Multiple Intelligence Institute :: Forum

Re: Dr. Howard Gardner's Welcome Note to the MI Network [by Roxana Adriana.Fera]

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:02:30 +1500

Ask Howard::Dr. Howard Gardner's Welcome Note to the MI Network
...orphanages... (The perfectionist English teacher in me couldn't let that go! :D)

Re: What Makes a School (Classroom, Program) an "MI School (Classroom, Program)"?" Forum [by Roxana Adriana.Fera]

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:07:13 +1500

How to be an MI School and MI Success Stories::What Makes a School (Classroom, Program) an "MI School (Classroom, Program)"?" Forum
Thank you all for your input and Josh I am serious about it. I will contact you soon.

Thank you.

Roxy

Open Position from Gyeonggi English Villages [by MII]

Fri, 07 May 2010 10:34:04 +1500

Jobs::Open Position from Gyeonggi English Villages

Location: Paju City, Gyeonggi Province, Republic of Korea

1. English Teacher (1-2 yr contract)

- Teach English to all age groups

- Create lesson plans based on existing curriculum

- Lead classroom activities

- BA required in English, Literature, or Education

- Education license preferred

- 2 year teaching exprience preferred

2. We also hire more seasoned educators (MA or PhD) who can work as Head Teachers or curriculum leaders.

GEV’s mission is to transform English education for the young generation in Korea by implementing programs that produce a measurable increase in the speaking ability of the participants. GEV believes English education is best retained by the students in settings that teach English through content-driven subjects in an exciting and interactive environment.

http://www.english-village.or.kr/eng/">http://www.http://www.english-village.or.kr/eng/">english-http://www.english-village.or.kr/eng/">village.or.kr/eng/

Frequently Asked Question on MI [by MII]

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 05:57:01 +1500

Ask Howard::Frequently Asked Question on MI
We have decided to start a discussion on some of the most frequently asked questions. These questions are generally answered by our own staff. Please feel free to jump in and discuss whatever is on your mind.

Question:

Hello, I am curious if there is an online questionnaire to determine which 'intelligence' area a person has strengths in?

Response:

There are many surveys available online that at least purport to assess individual's intelligence strengths. Any of these must be taken with a huge grain of salt, as they are not really assessments but self-report surveys (Your 'strengths' as identified in the survey will be based on your own assessment of yourself, within the very limited confines of a questionnaire.) So, a better way is to do more extensive self-reflection, compiling all the things you do, are good at, in what contexts. THEN analyze all these activities for patterns -- do you bring a "spatial" perspective or approach to your activities; are you most able at spatially oriented tasks and activities, job?

One question to ask is whether identifying strengths will be useful. How will you use the information? Knowing interests and preferences -and analyzing that in terms of the intelligences is a lot more accurate and just as, if not more, useful unless you are assessing for entry into gifted programs or something like that.

MI 'reflections' rather than 'measurement' or 'assessment' are the best way to get a "thick description" of yourself-- additional insights from someone else adds to the richness of the description.

Re: “Speaking at MI World Symposium” Contest Forum [by MovieMagic]

