Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Monday, November 18, 2013
Multiple Intelligence in Language Learning
Dr. Howard Gardner, a psychologist and professor of
neuroscience from Harvard University, developed the Multiple Intelligence
Theory (MIT) in 1983, which postulates that every person has a unique combination,
or profile, of eight (which later became nine in 1999) intelligences. According to the theory, although we
all have nine of these intelligences, each person has his or her own
configuration, similar to fingerprints (PBS 2013). Gardner’s theory was revolutionary and challenged the
traditional perception of intelligence, measured by IQ tests, and was deemed as
far too limited. MIT challenged
the emphasis of our school and our culture on logical-mathematical and
linguistic intelligences, and put the various intelligences in neutral values,
with none superior over another (Morgan & Fonseca 2004). Nowadays, many teachers and schools
have adopted MIT into practice and are redesigning the way they teach
(Armstrong 2013). MIT’s account
for a broader range of potential for an individual list the following intelligences
(Armstrong 2013; PBS 2013):
1.
Linguistic intelligence- "word
smart"; the ability to express oneself and understand others through
words.
2.
Logical/Mathematical intelligence-
"number/reasoning smart"; ability to understand the underlying
principles in some kinds of causal system and can manipulate numbers,
quantities, and operations.
3.
Spatial intelligence- "picture
smart"; ability to interpret the spatial world in one’s mind; greatly
connected with art, sciences, and engineering.
4.
Bodily/Kinesthetic intelligence- "body
smart"; the capacity to use the whole body or parts of the body in order
to produce something and solve problems.
5.
Musical/Rhythmic intelligence- "music
smart"; ability to think in music, recognize patterns, and manipulate
them.
6.
Interpersonal intelligence- "people
smart"; ability to connect with other people and understand them.
7.
Intrapersonal intelligence- "self
smart"; ability to understand oneself, personal capabilities and
interests.
8.
Naturalist intelligence- “nature smart”;
ability to categorize animals, plants, and other features of the natural world.
9.
Existential
intelligence- ability to pose and ponder questions concerning life, death, and
ultimate realities.
In language learning
MIT addresses the
reality that any classroom has a very diverse set of
learners. MIT takes into
consideration the different modalities of learning based on the intelligence
profiles of each student. In
learning languages, J. Arnold Morgan and Ma Carmen Fonseca (2004)
assert, “language
is not seen as limited to a ‘linguistics’ perspective, but encompasses all
aspects of communication.” Through
the MIT framework, learners are given the opportunity to develop language
through a variety of learning strategies, as well as developing their individual
intelligences. Furthermore,
teachers are given a wide array of “tools” that they can use based on with which
they think their students can learn best.
MIT is strategy-based, brain friendly, multi-sensorial and provides
learners comprehensible input by connecting new information with their own
learning styles (Torresan 2010).
Some strategies that teachers can use for their students include
creating mnemonic devices, graphic organizers, collaborative learning
activities, games, TPR and creating nonlinguistic representations such as video
clips or pictures.
In adherence to the CREATE
model, one will see the relevance of MIT in language learning.
Collaboration:
The focus of language learning in the educational system implies that the labor
industry will have workers who are literate and competent in
communication. As much as we would
like policymakers to play the big part in implementing MIT and language
learning into the educational system, it really roots to the collaboration of
the school and the classroom teacher.
For example, the strides of John F. Kennedy High School in their SAT-10
scores in literacy can be attributed to the school’s collaboration and adopting
into their classes different brain-based strategies.
Relevance: MIT
in language learning is research-based and backed by concepts of neurosciences
and psychology.
Evidence: Teachers
can track improvement or language development through common assessments and
language assessments. Teachers can
record the data and share it with the school. The administrator can continue to share the data and
strategies with others in the community, stakeholders, or other schools.
Alignment: MIT
includes many strategies that are very useful to teaching topics aligned with
the district content standards.
Transparency:
Data can be shared with stakeholders and policymakers.
Empowerment:
Because MIT focuses on individual learner needs, rather than having students
learn in traditional ways where the focus is heavily on certain intelligence
over others, language learning becomes more student-centered. Consideration for learners’ strength
will be empowering to them.
References:
Armstrong, T.
(2013). Multiple intelligence. American
institute for learning and human development. Retrieved from http://www.institute4learning.com/multiple_intelligences.php.
Morgan, J.
A. & Fonseca, C. (2004). Multiple intelligence theory and foreign language
learning: a brain-based perspective. International
journal of English studies, vol. 4(1). Retrieved from http://rabida.uhu.es/dspace/bitstream/handle/10272/5320/Multiple_intelligence_theory_and_foreign.pdf?sequence=2.
