MI+B1+Chapter+8



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SARA
This chapter focuses on how teachers can use the Multiple Intelligences Theory in conjunction with classroom management. Teachers can use different MI strategies to gain class attention, such as using written clues for the verbal/linguistic students, or do a 'telephone' like activity to gain the attention of interpersonal learners. Ques can be used for transition times as well as establishing class rules. This chapter also touches on how to manage problem behaviors using the MI theory. It gives some great ideas for helping students through problem areas. For the kinesthetic learner teachers can have a role playing scenario where students act out inappropriate behaviors. For the intrapersonal learner teachers can have a one on one counseling session. There are many tools for classroom management using the [|MI theory].
 * ABSTRACT:**

There was a strong consensus among the class that this chapter was informative and by far the most helpful of all the chapters in MI so far. Most like the ques for the verbal/lingustic students. We all agree that it is key to gain the students' attention. The natural and kinesthetic advice was really helpful for these harder MI's. Using [|MIs]in classroom management allows us to reach more students. Teachers should employ as many MI strategies as possible in order to reach the most students in the most effective ways.
 * [|SYNTHESIS:]**

Jen T
I would be really interested to know if these disciplinary methods actually work. I have a feeling that they wouldn’t. Once again, I feel like these techniques are too elementary for high school students. For me, the best kind of discipline if obviously none at all, but when it comes down to it, speaking to a high school student like an adult is what I find works best. If you respect them, they will respect you. Engaged students won’t be misbehaving in your classroom. Assess the student behavior, but also assess your own instructional strategies and what you can improve in the lesson before blaming a bored student.

Rachel B.
I really enjoyed reading this chapter because it had some true solutions to classroom management and how to that while also involving the multiple intelligences. As I work with the students in Mrs. Cyr's (my mentor teacher) gym class I think about this chapter and how true and helpful it really is. While in the gym it can be really difficult to hear, both you hearing the students and the students hearing you, this chapter explained that there are so many other way to communicate with your students other than verbally, which is typical. You can use your hands in the air, in a waving motion to signal time to stop, you can give a thumbs up to show a student that you believe that they to be doing a great job, and you want them to know that, in addition to so many other things. I also find when grouping students it gets old counting my number and having them move around and look for someone wearing the same color as them can be very effective. We also use music to signal, "time to run," which may be obvious but it relates to this chapter very much so. We also turn it down when it is time to come in and line up for volleyball. I may not use all the suggestions in this chapter in my future teaching but I'll keep a lot in mind because involving multiple intelligences, and it being successful, needs to be incorporated into all aspects of the classroom.

Rachel F.
Chapter 7 and chapter 8 have been some of my favorite so far in this book because they deal with realistic issues outside lesson plans. This chapter discussed ways to incorporate multiple intelligences into managing our classrooms. The beginning talked about how typical linguistic methods of quieting a class don’t work because a teacher’s voice sounds no different to them then their own. I think that this point is too true because when teachers yell, it just adds to the noise until five minutes later when the class actually starts to quiet down. Armstrong advises teachers to use other methods to quiet a class like writing “silence” on the board or playing music. One of my favorite parts of this chapter talked about how you can use the intelligences to help form groups. I agree that it is important to constantly mix up students so they get to know each other and to avoid cliques. By creating different methods of group forming, like the ones outlined in this chapter, you will definitely succeed at mixing up your class and you will create an interesting way to get students up. Being a teacher doesn’t just mean teaching students but also promoting a good class environment as well as managing your classroom properly. No one ever said being a teacher was easy, haha.

Courtney
This chapter explained ways that the MI theory can be used for classroom management. This chapter really opened my eyes to some things I never would have thought of before, Mi theory can be applied to classroom management in very creative ways. The chapter gives examples for getting order in the classroom, a transition in the day, class rules, forming groups, and behavior. One way to apply MI to getting a classes attention would be to write "Silence please!" on the board, which is so simple and to the point but is something I would never have thought of and it ties in with the visual intelligence. I found the preparing for transitions to be childish and I don't think I would use them in a middle school or high school, the only one that I found to be useful was using music to signify a transition in the day which I think would be fun. I also liked the ideas for forming groups, they get the kids moving around and interacting with each other instead of simply just counting off. Behavior issues can be tricky but applying MI to deal with it can really help the student, especially when there are so many approaches to dealing with it through MI. MI can not only be used as a tool in teaching material but to simply manage a classroom, because just as the students learn differently they are going to listen and respond differently, so it helps to be creative and MI helps to do that.

Geoff
I really liked the MI strategies for forming groups in chapter eight of //Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom//. Instead of students pairing themselves up or counting off by ones and twos, Armstrong suggests strategies for grouping students based on the eight intelligences. I would have never thought of these, but I think I will definitely use one of these strategies to group students in my unit on the Progressive Era. Another important part of this chapter, of course, is MI strategies for grabbing the attention of the class. As a student, I remember some of these, and I always thought some of them to be pretty foolish, but now I understand the purpose of them. For instance, I remember a similar one to the bodily-kinesthetic being used at Upward Bound my last two summers in high school to gain our attention for our noontime meeting. I also remember being kept after school, along with the rest of the class, several times in middle school, when the logical-mathematical strategy was used (I’m sure these and some others were used in elementary school, but I can’t remember back that far). Therefore, a couple things stood out for me in this chapter: MI strategies for grouping students, for their utility in my Progressive Era unit; and MI strategies for grabbing students’ attention, as I will be a teacher after all, and also because of connections to when I was a student.