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:55:22 +1500

Speaking at the MI World Symposium::“Speaking at MI World Symposium” Contest Forum
As a MovieMagic EFL teacher in China since 1999, I have been using movie-based role play and project-based learning, within the spirit of MI. Also within this spirit was my recent presentation at the Jan 4--6 International Civic Education Conference at Beijing Normal U.:"Morphing China's English Corners for Wikinomics Generations." (http://citizen-09.nmsu.edu/) My 5-minute presentation will: *emphasize the great opportunity in China for linking MI with EFL (and MFL) and PBL (Project-based Learning) *suggest the tremendous potential for linking Wikinomics dynamics with MI-inspired learning materials, using Web-based peer production of materials for English learners and for Mandarin learners *give video clips from my classes at Shanghai Industry and Commerce Foreign Languages College. Those in my classes are 1st year students, 90% female, coming from Shanghai as well as the poorer provinces, without high scores on the national exam. Particularly important--and effective--for my students is the MI motto: "Nurture the learner, know the learner, trust the learner." The video will demonstrate the movie-based MI dynamics of my classes. BELOW is a general outline of the classes. Learners (Ls) view brief movie segments---usually 5 minutes or less Teacher (T) usually then summarizes what was SEEN and HEARD, in a sequential fashion. Ls then work in pairs, in 2 lines of chairs facing each other: AND (occasionally) *(when volume/subtitles are turned OFF, and T does not summarize) Ls guess the nature of the interaction/emotions AND/OR *tell the story...with one student speaking in Chinese and the other translating simultaneously into English AND/OR *both L pairs tell the story...taking turns AND/OR *L pairs do role plays from the movie sequence AND/OR *L pairs discuss the movie, based upon their homework>>reading movie reviews from www.imdb.com and/or www.metacritic.com and their translations of difficult/interesting words into Chinese Ls circulate systematically around the lines of chairs...moving one or more chairs to their right...then perform ABOVE with new partners. When appropriate, Ls also relate movie-based story/role plays/discussions to distributed class materials relating to topics such as: *Customer Service *Dealing with Difficult People *Problem-solving *Brain-storming *Creativity *Leadership *Success In each class: * Ls listen to Ls' PBL assignments from www.voxopop.com * T mentions positive elements of their assignment, and offers suggestions for improvement * Ls read aloud/discuss one or more movie reviews (with translated difficult/interesting words) done by Ls for homework * circulating L pairs quiz each other on new vocabulary words, from the movies and/or from the movie reviews For Homework: *(As described ABOVE)Ls do different Movie Reviews for the assigned movie *L then read their list of English--Mandarin words into the MovieMagic page at www.voxopop.com, and list these words in the page. (So these materials are suitable for both English as well as Mandarin learning.) (My Blog of several years, from www.eslcafe.com is available at: http://tinyurl.com/ChinaMovieMagic )

Building Blocks Activities [by londicarba]

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:02:12 +1500

Curriculum and Assessment::Building Blocks Activities
I want to share a classroom project that emerged from the interest of three and four year olds. In classrooms equipped with blocks, children spontaneously create ramps, or inclined planes. In Pre-K 202, teachers spent an entire school year supporting children’s interests in ramp investigations; nurturing their logical-mathematical and spatial intelligences. The story you will hear took place in my classroom at Ivy Academy in 2006-07.

When children are allowed long blocks of time and the freedom to choose what they want to do, the relationship between play and scientific investigations becomes obvious. One day, in late fall, I noticed children sending small cars down a ramp they had constructed in the Block Center. Sometimes they would just let the cars go, and sometimes they would give them a push. They discovered that the cars would travel farther off the ramp if they gave them a push. That weekend, I went shopping and bought some marbles. I put them in a small basket in the Block Center. I knew children had discovered the marbles when I heard squeals of joy and saw marbles rolling every which way across the classroom floor. I approached this busy group of inventers and told them that I though they had a great idea – building a ramp for marbles. But, I told them, we can’t have marbles rolling all over the classroom. I invited them to sit down and think together about how they might contain them. I learned so much about each child as I listened to them express their ideas. I watched as they listened to each other. I was in awe as I heard each one of them make suggestions and take suggestions from the others.

The question on the table was not what to build – they would build “sides and a fence” – but rather what materials to use. One thought she could make a fence out of recycled materials from the Art and Construction Center. Another thought they could use our large cardboard blocks. Eventually, they settled on the wooden blocks. Finally, they got busy building sides to “bank” the marbles, and a fence to contain them. Once built, it was time to test their idea for containment. They were now experimenting with cause and effect.

At a Circle Time later in the day, I invited the ramp builders to share their invention with the rest of their classmates. We wandered over to where it had been saved, and they talked about discovering the marbles, and marbles everywhere. At this point, I could see that experimenting with inclined planes could be a long-term, high-interest project, as it seemed to capture the imaginations of all who were listening to the presentation.

The next step involved sitting down with the whole class. I wanted to find out what my children knew about ramps; if anyone had ever seen them in the real world; how they thought ramps assisted human beings in accomplishing goals at work and play. I wanted them to think of their own experiences with inclined planes (sliding down a slide or sledding down a hill), and I wanted them to think of other ramp building materials we might have in our classroom besides blocks.

Based on some of the ideas they had about building materials, I asked our resource teacher if she would be willing to work with children on this project over several days. On the first day, they used paper towel rolls, scissors and tape to construct a pathway 120 cm. long. Once constructed, Melanie introduced several objects of various shapes, sizes, and weights. She led them in an inquiry-based discussion, inviting them to predict which of the objects would move most quickly down the path to the floor, and why. They then tested their ideas, talked about what they observed, and offered explanations.

