Introducing MI

Day 6 of new school year. Introduced MI to my primates today by asking what "MI" or "multiple intelligences" is? No response. Now I have had half the class for a year already and we spoke about MI quite often (in my opinion) last year. This told me--obviously, not enough to make a lasting impression. SO I pulled out the visual model (a white oaktag cut out head w/the 8 different intelligences shown in simple pictures) that I used last year and asked if this jogged anyone's memory. Suddenly, it did (the power of a visual aid!) They recognized the visual, but were unable to really give any specific comments. So I asked them all to really look at the pictures and try to figure out what "MI" or "multiple intelligences" is--suddenly, several hands were in the air: "music" "making friends" "working together" "math" "writing skills" "skills" "painting" (I'll try to scan in the pics I used later).

My response to this was, "Yes! Those are all different intelligences that we all have in our brains. MI is how we solve problems and how we create products that matter to our community. Each one of you has all of these intelligences--maybe even more!--and we each use them in different ways to do different things. You might use your musical intelligence more then I do, and I may use my body intelligence more than you to do the same thing. One important thing to remember is that we never use just one intelligence at a time, for every problem we solve or product we create, we use several different intelligences to do it."

I then asked my primates to think of 3 things that are really easy, and 3 things that are really hard for them to do. I provided examples. such as "listening, playing a certain game, solving a puzzle, or creating something with their hands". Because everyone is different, we'll all have different answers to this question--and that's what makes our world work--different people solving problems and creating products in different ways.

Each primate then created a self-portrait on a large piece of oaktag (cardstock--whatever you call it!), using pre-cut face cut-outs of different skin tones. I asked them to match their skin tones as best they could--recognizing that no one's would be exact. It was very interesting to listen and observe this process as students compared skin tones--something I think we are conditioned to avoid. This was very non-threatening though, and was a forum to discuss and point out that many of use have similar skin tones, but no one is exactly alike--much like the way MI works.

Next, primates filled in their faces (correct eye color a must and no extra features such as mustaches, earrings--unless they have earrings, boogers dripping out of a nose--which did happen and I had to ask the primate to do his whole thing over because the directions were to take this project seriously. You got to love early childhood.

I reminded them to continue thinking about the hard/easy question, and we even spent the last 10 minutes working w/o talking so we could concentrate on this question. Throughout the day I pointed out different situations that primates might choose as either hard or easy when we complete the project tomorrow. For example, several students made some detailed observations of the illustrations in a book I read to the class. I commented at how detailed their observations were, and that may be something that is easy for them--noticing details. Or, it may be something that is a hard thing for someone else. Later on the playground, I commented on how quickly one primate went through the monkey bars and that was another example of something that may be easy or hard for someone. I'd say I got about 4 or five comments/examples of different things throughout the day, and I believe addressing these directly and explicitly linking it to the MI question I asked them to ponder will contribute to more genuine answers tomorrow.

In the past, I have done variations of this project--always at the start of the school year. At first I just casually addressed MI, and focused more on the aspect of different strengths and challenges of each individual in the group. I usually did the whole project in one day or chunk of time. I also have used these projects when discussing goals w/primates and considering how something that's easy for us may help us get better at something that's hard. It's an evolving project, but I feel this latest approach is so far the most powerful. Only time will tell......

Something unrelated, (but truly, everything is related), I'm doing this year is talking about letters and numbers as symbols. Just like we use pictures as symbols (American flag, crosswalk signs, etc), letters and numbers really are just lines drawn in certain ways that represent something...like this symbol: (A), represents the letter A, and so on. I'm trying to establish a relationship between something familiar and easy for primates to relate to--pictures, colors, familiar symbols-- (you know how they all know that the big yellow M means McDonalds after their first happy meal, even if they don't get that it's the letter M--LOL), and letters and numbers. This may address a spatial connection using their visual modality for struggling readers, or just emerging readers, who don't rely heavily on their linguistic intelligence. again, only time will tell, but I feel confident that this is targeting and addressing a different kind of intelligence to engage primates in a linguistic activity.

clarification

It's late, my last post was quite emotionally charged--not excuses--REASONS for my poor grammar & lack of editing. But this blog is about getting myself to write--which I did. And tho I noticed the errors after the fact--I did notice them. SO not only did I meet the expectations of my original goal (to write daily), but I also went on to mentally edit, which will perhaps improve my next emotionally charged, late night entry. Good for me....but all a test would show is a piece of sloppily edited writing. That's not where the learning is found.

