Todd,
Yes, it will and I think you will like the results you get using this method. I wish you continued teaching success as you customize your instruction to meet the needs of your current students.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Teaching to Multiple Intelligences is a very difficult thing to do, but is very necessary. If you do not teach in a variety of ways, then you will students that will not learn your material. They will struggle and probably not succeed, unless they get other guidance.
Knowing the different forms of intelligence will allow me to direct my teaching stategies towards the most receptive form of learning intelligence the students display.
Erin,
I think you will add additional ways of incorporating kinesthetic activities as you gain additional experience from trying different activities out. The content for my course is cognitive but I incorporate tactile and kinesthetic activities such as role playing, moving students into and out of small groups, etc.. Kinesthetic activities do not have to relate directly to the content but get the students moving and the blood flowing to have an effect on their ability to stay engaged. This means you can be creative and have fun moving your students around or having them do things while keeping the connection with them in a way that keeps the course moving forward.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Jennifer,
The more use of tactile involvement the greater retention of cognitive concepts. You have this approach down as you are using it daily in your instructional delivery. I am sure your students approach your efforts in this area as they strive to learn the required content.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I believe that I do a pretty good job of teaching to the majority of the intelligences, but I will admit that I seem to struggle the most with kinesthetic learning. I can only think of a handful of activities. I think that it is a combination of the subject that I teach and my learning preferance. Being aware of this will help me create lesson plans in the future.
I try to use hands on experiences during lecture to help make the information stick in the long term memory bank. In the massage therapy and massage classes, you can incorporate either topic in the other class to make the concept more concrete.
By knowing the type of students in the class you can make sure you project to those type of learners . I have used more training aids in class some hands on and more pictures to help in delivering the subject. with good results.
Brian,
Like the way you integrate different learning opportunities for your students. You are letting them use their intelligences and learning preferences to create learning success and career growth that is personal to them.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
To reach all students, I use variety of instruction methods. When I lecture using power point, I handout paper copies of the slides that have a place to write notes. I also assigned group projects which involve problem solving which allow student to use teamwork to increase knowledge of the subject such as planning security for outdoor festival in a park. Another method, is hands on exercises like processing crime scenes using tools such as fingerprints kits, or evidence collection devices. For individual who like to learn on their own, I assigned research articles to be summarized and critical analyzed based on course objectives.
Terrie,
This is what customizing instruction should be about. We take our content and shape it to meet the learning preferences of students that we have at the current time. This is what teaching is an ongoing non-static process.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Keeping in mind that each class will include students with different types of intelligence,and that different classes may contain students with different numbers of each types of intelligence, I can tailor instruction to each specific class culture. I can also identify if specific students need additional approaches to the information.
Brandi,
Your analysis of how you are going to use your knowledge about multiple intelligences is very well done. You have a vision of how you are going to expand your comfort and make sure to include other intelligences within your instructional delivery. This is what being a professional educator is all about.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I know that multiple intelligences have greatly affected my teaching strategies in many ways. I believe understanding my own strengths as a student, correlates to my teaching style as an instructor. Since I know I have verbal/linguistic and visual intelligence, as an instructor I understand that most of my lessons will be communicated either through written or oral means and involve some visual to illustrate my points. My own multiple intelligences directly affect my chosen style of instruction. It will ultimately influence all methodologies used in class. Also understanding that I may be strong in verbal/linguistic and visual intelligence, this means I must step outside my comfort zone to open up other intelligences to attempt to involve them in my classes as well. I must navigate through the intelligences and attempt to expand my own gamut, so that I can better relate to my students. This understanding of multiple intelligences can help me to plan my instructional methods and delivery!
Walter,
This is how you improve as an instructor because you have used different techniques and you have something from which to measure.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
By using a variety of deliveries and to see which ones you get the best reactions from.
As a writing instructor, it's sometimes difficult for me to transition out of my instinctive "write an essay" method of assessment. I have to constantly remind myself that even though this may be an English or writing course, there can still be ways beyond written documents to teach mechanical skills and then assess the learning of those skills. For instance, I'll play a short clip of Monty Python's "Argument Clinic" sketch to introduce the larger skills of persuasion and argumentation. Then, after watching the skit, I use a sort of guided-notes approach to chart the various terminologies and structures of what an "argument" involves. And finally, as I introduce the real skills of persuasion, I ask students to tell about situations they've been in as a consumer (like buying or selling a car), and they we apply the concepts and terminologies to make the connection between "selling" a tangible product and "selling" a concept or idea. Using these various steps, I hope, allows for multiple entries into the material for various learning styles - the Monty Python sketch for the audio learners, the guided notes for the verbal/linguistic learners, the shared stories for the interpersonal learners, etc.
Similarly, in a Literature/Film course, I've learned that I must expand from my kneejerk "write an essay" assessments. Now, as major projects in a course, I include options from which students may choose: a formal essay, a presentation on a text and film, a graphic representation of a text's themes by way of a design for a book cover or advertising poster, or a skit wherein students reenact a scene from the text but in a different context (different time setting, different physical setting, etc.).
Kanisha,
That is because you are helping to make the course content come alive. This is why examples and stories from the field are so valuable to the students. They start to see how the content can be applied to their career development and this increases their motivation for learning.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
While teaching, I find that surgical tech students tend to show more interest about a particular lesson when I give realistic examples along with a personal experience about the lesson taught.
Panagiotis,
Yes it does and this is how you keep the interest of student for the duration of class sessions.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