The most important component of this approach to building knowledge is embodied in the relationship between children and teachers. By asking open-ended, inquiry-based questions, the teacher conveys that learning is not the ability to give rote answers, but a process of thinking and experimenting. After watching children play with the paper towel pathway, a parent offered to bring in her son’s plastic Roll-A-Kit, a series of short tracks that could be connected in a variety of ways. This commercial toy inspired children to think about ramps with curves, overlapping curves, and elevated catchments. When Melanie decided to repeat the ramp building activity in the spring, again using paper towel rolls, tape, scissors, and only marbles this time, children were eager to incorporate some of the design aspects, such as curves, that were inherent in the Roll-A-Kit. This would lead to more experimentation and greater complexity during construction. It is very exciting when children think to do something, and their teachers don’t know how to do it. When this happens, teachers and children become co-learners. In these situations, you can often hear children saying things like “I’ve got a good idea!” and “I know, I know!”

Three year old Mael told Melanie his good idea for constructing a curve. And I have to tell you, it was brilliant. Mael had figured out (in his mind) that “We can cut lines on both sides of a short piece of a half tube, and when we pull it in to a curve, it will have triangles spaces, and then we can cut out triangles of the same size and tape them over the spaces…” This is one of those situations where a child can think of something to do, but can’t actually do it alone. Again, teacher and child as co-learners. Melanie attached the curve, and the next thing that happened surprised us all. The marbles flew off as soon as they hit the curve. They decided they needed to “bank” it (a concept they learned in their earlier explorations in the Block Center), and they needed to support the incline at the curve. They used a chair for this, and then it was Clean Up Time. We created a barrier and a sign to protect this “work in progress” which sent a powerful message – your interests are important to us, and we take your work seriously.

Experimenting with inclined planes gave children in Pre-K 202 an opportunity to learn skills and acquire knowledge across the learning domains. They:

Acquired new vocabulary - Language and Literacy

Sharpened their cooperative learning skills – Personal/Social

Manipulated tools – Small Motor

Used thinking skills to investigate and experiment – Scientific Thinking

The project also triggered combinations of intelligences:

Logical-Mathematical

Linguistic

Spatial

Interpersonal

Experimenting with inclined planes convinced me of the proposition that all children are natural-born investigators. It was very exciting watching children in Pre-k 202 construct their own knowledge base, acquire new vocabulary, and use their thinking skills to ask questions, investigate and create.

Re: Welcome Note from Julie Viens, MI Institute Managing Director [by MII]

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:55:11 +1500

Administration, Announcements::Welcome Note from Julie Viens, MI Institute Managing Director
FEEL FREE TO USE THIS FORUM TO POST YOUR SUGGESTIONS OR REQUESTS FOR THE MI NETWORK!

An entry to the competition [by Deborah.Bilgil]

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 09:50:07 +1500

Speaking at the MI World Symposium::An entry to the competition

Dear Members of the Committee for the MI World Symposium,

If MI is the seed of a new approach to Education for our Time, I would like to draw attention to the potential of ESL, in particular, preschool ESL, for its propagation.

The unique benefits of an early start in language learning, long since advocated by educators, are now enjoying unprecedented acknowledgement among parents, as well as an increasing number of governmental bodies, worldwide. As a pedagogic field in its own right, however, preschool ESL, is as one awaiting cultivation. Perhaps fortunately so. For the terrain it occupies seems just perfect for MI. It was with this view, at any rate, that it was decided to develop an MI-based ESL program at the preschool section of the Jewish School in Istanbul.

The school was at something of a crisis point. Despite English being spoken to and around them, by their ‘native’ and ‘non-native-speaker’ teachers, children after two or three years there were barely putting two words together of their own. Dissatisfied parents were gathering forces, while the school continually sought for more ‘native speakers’ to fortify the ranks. But was it really ‘native speaker’ teachers that were needed? After all, ‘native speakers’ are only rarely ‘native ESL teachers’. On the other hand, a certain, rather helpful in-tune-ness with the experience of the second-language learner might be said to be ‘innate’, so to speak, to ‘non-native speakers’. Indications, further, were not altogether lacking in children’s responses that some conditions and approaches could bring the desired results whatever the nationality of the teacher. Perhaps then, given improvements in the ESL teaching culture, our own local teachers could play a more significant part in the enterprise than had been thought.

