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1.
Isn’t all this talk of alternative instruction and assessment
methods just a “dumbing down” of the curriculum and standards?
2.
How can I really tell if my students have “learned?”
3.
I have to prepare students to create a particular end product.
They can’t create a model or collage for the English 101 final!
So what can I do?
4.
Why is it important to know about brain research? Isn’t it enough just to do what we know works
from past experience?
5.
I don’t have the time or the knowledge for changing every part
of my course.
6.
Gardner’s MI theory makes a lot of sense to me, but I don’t
understand how I can teach my course
eight ways! Maybe teaching with MI in mind works for instructors in non-content
areas such as English composition, but I teach accounting. We have to get through a lot of content in
fifteen weeks. How can I possibly teach everything eight ways?
7.
Ok, I'm ready to try something and I hear you about making
small changes. What can you suggest
that would be very small and not require much preparation?
8.
Won’t my students think I’m treating them like children if
my class doesn’t look like a “real college classroom?”
9.
How can I develop the trust necessary to use brain-compatible
methodologies in my class effectively?
10.
If I allow students to do different things to complete an assignment,
how can I be sure that “standards” have been met?
Our
Thoughts:
Today, we have moved
away from these traditional approaches in teaching languages to a broad spectrum
of instructional approaches. Although
these changes were made without the understanding that we have today of how
the brain learns, the new methodologies are very much consistent with current
theories based on brain research. Movement,
music, visuals, manipulatives, and interactive practice of real life situations
are now the stuff of foreign language teaching. Today, by the end of their first semester of
language instruction, students are expected to give short oral presentations,
something that would have been unheard of in first semester language classes
twenty years ago. Are students today
still learning the grammar? Yes, but
they are learning much more. Thus, incorporating
alternative instruction and assessment methods to language instruction has enabled
more students to achieve even higher standards. (Thoughts of Annette Bell)
2.
How can I really
tell if my students have “learned?”
3.
I have to prepare
students to create a particular end product. They can’t create a model or collage for the English 101 final!
So what can I do?
In most of our classes students
do have to create an end product such as correct responses on a math exam or
an essay exam for an English course. However,
students can take many paths to learn how to create that end product.
The trick is to identify the skills and concepts your students need in
order to create the end product. Next, develop brain-compatible and MI-friendly
projects to teach the skills and explore the concepts. For example, I use graphical organizers and
three-dimensional models to teach composition students rhetorical modes and
video clips to introduce writing topics. After
completing these activities, the students use what they have learned to write
the essay. (Thoughts of Lisa Ford)
In the same way, as teachers we
may experience success with our own tried and true methods. But have we asked ourselves what the impact
of our methods has on the learner. If
we’re honest, we have to admit that some things don’t work for all of our students,
and we often don’t have a clue why. By
knowing how the brain functions, we get a better understanding of how our students
learn. We can begin to explain why something
works for one, but not another. We can
develop strategies that will help more of our students learn better more of
the time. We have a meaningful rationale
for what we do. (Thoughts of Annette
Bell)
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Start with one small change. (It’s better not to make too many changes at once anyway because there are often aspects of the new program/activity that need “tweaking.”) One small change tends to lead to more change for many reasons:
a. We get more ideas growing from one.
b. We get infected with the excitement of the students and want to create more excitement over learning.
c. We start talking with colleagues and ideas sprout from these dialogues.
d. Change begets more change
“In truth, I do not expect that initial efforts to apply any
new ideas are going to be stunning. Human
experimentation is slow, difficult and filled with zigs and zags.”
-- Howard Gardner
(Thoughts of Marilyn Webb)
To me, creating an MI-friendly classroom
means creating learning experiences that encourage students to use their intelligence
strengths and to develop their weaker intelligences. Here’s my three-step approach for creating
an MI friendly classroom:
1. Identify Students’ MI Strengths and Weaknesses
Discuss multiple intelligences with your
students early in the semester. Get them thinking about how they learn, so that
as you introduce MI-friendly activities, your students realize the approach
is based on teaching/learning research. An in-depth exploration might include
having students identify their MI profiles using an instrument such as C. Branton
Shearer’s MIDAS (http://www.angelfire.com/oh/themidas/).
