Hi,



Have you tried using MI to enhance French-learning?

A colleague of mine in Poland is asking that same question, except with children whose mother-tongue is Polish.  I'll see if she can join us here and give us some insights!



From a broader point of you, and it's likely you've thought about it  in this way, MI has been used in second language learning to expand the entry points through which students learn the language - sometimes as simply as learning the "jargon" of a student interest, for example focusing on learning about music by studying music in French, french music. 



I believe MI also helps us think about using language authentically and meaningfully when we are teaching it. Also, thinking about how the different intelligences come into play in communication (not just 'talking') in the real world -- intra and interpersonal, even logical math... This helps teachers come up with ways of student experiencing of language in their learning settings, that emphasizes the use of their strong intelligences important to making meaningful language.  For example, all students, but with an eye toward students who are strong interpersonally, would participate in activities to learn French that emphasize interpersonal intelligence; similarly with bodily kinesthetic.  



I'll stop there and look forward to your thoughts and additions to this discussion.



Best, Julie

Hi, Roxana,



As a matter of fact, I co-led a 5 year study called 'Adult Multiple Intelligences" Project.  My colleague Silja Kallenbach and I worked with several teachers and their students in adult education: basic education, GED/h.s. diploma, and English as a Second Language contexts.  There were some resources that resulted, including the AMI Sourcebook, published by Teachers College Press. 



We found that it was sometimes a hard sell, this MI business, partly because being in the adult education system, they felt things were getting 'dumbed down' for them.  This in part was due to some too literal translations of the use of MI with younger students -the playdoh and such.  We found incredible power in using MI as a self-reflection tool for these adults to identify their strengths, and possible entry points to their preparing for the equivalency test or getting their adult h.s. diploma, or learning English.  Our ESL teachers primarily jazzed up their efforts by thinking 'outside the box' in coming up with curriculum and activities for their English learners.



Once they recognized what this 'different way of doing things' was all about, they became its biggest boosters.  Many of these folks said, " I wished they were using this when I was in school" and "How can I use this to help my kids with school".    



Cheers, Julie

Hi Neha, By "strength" I'm assuming you are referring to class size? As classes get bigger, it does get more difficult to use MI in certain ways. In such classrooms we see more applications around approaching what you usually do differently, versus individualizing for each child. I have seen teachers identify certain children they have difficulty reaching or who have particular challenges -- and individualize for that/those kid(s).

I hope that this Network will be a repository for many terrific ideas to use MI in many different contexts, including large classrooms.

Do you have an event of some sort, or staff development, planned to address this issue of getting your colleagues into MI mode?

Julie

Welcome to the Multiple Intelligences Institute Network!



It is a great occasion for me to welcome you to the MI Institute's Multiple Intelligences Network, an international  forum for sharing, discussion, and collaboration related to the understanding and application of multiple intelligences theory.

Since my time as an MI researcher and developer with Dr. Gardner at Project Zero (1988-2004), an MI network has been envisioned and frequently requested by educators and other interested parties. Indeed many of you  have spoken to me personally about how you envision such a network and the value it would  have  for you .  And so, here we are!  It has been a long time coming, and I'm thrilled to be a part of the creation and evolution of the MI Network and to see it come to fruition under the auspices of the MI Institute.



I’m equally delighted that Dr. Gardner himself will contribute his thoughts on occasion in our MI Network  forum.  As MII's senior advisor, he already has been tremendously supportive in his role as advisor and reviewer, ensuring that our efforts and work continue to reflect and advance  the true spirit and implications of MI theory.  We thank him for his continuing (and expanding!) role with the MI Institute. (As you may have guessed, he is a rather busy guy!)



The MI Network encompasses : a straightforward user-friendly online environment; topics identified by our educator friends and other MI enthusiasts as important to the "MI conversation"; and a forum to share and discuss, to ask those questions and posit the answers to which Dr. Gardner refers in his Welcome Note.  In addition to the educational implications of MI that Dr. Gardner notes  -individualization of education and approaching key topics in diverse ways- we plan discussion forums around several  MI related  topics.  Moreover, we are positioned and ready to grow the Network in the ways and directions that MI Network members wish to take it.  But first, the MI Network requires one additional key ingredient to make our network a success -- that's YOU.  The oft-repeated desire for such a community of MI supporters and practitioners is what has driven and sustained our efforts to build this network.  Now, we look to you to join us online, to ask those questions, share solutions, toward  advancing our MI community's understanding  of the theory and to support our respective (and mutual) MI-powered  efforts.  We can all gain a tremendous amount through each individual  voice and in chorus.



I look forward to our online interactions and to "growing" the MI Network together!



Email me at Julie.viens@miinstitute.info if you have a request, a question, or other thought about OUR MI Network.



Warmly,



Julie Viens, Managing Director

Multiple Intelligences Institute