Mapping How People Learn to the Classroom
The intrapersonnal would recognize stress. The musical would meditate. The Bodily and Kinesthetic would have a sense of urgency in his work. Existental would deliberate on the importance. The liguistic Verbal would stay focused on the task on hand. Spatical/visual would think of the importance of the exercise.
Consider the following exercise: Students are each given one step of a five step stress management process:
1. Recognize stress
2. 10 Deep Breaths
3. Think of the urgency
4. Think of the importance
5. Work on the right thing for right now.
The students are asked to find the other four people who complete their list of five, then arrange themselves in the proper order. The winning team wins a prize. While the exercise is going on, the instructor plays music that is fun, fast and frantic. How would this exercise map to all seven of the Multiple Intelligences?
Wow thats applying the knowledge.
Initially you would be intrapersonal figuring out how you were going to deal with the situation, however that would be limited by the speed of the otherpeople around you and how quickly they react and start acting.
Music covers the musical, verbal will have to happen for everyone to find out the other partners to complete the group. Interpersonal as they form the group. Spacial as they look for other people and the activities of the room. Logical order covers logical. And kinesthetic moving around. The excited music will also bring out an emotional reaction and get things moving. Did I get them all?
By giving each person one step of the proces and then find the other four, it maps to interpersonal, logical / mathematical (after finding the other four, arranging themselves into the proper order), linguistic (the instructions are spoken), emotional and musical (music playing that is fun, fast and frantic), bodily kinesthetic (moving around the room) and intrapersonal (each person must figure out for themselves who the other four are).
Students can tend to be extremely competitive.
The students are working to creat teams. they have to talk to each other to get their teams orginized. They have to arrange themselves in a certian order after they have pulled the group together. They are stimulated by the music, the interaction between the students and are trying to get the prize for the winning team.
I like to mix up the classroom from time to time just to break up little clicks. This helps the students relate to each other better, and develop a different learning techniques from different students.
The communication and interacting between the students will be more profiency amoung each others. This way it will reduce some of the students stress and compitetion and turn it more into a fun class project.
This exercise is INTERPERSONAL because they have to work with each other to see who has the other steps to complete their process. It is LOGICAL becuase they have to arrage themselves in a proper order. It is MUSICAL because music is playing in the backround. It is VERBAL becuase they must communicate with each other.It si INTRAPERSONAL because you have to read and think about who else should be in your group. It is KINESTHETIC becuase you have to go around and find the rest to complete your group. It is EMOTIONAL becuase you are competing to win a prize.
The exercise is Interpersonal - students must communicate effectively eiwth each otherbecause it is team based. It addresses Logical students must order things logically. Spatial: arranging things, requires this. Auditory: exercise requires discussing outcomes with other students and following verbal instructions, as well as the music element. And arranging things also has a kinestic feature to it.
This can be difficult sometimes when taking into account your own style. Not impossible, just challenging.
The music sets the mood, upbeat, a sense or urgency. Both interpersonal and intrapersonal skills are engaged as the students identify themselves and seek the other members of their 'team'. Clearly defined roles and rules have been explained. Teamwork becomes necessary as each member of the team is identified and it is now the team that seeks out the missing members. What worked and what failed can be identified and discussed at the end (debriefing). The prize acts as a motivator.
For Intrapersonal, each student is give a step to reflect on and have them write a little life short story about the step. For Interpersonal, have the student share their story utilizing Linguistic skills with their group after the game is completed possibly as a wrap-up activity. For Naturalistic, this activity could be conducted outdoors on a nice day to take a break from the four walls of a classroom. For Spacial/Visual, each student can create a picture or symbol on blank piece of paper depicting the step without using words or numbers. For Kinesthetic, have students organize themselves from left to right standing in the proper order of the 5 steps using their Logical/Mathematic skills. After the conclusion of the game, ask the students to complete a written summary on "Why stress management is important in their life?" to draw from the Existential area of Multiple Intelligences.
You are telling them this is a game they want to play and win, as they are doing this they start to work with others and learn together, then when its done we all reflect on what we did.
I believe that recognizing stress is important because it enables you as a teacher to see how a student deals with it and then you can figure the best way to approach the situation. Some students want to be left alone while others look for instant help and as an instructor you need to know when is a good time to help and when not to help.
The exercise is INTERPERSONAL because it is team based. It addresses LOGICAL/MATHEMATICAL aspects having to arrange team members in a given order. The SPACIAL/VISUAL aspect is in recognizing the student that represent each of the steps. MUSIC playing sets an emotional tone, and communicating with the other students requires LINGUISTIC/VERBAL interaction. Deciding which student represents which step is INTERPERSONAL, and the physical movement in the class is BODILY/KIN ESTHETIC. By the way I think this would be a great way to teach the mechanics of stress.
The visual/auditory learners are included in looking for the other team member as well as taking the 10 deep breaths. When the breaths are taken and counted impacts the auditory learners. The sense of urgency is the interpersonal multiple intelligence whereas thinking of the importance utilizes the intelligence of intrapersonal. The music incorporates the musical intelligence and kinesthetic is involved when they start arranging themselves. The last multiple intelligence is spatial, which involves aligning themselves.
Good Stuff, Recognizing a stress level in a student is key to being able to communicate with that student. Often when I recognize this I'll relate to them and try to get them to lighten up.
Step back and see what is and is not important.
I don't always see the arrangement in proper order part for lab exercises.
I teach several Studio Design classes where there is lab time for the students to work on their projects. I have not thought of using music before, but this would be a good opportunity to try it.
Visual/Spatial will relate to the reading and understanding the puzzle aspect, Musical/Rhythmic will appreciate the upbeat music. The logical/mathmatical intelligence will tune into the arrangement of lists. Interpersonal learners will thrive in the environment of working with others. The verbal/linguistic learners will focus on their strengths in listening and speaking to others as they find the other 4 people. Kinisthetic learners will enjoy the physical aspect of finding people to complete thier list. The intrapersonal learner may need to address the areas that inhibit them from reaching out to others and therefore succeeding in their quest. This exercise can map to all of the Intelligences.