A proposal to this effect was accepted by the School Administration. Pre-Sessional workshops took place at the start of the following school year, during which old-world nursery-rhyme and workbook-based kindergarten ‘themes’ were replaced with ESL-learner-centred ‘topics’. Pedagogic activities, incorporating specific ESL targets, were developed with attention to MI balances, and interconnected on a ‘map’ for each topic. ESL teaching guides and materials packs were prepared to match. Briefing sessions, held on the completion of each new map in preparation for its application in the classroom, were occasions for the hands-on exploration of principles of early-learner ESL pedagogy and MI. The year 2008-9 saw a total of 23 topics mapped, and applied in 8 classes of age groups 3-5, by 12 teachers in two schools.

This year is dedicated to evaluation and refinement of all aspects of the program, through a scheme of classroom observations and teacher feedback. An organisational framework is also in place that co-ordinates, parallel with each pedagogic plan, elements such as child- progress monitoring, in-service teacher development, home involvement and photo-documentation for the website bulletin. From this central source, information pertinent to their own roles flows to the each of the stakeholders, with negligible demand on teacher time and energy.

The program has already brought about tangible linguistic and pedagogic coherence. Three and four- year-olds are showing linguistic competences and learning behaviours we used to be excited to see in our five-year-olds. This trend, together with accumulating positive feedback from parents, is not without impact on teacher motivation and performance.

It would give me great pleasure, therefore, to present an outline of this enterprise, its developmental apparatus and materials, along with brief but representative audio, visual and video illustrations from the classroom. My aim is to realise the implications of this experience, by encouraging preschool outfits of all descriptions and locations worldwide to participate in the cultivation of MI-based ESL. The challenges of our era are inviting us, with an ever stronger appeal, to nurture, each in the young generations our own cultures, the global perspectives, linguistic skills and creative spirit needed to come out and meet them.

Yours sincerely,

Deborah Bilgil.

Open Position from the Ivy Group [by ivygroup]

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 06:11:55 +1500

Jobs::Open Position from the Ivy Group
English Lead Teacher

Location: Beijing, China

Position Type: Full Time

This position is responsible and accountable for activities and outcomes of their classroom. The incumbent will coordinate classroom personnel in the context of classroom activities. Preferred qualifications include:

1. Education, Training and Experience

    * ECE certificate & license required

    * Minimum 1 year experience

    * Special Needs training & certificate an asset

    * Understanding of Multiple Intelligences theory

2. Job Skills and Abilities

    * Strong knowledge and awareness of age-appropriate programming and developmental needs of children

    * Excellent teaching skills

    * Strong leadership and communication skills

    * Experience working with a variety of cultures and family dynamics

    * Bilingualism an asset (English and Mandarin)

    * Responsible, reliable, well-organized, flexible, team player

    * Considerable initiative and creativity required to provide an exciting, dynamic and positive educational experience for children

To apply, please email your resume and cover letter to recruiting@ivygroup.cn

Welcome Note for Curriculum and Assessment Forum [by londicarba]

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:05:41 +1500

Curriculum and Assessment::Welcome Note for Curriculum and Assessment Forum
Note from Londi Carbajal to Users of MI:

To Users of the MI Network:

As Chief of Education for Ivy Group, I am pleased to have been asked to chat with users of the MI Network regarding curriculum and assessment. For the past year and a half, I’ve been busy defining curriculum and developing assessment strategies for teachers in our multiple intelligences kindergartens. Given the fact that Multiple Intelligences theory (MI) is neither a specific educational method nor approach, it has been both challenging and rewarding to create tools for teachers that are “in the spirit” of MI.

I made a decision early on, that the best curriculum in our MI schools would incorporate Multiple Intelligences theory, developmentally appropriate practice and play. In other words, curriculum is more than a collection of enjoyable activities. Rather, it is a complex idea containing multiple components.

Our curriculum development starts with a demonstrated respect for evidence; evidence that includes empirical research such as that done by Piaget, Erikson, Smilansky, Gardner and Vygotsky. It is goal oriented and incorporates concepts and skills that foster children’s learning and development along a continuum. It provides cognitive challenges that lead to positive outcomes for all children.

Our curriculum is comprehensive, encompassing critical areas of development (personal and social, language and literacy, mathematical thinking, scientific thinking, social studies, the arts, and physical development and health. It also includes special attention to learning dispositions – inventive, reflective, inquisitive, and resourceful.

Our teachers facilitate children’s play and foster firsthand learning through social activity and important conversations with friends. Learning is also facilitated as children move among a variety of Learning Centers, decide what type of products they want to create or what kinds of problems they want to solve, and engage in important conversations with teachers.

Lastly, our teachers assess children’s learning through ethical, appropriate, reliable, and on-going observation of children at work and play.