Torresan, P.
E. (2010). The theory of multiple
intelligences and language teaching. Retrieved from http://lear.unive.it/bitstream/10278/2303/1/Nr.%206%20versione%20inglese.pdf.
PBS.org. (2013).
Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/education/ed_mi_overview.html.
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Sunday, September 29, 2013
A Teacher's Dream Come True: Quick Key
100+ tests to grade in a matter of minutes? This sounds like every teacher's dream!
Creator Walter O. Duncan is a real life teacher who saw the need (grading papers takes A LOT of time) and came up with a solution fit for the 21st Century: QuickKey.
Check out their presentation on this site: http://www.power2teach.com/
QuickKey is a smartphone app that makes grading papers a breeze. You can correct your students' papers using these 2 very important tools: a smartphone and a Quick Ticket, bubble sheets specifically for the app that you can download from their website.
Directions of how to use:
1. Download the app into your phone.
2. Sign up for an account at http://www.quickkeyapp.com/ with your email address and password on your computer.
3. Set up your student information and classes. (This is easier to do with your pc, but possible with your phone.)
4. Add a quiz.
5. Add a class to the quiz.
6. Begin scanning.
If you have more questions, check out their tutorial that you can only access when you are signed in to your account. From personal experience, trying to figure all this out was a bit difficult because their sites did not make these information quickly accessible. So, I've done half of the work for y'all :)
PROS:
- After you've done the initial set-up, grading papers does become a breeze- you can check papers as quickly as you can turn the pages of your students' work.
- Great for formative assessments.
- Helps you to quickly see and evaluate which questions your students did not do very well on.
CONS:
- The app cannot scan papers with too much erasure, which makes grading take even longer because then you'd have to manually input your students' answers.
- Does not count extra credit points or short-answer questions.
- As far as I know, it does not yet export grades into my grade book; I'd have to manually input those also. But please, correct me if I'm wrong :)
So far, my biggest problem with the program is inputting grades when the Quick Ticket has too much erasure. My students do not perfectly answer their questions and make a thousand of mistakes and erase, erase, erase the other bubbles. Then the Quick Key scanner wouldn't be able to read the Ticket anymore. Also, if the scanner reads the Quick Ticket incorrectly, it takes a while to go back and correct the grading mistake. After several of those times, it seriously becomes a headache.
BUT!
It's a new technology that will continue to make improvements and it's great to give it a chance because it is promising. So, while it's still free of charge, why not take advantage of it and download it into your smartphone? Ain't no harm in trying it out! :)
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Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Wanna Blog? Options Right Here
Are you interested in giving your crazy ideas, cool finds, and awesome photos a home in the ridiculously infinite World Wide Web?
I have a few blog sites that may be of interest. I have tested them; let me just say that all offer so many themes that it's almost impossible to choose. Even the free ones are so beautiful that it almost seems senseless to purchase the paid themes. Aside from the themes, each one has its own function and appeal.
I have not yet explored these blog sites to their fullest potentials but if you're interested in any of them, that can be your time to enjoy exploring. :)
1.tumblr- very popular for its micro-blogging. So if you have some snippets, memes, and inspirational photos to share, this may be the place for you. Just a warning though: reblogging is such a common practice here that the originators of the ideas get lost in the over-share.
2. WordPress- similar to Google's Blogger in many ways. I really like the classy and professional looks of WordPress themes, better than Blogger's! However, the customization options seem to be very limited, unless you're willing to pay up $$$. But if you're only interested in putting up some texts and photos, Word Press is really not a bad choice. I, on the other hand, adore personalizing my blogs and would much rather have all those extra options.
3. Weebly- the imagination seems to be the limit when it comes to customization with Weebly. It is a free site for websites and blogs. The new interface may seem quite intimidating at first because of the number of buttons to navigate around but if you are hyper-creative, you may enjoy the options that you have in front of you. You can completely personalize your page to your taste and add motions, tabs, and pages. It's up to you.
4. Blogger- the most comfortable site for me. Google has now made it possible to integrate your Blogger blog with their Google+ features. This is supposed to expand your exposure on the web and increase your audience if you will blog for pay through ads. I personally haven't really kept my blogs up-to-date with that. Anyway, I think Blogger is very easy to use and to personalize, although its interface is quite slow and editing is glitchy.
There are so many free blog sites out there still waiting to be explored! But if you simply want to get started or to commit and grow old with your blog, these are some of your good options. :)
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Friday, September 6, 2013
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