like to be in their shoes, and I think that my students will respect me if they know this and where I have made it to today.

Jason
I thought that this chapter was very informative in a variety of ways. For starters, I agree with Armstrong that too many people focus on a person’s disabilities and how to “fix” them instead of looking at the other strengths that person possesses. I realized how truly powerful MI can be; it allows teachers to look at their students and figure out new and unique ways of reaching them instead of the usual linguistic and logical approaches. I never really noticed until now that educators label their disabled students as though they have the plague, and they have a hard time focusing on the positives but instead dwell on the negatives. From a personal standpoint, I do not have any experience dealing with students who are disabled, but I definitely have a different outlook on the situation now. I intend to be much more focused on the positives instead of the negatives. I think this chapter also goes beyond just special education; it also touches on any student that has a weakness in one area or another. MI will allow me to tailor my teaching approaches in order to help all my students succeed. I also think this indirectly touched on the notion of allowing special education students to have full inclusion in the classroom; Armstrong does not specifically mention it, but this chapter should prove to teachers that they can teach ALL students and not just some – MI can help assist them in that goal.
 * MI Chapter 11: MI and Special Education **

Jenna
Chapter eleven of __Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom__ explained how over the history of special education in the U.S., educators have had the tendency to work from a deficit paradigm. This has proven to be an ineffective method of teaching because it focuses on the students' inabilities and weaknesses. The MI theory provides a growth paradigm as an alternative because it allows educators to regard special-need students as healthy individuals with strengths and talents. The chapter also suggests that there are learning disabilities that occur in all eight intelligences. Although the deficits can occur within any of the intelligences, they operate independently from the learner's strengths and learning profiles. This means that teachers can reroute a child's learning to exploit the more highly developed intelligences. I was amazed by the examples given of how a child can learn differently with another developed intelligence. For example, I had no idea that "reading-disabled" children used Chinese characters as sight words. The examples of the alternative symbol system, instructional strategies, and alternative technology will provide excellent resources that I will certainly use in my classrooms. This chapter was definitely beneficial to me as a teacher because I know that I will always have a special needs child in my class. The child's IEP should always focus on the child's strengths and I always need to be able to adapt and transform my planning to ensure that every child is succeeding in my classroom. By shedding light on my students' strengths, I am able to incorporate every intelligence into the classroom. I also loved the idea of special education teachers functioning more as a special MI consultant in my classroom. I never want to pull a student out of my classroom because the child cannot conform to one specific style of learning. I want the MI consultant who can give me ideas on MI curriculum, help me with identifying strongest intelligences, etc. The cooperation between regular education classes and special education classes definitely will help improve the classroom's strengths, self-esteem, and understanding.

Marcy
The main point of this chapter is to make sure that teachers focus on what a student can do as opposed to what they have difficulties with. The “Pygmalion effect” is the idea that a teacher’s outlook of a student’s future inherently effects the investment the teacher makes in the student and the student’s effort. If a student struggles with reading then putting that student in a separate room, with a separate teacher, and drilling him or her in linguistic worksheets and papers is just going to discourage the student. The chapter suggests allowing the student to stay in the regular classroom and learn the material through other means, such as an audio recording, and participate in class activities and discussions. The student can work on reading separately while also participating in the class. The ideas of this chapter could revolutionize the normal course of an IEP. This affects me as a classroom teacher if I implement more of the multiple intelligences in my classroom there will be fewer referrals to special education. This affects the students by allowing them to stay with their peers and avoid the isolation that is too often times a part of special education. This will also change the role of a special education teacher. That special education teacher will become a partner to the classroom teacher and will only help the student improve his or her weak areas while having the student learn the content in the student’s strong intelligences.

Nicholas
**Chapter 11:** By implementing the MI theory in education we will improve education in several different ways. There will be fewer referrals to special education classes. Because most teachers only focus on a couple of the intelligences they have a difficult time reaching those “struggling” students that may learn best through another intelligence. By striving to reach all intelligences those thought to be “struggling” students will become successful students within a regular classroom setting. We will also see a changing role for the special education teachers. Special education teachers for the future may be taking on roles that involve: identifying students’ strongest intelligences, focusing on the needs of specific students, designing MI curriculums, creating specific MI interventions, and working with groups using MI activities. All of these activities can take place in a regular classroom and may be used to help aid regular classroom teachers. There may become a greater emphasis on identifying strengths. There may be increased self-esteem with students that were thought to have special needs. There may also be an increased understanding and appreciation of students in general. To sum it up, “the adoption of MI theory (or an MI-like philosophy) in education will move special education toward a growth paradigm and facilitate a greater level of cooperation between special education and regular education.” As a future teacher I am excited to see how the world of education is going to grow and change. Even more than that, however, I am excited to be one of the first pioneers in using MI theory within education. I believe that this will help my students’ become more confident in becoming effective students as well as people.

Dani
Chapter 11 of MI discusses using MI theory when teaching students with disabilities. It also provides a list of famous figures for each intelligence that struggled with some kind of disability. This affects me because it is a good reminder for me and for all teachers that there is more to the students then just their disability. It is important to stop looking at what they can’t do and focus on what they can do. The MI theory is an excellent way to teach the same material to a student with a disability because it looks at how to communicate information in all intelligences. This is important in my classroom because these strategies will help me teach students in my class who have disabilities.
 * Chapter 11**

Ben
Just because one person has a certain quality that may seem to put them behind the rest, does not mean they are dumb, or retarded. These students lack the skill in one intelligence, not all the intelligences. As teachers we need to come up with ideas that will help us identify what these students' most developed intelligences are. A good way to figure this out is with Individual Educational Programs or IEPs. MI's tend to become more alive in these sessions since the instructor can really focus on this certain student's needs. Embracing the MI theory with the special education will make fewer referrals for special ed, and change special educators across the globe. Being able to identify MI's with special needs students will put more effort into identifying all of the needs of students, and hopefully this will lead to an increase in self-esteem. MI theory will redefine the way we look at special needs students, and give them a new found glory and respect.