Rather than developing “eight ways” for
each lesson, consider developing complex projects that encourage the use of
combinations of intelligences. Here’s
an example of a complex project for English composition students: research the problems faced by the homeless
population in our area and propose solutions.
MI-friendly tasks that students select as they work on this project could
include interviewing experts, creating three dimensional models or flow-charts,
exploring the portrayal of the homeless in film and literature, writing songs,
and creating artwork. Students would
write essays, write a research paper, and pass an exit exam as required by our
English Department, but they would learn the concepts and develop the skills
necessary to achieve these tasks as they work on the solution of the complex
project.
Focus on depth rather than breadth. Isolate
the core concepts in your course. In
English composition, understanding rhetorical modes is a core concept; therefore,
I’ll present the concept several ways. For example, I’ve developed a 30-minute
visual/spatial and interpersonal activity for learning the rhetorical modes.
Working in teams, students create a logo for a rhetorical mode. The groups then
present their work to each other and try to guess which rhetorical mode is represented
by each logo. This activity creates wonderful “aha!” moments for students with
visual/spatial and interpersonal strengths. Students with linguistic strengths
may get more out of my short lecture with textual examples. For accounting students,
a core concept would be debits and credits. I’d suggest developing a variety
of MI-friendly activities for this core concept. Our challenge is to identify
core concepts in the course and then orchestrate learning experiences that give
students opportunities to use their MI strengths and to develop their weaker
intelligences.
As with dieting or exercising, it is best to start small. If you’re the kind of person who has to test the water before plunging in, here are a few suggestions.
a. Begin a class by showing an unusual picture on an overhead or by passing around an interesting artifact
b. Show a short video clip to stimulate interest and engage emotions
c. Incorporate a reflection question in an assignment or at the completion of an activity. Here are some possible questions: How did you go about completing this activity/assignment? What did you find easy about the activity/assignment? What was most difficult? If you could do this activity/assignment again, what would you do differently? What did you learn from doing this activity/assignment?
d. Enrich the environment of your classroom by creating a “tool box” with markers, post-it notes, scissors, clay, etc. Allow students to use any of the items in the tool box to create a model to use when participating in a discussion.
e. Develop one assignment
for the semester that incorporates choices in the ways the assignment will be
completed. (Thoughts of Annette Bell)
Recently, we heard Stephen Brookfield, the author of Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher, talk about his own feelings of “impostership.” When we try new things in our classes, when we are unsure of the outcomes, we are bound to feel like imposters. Should we share those doubts with our students to gain their trust? Brookfield gave an excellent example of taking white water rafting lessons from an instructor who begin the class by saying, “In this class, we are all experts. I know that I will learn as much from you as you will learn from me during this course. If we run into a problem, we’ll work out a solution together.” While such an approach sounds democratic and student-centered, it would do nothing to inspire our trust in that instructor, especially if one were fearful of white water rafting! It is important, he concluded, to assure students that we are credible teachers.
Still,
as we try new things, we can’t be certain they will work. And occasionally some ideas will bomb. We can’t let that paralyze us. But how should we deal with it? Here are some suggestions:
a. Clearly explain the rationale for any new activity you try.
b. Be careful to observe student behavior and make interventions to change the activity or end it if necessary.
c. Ask students to participate actively, but also to observe their own feelings and behaviors as they engage in the activity.
d. Plan a time of “debriefing” after the activity is completed to find out what worked well and what didn’t. Show respect for all responses without getting defensive about negative feedback.
e. Thank students for their help and
suggestions. (Thoughts of Annette Bell)
So I have to ask myself, can my ESOL student demonstrate the
ability to use that new vocabulary word correctly in a number of different ways?
Absolutely. My verbal linguistic
students may feel most comfortable giving a definition, but students who use
a song or a movement or a drawing can demonstrate that knowledge just as accurately.
As I learn to accept and deal with these alternate demonstrations of
knowledge, my conception of the “standard” does not become watered down, but
more flexible and it becomes easier for me to judge whether a particular demonstration
meets the standard or not. (Thoughts
of Annette Bell)
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