Chapter 4: What Really Matters in Planning for Student Success?

Chapter 4 was all about differentiated instruction and the classrooms they were in. The authors talked about the way many teachers deal with struggling students and advanced students. They do this by giving the advanced kids more work, and the struggling students less work. I agree with UbD in the fact that this does nothing to help get the struggling student caught up, or help the advanced students go above and beyond. I plan on never doing this in my classroom. The chapter gives many examples of ways to better accommodate a class full of different levels of learners. I feel the way discussed above is just an easy way out, a way to fill time and get the lesson completed.

Chapter 4: Teaching Students about MI Theory

This chapter gave me the impression that the Multiple Intelligence model is more than just a way for categorizing students for a teachers convince. Chapter 4 made it quite clear that having your students understand the model helped them feel more confident about their abilities, if they’ve been explained it in a positive way. Helping them understand that they are smart in more than one way is a confidence booster that most children need, and teaching them about this method is a great way to do it in a way that the students believe is scientific- proven. I hope that I get to teach this model to my students, even if I can’t spend much time on it. I feel like it would be a great introductory exercise on the first few days of school to get to know them, the way they think, and to help them get comfortable in a new class.

Chapter 3:Describing Intelligences in Students

When this chapter was discussing how to tell what a students most developed intelligence was it said “…one good way to identify a students most highly developed intelligences is to observe how they misbehave in class.” Now this I found quite interesting. As it gave examples of each kind of intelligence strength it began to make sense. I am going to use this in my class because it is a true measure of the student. It isn’t a test of any kind, and no student would know that they’re misbehaving is giving me information about them, so they would have no reason to alter the behavior. It would be very accurate.

Chapter 3: What Really Matters in Learning (Content)

This chapter addressed something that I had been curious about since day two of practicum, planning backward. I learned that it is a three step process that consists of creating the units goals and set standards. After creating the goals, backward planning has you decide how you are going to assess whether each student reaches these goals. The last step is then to make the lessons. I think this is a great way to make units because it doesn’t allow you as a teacher to form a unit around a single activity. I plan on attempting this numerous times in my classroom.

Chapter 2: MI Theory and Personal Development

In chapter two, “MI Theory and Personal Development,” something that I have already read in the other practicum books was brought up again. On page twenty-one Armstrong talks about using your colleagues. When one of our own “intelligences” is lacking it is acceptable to go to other teachers who are more developed in those areas to help you create lessons or give input or ideas into your curriculum. Another thing that I plan on utilizing in my teaching is using my student to help me where my intelligences are underdeveloped. For me drawing is lacking, so I could use a student to make a example project to show the class early, or have another student spell something out for me when a word slips my mind. I enjoy the idea of treating students as equals.

Chapter 1: The Foundations of MI Theory

Chapter one began by going through the 8 “intelligences” that we had previously discussed in class, but as the chapter went on I began to understand more of how each works together. Starting on page fifteen Thomas Armstrong begins to explain the “Key Points in MI Theory. The very first point was “Each person possesses all eight intelligences”. This made me think about how I had always labeled kids. Prior to reading this I had always tried to pinpoint what I believed to be a child’s strong point. After reading this I believe that I’ll be a more understanding teacher by knowing that each of my students has some of every intelligence, but others are more prominent. This will help me challenge and understand them in the long run.

Chapter 2: What Really Matters in Teaching? (The Students)

Chapter two titled “What Really Matters in Teaching? (The Students)” really irked me. Right from the beginning I disagreed with what it was telling me. In the very first paragraph it says “To be an expert teacher is to continually seek a deeper understand of the essence of a subject, to increasingly grasp its wisdom.” I am a firm believer that what makes an expert teacher is the ability to connect to your students. This, to me, does not mean that you have to be the most knowledgeable person in your field, but someone who can make the kids relate and understand what you are teaching. Now this chapter touches on teacher-student relationships on page 18, but I don’t feel like a paragraph shows how important that portion of teaching is.

Chapter 1: UbD and DI: An Essential Partnership

In chapter one titled “UbD and DI: An Essential Partnership” I learned about more than just Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction. The biggest thing that I learned was in the scenario for Axiom 4. In this scenario it discusses how the teacher, Mr. Axelt, preassesses his students before the unit to be able to pinpoint where each student was with their learning, this was not a new idea for me. However, farther along the scenario states that as the unit continues he uses “formative or ongoing assessments to chart the progress.” It then gives an example on how to do such a thing. I really liked this idea because it is a way to see where each student is without having to have a graded quiz or test, which is fairer for the students who are struggling.