Stephanie L.
This chapter of MI is all about using the MIs as a way to keep the classroom under control. One point that this chapter is trying to get across is that a linguistic approach to getting a classroom's attention isn't always the best way. A teacher has to be creative about it. I really liked the idea of whispering "It's time to start--pass it on" into a student's ear and then waiting for everyone to quiet down. It turns it into a game and most students will be more willing to stop what they are doing and turn their attention to the teacher. I also like how this chapter provides us with ways to portray the MIs through classroom rules. Not all students are going to learn the rules best if they are written down somewhere. So it is good to present these rules in a number of different ways.

Megan
Chapter 8 talked about how you could use MI to effectively manage your classroom. The beginning of the chapter talked about how teachers could find ways other than yelling to quiet down a class. I liked the idea of playing the piano chord but realistically I won’t have a piano in my classroom. A teacher I observed held up an object at the beginning of class and it was the most amazing thing because the kids quieted down right away. It’s definitely something I’m going to thing about doing in my classroom. I also like the different ideas about how to come up with groups! I really like the one where you group students based on the color clothing they are wearing that day (spatial). I also liked the one where I would whisper the name of a song into a student’s ear and then they would find students singing the other song. However, I think it will be really hard to get students to sing in class. I also liked the suggestions for naturalistic and bodily kinesthetic. I’m definitely going to keep these grouping suggestions in mind when I start planning my lessons.

This chapter was about all the methods that a teacher can use that incorporate MI theory into classroom management. Instead of the classic methods that utilize only the linguistic intelligence, and which are not entirely effective, the MI theory allows the teacher to reach students of all different strengths in the multiple intelligences. I think that these methods will be very effective and improve the conditions of a classroom where the classic methods just failed miserably. The information from this chapter will be very useful to me in my classroom; I will make sure to incorporate MI theory in my classroom management methods in an attempt to reach every single student. I think that this may even be more important than using MI theory in the actual teaching itself – if you don’t have the students’ attention how can you reach them at all?

Jen P.
This chapter connects to our class with Dr. Theresa. It has some great tips. One of the most helpful for me is the section on how to get students’ attention, especially during a transitional phase. I learned that the best strategy probably is not a linguistic one. My favorite strategy of the given ones is Bodily-Kinesthetic one. I would like to try that in the classroom next week, when I go back out to my infield. For preparing transitions, I like the idea of having specific music before specific tasks. I wonder if this can be done for quizzes and/or tests (if I ever chose to give such things) or from taking attendance to “it’s time to start” music. That would blend the two sections together. It would be really great if I could find a song or songs with the words, “let’s get started” in them, though they would have to be appropriate for the classroom setting.

Sara
MI can be applied to classroom management. Icebreakers and ‘get to know you’ activities can be based around the MI theory, as well as discipline. This is not ‘punishment’ discipline, but more of a re-direction of energy. If students are asked to sit in the corner and are not given a positive redirection it is likely the issue will continue. These discipline methods work with all types of students from the aggressive student, to the withdrawn student, to the hyperactive student. I really like some of the forms of positive redirection, such as having students of the musical ‘intelligence’ play their favorite music in their mind to calm down, these little tools can be invaluable for making the classroom run smoothly.



Tracey Hollingsworth
Chapter 8 - MI and Classroom Management

Multiple intelligence theory creates an environment where individual needs are addressed to alleviate confusion. Chapter 8 of //Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom// discusses ways to incorporate multiple intelligences into managing our classrooms effectively and creatively. Armstrong gives examples of how to use MI theory to gain order in the classroom, transition between concepts, group students, create rules and modify behavior. MI theory is not only helpful in differentiating how students learn but also how they listen. Although many of Armstrong gives many great suggestions, I am still left wondering how applicable and realistic these strategies are.

Jordan
This chapter described numerous ways to handle behavioral issues, transitions, and class rules as related to the eight multiple intelligences. I found the section on strategies for gaining students attention to be particularly useful. Armstrong gives examples of how to get the classes attention in ways that appeal to the intelligences. For example: writing the words "silence, please" on the board for those who are linguistic, put your finger against your lips to symbolize silence for those who are bodily kinesthetic, or play a recording of loud and shrill sounds from nature for those who are more naturalists. I think these strategies, along with others described in the chapter, would be great addition to classroom management strategies.

John
This chapter has some good points. The problem is, rather than seeming like a legitimate attempt to give examples of ways which you can cater to MI while settling down a classroom, it reads more like a list of things any teacher can do (and often, they do) to make the students be quiet. Maybe I'm missing the point, but it seems as though Armstrong is scrambling for more ways to fit MI //theory// into the classroom. The examples of dealing with students on an individual basis seem much more plausible, however, especially if the teacher is personally aware of the particular student's learning style.