**Andrew D**
This chapter talks about the Multiple Intelligence theory in Special Education. If teachers begin to use MI theory with students with special needs, they can see that these students possess strengths in many intelligence areas. The MI theory provides a growth paradigm for students who need special assistance. The theory also allows these students to envision positive channels which can let them learn to deal with their disabilities. One of the biggest mistakes we make with kids with special needs is, not realizing that just because they struggle with one intelligence, doesn’t mean they can’t have other highly developed intelligences. If the MI theory was more broadly used in our schools it would have tremendous effects. Some of those effects would be, fewer referrals to special education classes, a changing role for the special education teacher, a greater emphasis on identifying strengths, increased self-esteem, and increased understanding and appreciation of students. This part of the chapter impacted me because I agree 100% with each of those ideas. This will impact my classrooms because I will have students who may have special needs and just because they struggle learning in one way, it doesn’t mean they can’t master it in another way.

Lindsey
This chapter was very interesting to me as I am very interested in special education as well as how to incorporate special education students into my mainstreamed classroom. Rather than looking at students with special needs as different, the teacher should instead focus upon incorporating them into the classroom and focusing upon their strongest intelligences. A big portion of beginning this process is to focus on positive aspects of student learning rather than negative, then working from this point. Along these lines, students who generally have strengths in certain areas generally have a difficult time in other areas. If these weak areas are focused upon, they can be developed into areas of great strength and students will be able to use them in the future.

**Ted**
It was really cool to hear special needs reframed as a growth paradigm instead of a weakness. I hadn’t really thought about how intelligence difficulties besides linguistic and spatial aren’t regarded by the majority with the same severity as those two. The table 11.1, which emphasized translating the traditional views of special education to a growth paradigm, was really interesting. I particularly liked the part about maintaining the individual’s integrity. Figures 11.2 and 11.3 were really eye-catching and absolutely fascinating. The high achieving people were really amazing to think about, and the suggestions for dealing with difficulties in different fields by empowering different intelligences were really helpful. I really hope that knowing this will lead to fewer referrals to special education classrooms, because I feel that isolation, in most cases, is bad for everybody involved and self-esteem is vital.

Lizzie
This chapter focused on the MI theory and special education. The MI theory has many affects on special education and not just the students but the teachers as well. Using the MI theory as a tool, educators can start to view students with special needs as “regular” students possessing many different intelligence areas. It may be able to provide a growth paradigm for assisting special needs students in school. It helps to give a different viewpoint of the student and of the situation. This theory provides a model for understanding a wide range of special needs students from those who have cerebral palsy and dyslexic to those who are labeled as an autistic savant or “retarded”. Looking at the deficit program and the growth paradigm, we can see it is a good versus bad standpoint of how to “deal with” and “label” students with differences. This theory also provides a context for discussing and dealing with the students’ disability or difference, helping them to understand their own uniqueness. By developing a perspective of special-needs students as whole individuals, viewing them using the growth paradigm it provides a context for positive channels through which they can deal with their disability. The way in which a teacher views a student can have a positive or negative affect on the students overall work and motivation and outcome in school. Many times special needs students may need alternatives to an assignment or activity this is called cognitive bypassing, or simply an alternate route to take when completing the work in order to gain the desired outcome. The empowering strategy may include alternative technology, alternative symbol system, and different instructional strategies such as alternative “language” for certain students to understand. Sometimes a difficulty in one intelligence can be overcome by using a more highly developed intelligence. When dealing with IEP’s the MI theory can help teachers identify a student’s strengths and preferred learning style. If the MI theory is used properly then it is likely to have positive effects such as fewer referrals to special education classes because the “regular” classrooms are more sensitive to the needs of all. It can lead to a changing role for the special education teacher, it can put a greater emphasis on identifying strengths, and it can increase self-esteem, and increase understanding and appreciation of students. I feel as if labeling a child to get them out of your classroom and into a special needs classroom is ridiculous. I feel that the MI theory could have so many positive affects on the entirety of the classroom that anyone not using this theory would have to be a fool. Students who have special needs or differences are not the only ones who need this new way of altering the classroom, the whole class as well as other teachers should embrace any model that allows for their students to better develop themselves as well as their learning.

** Andrew F. **
This chapter ran personally true for me because I have received special education 504 modifications since I first transitioned into Maine's public school system. I have found both regular education and special education to be ineffective in the way it has been practiced for over 20 years. Education is supposed to be about inclusion, our education system needs to leave no child left behind. Every student is equally capable of being valedictorian, the problem is our education system has been so biased to accommodate a small percentage of learners who work best in the logical/linguistic classroom.

After reading this chapter I was able to see that mainstream inclusion of all learners within a classroom is such a great idea. Diversity and difference creates a unique experience to every student placed within a classroom, by seeing other perspectives and learning in a multitude of a ways our students will be able to conquer problems with their strengths and know what steps they must take in order to accommodate their "weaknesses". Pushing for standards is not a problem, its just finally we're creating a system in which all learners are important, and schools will no longer be a place of such hardships and worrying, but a place where individuals are able to excel and grow as learners.