So how do we measure the real learning?

blowing off steam, actually...

Trying to keep that positive attitude........

why aren't we cutting or even considering cutting standardized testing in this state? how many millions would that save the schools? how many IEP could actually be fulfilled? how many individual students would actually get what they need? what a public education is supposed to actually provide? how many teacher jobs could be saved? how many new and innovative programs could be enhanced? supported? given the opportunity to positively affect student learning?

I'll admit I have a very limited knowledge of how the school budget works, and how decisions are made. What I am very well aware of, is the results of the decisions being made and they are not in the best interests of students. These decisions are evidence of how undervalued teachers and children are as members of the larger society. Those children grow up and become undervalued adults. And the lip service we receive about how important teachers are, how important education is to our society falls on deaf ears because the teachers are so buried in the impossibility of what they are expected to do because it doesn't make any sense to anyone actually living in the reality of it all, and the children who are not getting what they need and are soaking in the unspoken messages--test scores are all that matter, most of you will never be at the top because we need a bottom and an average group larger than the successful, otherwise we'll be put out of business, your personal struggles, your life, who you are is insignificant--life is about passing a test.

OK, I'm blowing off steam--and maybe I'm over the edge a bit--but there is much truth in that paragraph and things in education are not going to get better--society is not going to get better--the quality of life we all share is not going to get better, until we start facing some of these truths--painful as they may be.

Is it possible to focus on the positive and live in reality at the same time?

small thing, big difference

The death of Senator Kennedy weighs on my mind. Certainly not a perfect person, but undeniably one who made a significant difference in the lives of many--and isn't that enough? Over the past few days, listening to his friends and family talk about him, and his impact in their lives, I think about how loving what you do, loving life, and the attitude you have as you approach each day, makes a difference. I'm used to getting sucked into the "drama" and much of the drudgery of teaching, and even family life. I don't want to do that this year. I want to look at the bright side, keep focused on what I love, and celebrate the little things--no matter how mundane. Simple idea, but not easy to execute.

starting the school year

it's been awhile, but I'm back!

End of August is always a conflicting time for me...I love the start of fall--cooler weather, the smell in the air of things changing, my birthday, my son's birthday, last days at the beach....but also back to school...August is just never long enough!

Here I am though, preparing for the beginning of another adventure in teaching and learning. I've been tossing around ideas all summer, especially with the use of my weaving grant which I am very excited about!

So the arc for the year is: Time, Traditions, and Changes: who am I? where do I come from? how do living things change over time? We'll begin with "seasons". Of course most of our first session focuses on who we are as a learning group, what can each individual contribute to the whole group, and how we can work together to solve problems and create products this year. So the first few weeks will focus on establishing routines, and I am definitely going to buff up my calendar/weather routine so we can cover curricular aspects & vocabulary while also developing responsibility & awareness of time in terms of seasons & weather.

How do the seasons illustrate change? In what ways can we measure time?

Each table will be labeled with a different force of nature: thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornados, blizzards, nor'easters (picture & sentence strip). This will establish relevant vocabulary & a sense of belonging to the members of each table, and it's more fun than just "the blue table" or "table #1", etc.

I'd like to inject a "precipitation chart" to the daily weather routine. Just a chart to tally days w/precip and days with--also including what kind of precip. This also targets a vocab word & puts math skills to work (counting & tallying). maybe I'll post a wipe board up for kids to draw a picture of the weather & someway of identifying the season we are in, that can also lead to creating a list of seasonal words, which we can use during writer's workshop, writing projects,etc.

