Multiple Intelligences in the classroom

After answering the given questions I discovered that my strengths within multiple intelligence are naturalistic and existential. The few key points within the naturalist category that describe me the best are that I tend to be empathetic towards nature, I enjoy making collections of certain materials, and I usually impose a new meaning and sense of order to newly acquired information. When it comes to the existential aspect of my intelligence, the key points that describe me best are that I always seek meaningful learning, I have a very strong connection with my friends and family, I am very concerned with my health and well-being, and that I enjoy reading, literature and customs from other cultures.

The types of students that are naturalistic and existential like me learn best by being shown an outline for the lecture before a new lesson begins, they relate topics to global issues, themes and concepts, enjoy use of visual organization tools to help with classroom assignments, and enjoy building portfolios that contain their work in and out of the classroom.

The way that I intend on supporting these types of intelligences in my classroom are by giving the students a very specific syllabus pertaining to what assignments I will be giving out, when they are due and exactly what I want from the students when they turn their work in. I plan on outlining all their assignments for them, if I have the time, to make it easier for them to understand what is wanted from them. I also plan on holding classroom discussions about certain topics I have lectured on. I want to hear what the students think about a certain subject or concept they are learning. Students with these two intelligences would enjoy an activity where they can put all their work from the semester into a portfolio of some sort, not only to keep track of it throughout the year, but also to see what they have accomplished in the class.

The types of technologies that might stimulate these types of students in a history class environment might be using videos to get a point across and using interactive power points tied in with a lecture so that the students are not just sitting in class staring at a board full of words. It might also be helpful for students if I only lecture three days out of five with a power point of somesort so they can see the notes they will need to have for their tests and quizes. And on the other two days, lecture using more pictures than normal or using a video or audio recording to get a point across. I also plan on having discussion time in class for the students to reflect on what they have learned or discuss a subject given to them by me. It would be helpful for naturalistic and existential students to have discussion time because they can hear others opinions about something, share theirs, and may have an easier time relating the topic to a world issue that they know about and their classmates don't. Discussion, not guided discussion, is a great way to get students to interact and come up with conclusions about an event or anything else on their own, share their ideas then relate the ideas to each others.

As a teacher, it is very important foe me to understand each type of intelligence because each of my students will have different learning styles. By understanding each intelligence, I will be able to help my students succeed in the classroom and retain information better. By knowing how each student learns and how to accommodate the learning styles, my students will be able to achieve more than they thought they could in a classroom.