MI Chapter 1

I barely knew anything about multiple intelligences before talking about it in class, and reading this first chapter helped me learn a lot more. It is very fascinating to learn about the ways that different intelligences affect the way a student learns, and in turn the way a classroom runs. The fact that people can innately lack in a certain intelligence tells me a lot about my future students. If a child is struggling with a particular task or concept, it could be because their mind simply doesn’t have as much strength in one area of intelligence as they do in another. It is never about them being stupid or unmotivated, teachers just need to realize that every student’s brain is structured differently. This is why it is important for teachers to be willing to try different methods of teaching, so that they can accommodate for the different styles of learning that are born into a student’s physiology and therefore should never be changed or stifled. It was also helpful to learn that most people are on the same level with being strong in some intelligences but lacking in others. I think the whole idea of Multiple Intelligences is a big step in the right direction in the field of education. It encourages creative, independent thought and denounces the notion that all students must learn the same way. In order to successfully reach our students, we need to start thinking about how they learn instead of how someone else says they should learn.