I also want to post the words: imagine, create, wonder, investigate. As explorers of the world, these are the things we are going to do this year and what I want to measure progress in--use of imagination, products created, questions asked & explored, and where their personal motivation leads us as a learning group.

meanwhile, I have to deal with the nitty-gritty of setting up my room, the contents of which are as we speak completely piled on top of my rug--floor to ceiling--everything from chairs and tables to books and boxes of sea shells. which reminds me, I also want to set up a regular nature center based on the seasons. here we go!

day 2 and anxiety

well I made it back for a second posting, although I will be away from my computer for a few days but hopefully will get right back on track.

I'm thinking about anxiety and how my anxiety effects my own children. Ironically, I think for the most part I am a pretty laid back person, but when we have an event--family, social, a trip, etc, I get very anxious. Yes I have self-diagnosed from tv commercials--sounds like SAD--social anxiety disorder, but would rather not do any drugs, so instead my anxiety manifests itself through making list after list, occasional panic attacks, and wildly zipping around the house to cover all the details. how is this behavior perceived by my own little primates?

M is very anxious--he's exactly like me, and we hear a lot of "I hate school" "I hate parties" "I want to stay home". C is her father's daughter and just totally goes with the flow.

Children are so open and receptive to everything that goes on around them--things we do and don't even notice are things they internalize. The influential power we have as parents, teachers, adults, on little primates is enormous. I often think of my dad's similar anxiety, even my mom's, and wonder if that's why Im so anxious. but there is no blame here--just looking for reasons--not rationalizations--reasons. I suppose if there is a predisposition in the child toward a particular personality trait that is nurtured--whether knowingly or not, it will develop. So I am going to try to curb my anxious behavior--get a grasp on it, at least in front of the kids--and see if that will help M.

I hope it's never too late to learn from a mistake. that's a theme I'm going to explore next year with my class--using your mistakes. So many little primates today are afraid to take risks as learners, afraid to make a mistake or not do something perfectly the first time. this affects many adults too as it was probably unknowingly nurtured in them as children. so we will focus on identifying mistakes and figuring out ways we can use them to our advantage. that's just a general theme--this is how I teach--big themes that sprout meaningful life lessons. I usually develop my plans as I go, trying to take advantage of daily experiences and letting those lead my teaching. I prepared a big sign that states: "use your mistakes" for the wall. subliminal message and also a reminder that we are considering this thought all year. we'll see......

my challenge

I'll begin with the title--which maybe should be "my primate project". Recently I looked into applying to the doctoral program at Harvard--yes, the big H! It's a wild goal, a long shot really, but my mentor (also my former principal many years ago) actually suggested it and when I stopped laughing so hard--I realized he was serious and got it into my head that maybe I could apply to the big H. So I did some investigating, met with a good contact at Harvard, and quickly learned I was pregnant with my second child. Doctoral plans, step aside. She's 2 now, so I am beginning to emerge from the mommy haze I associate with those first two magical years, and I am thinking about my own career plans once again. Which brings me here....

As I researched successful applicants to H's program, I was overwhelmed at the accomplishments of each one--published books, starting programs in foreign countries, and most astoundingly, this one guy who lived with primates (other than humans--gorillas or apes or something) in the jungle for a year. My hopes of even being considered started to fade quickly--needless to say I have only lived in the Boston area and worked as a teacher for many years--I mean I do have some pretty impressive accomplishments, but nothing compared to the jungle!

So I'm starting this blog as a way to get into the habit of writing everyday--or as close to everyday as possible--to build up my writing skills in anticipation of putting together that application by next fall. It's my primate project.

So I hope to just reflect on the children in my life and experiences that stand out. It may just be a bunch of blabbing, but I'd be interested in anyone else's thoughts on my thoughts or shared experiences, so if you are so inclined, please join in!

Being a teacher and a mom has given me a different perspective than I had before my own kids, and I think often about my own children as learners--the ways I think of my students. I'm always having this running dialogue in my head that sounds like a blog to me, so I hope writing it down will provide the discipline, focus, and practice I need right now. ciao!