Abstract & Synthesis:Chapter 9 UbD/DI

The goal of chapter nine is to "offer a sample of how instructional planning might look for a teacher who uses backward design..." (page 141). This chapter is basically a review to what UbD DI has taught us to this point. Examples of how to design a lesson using the backward design model in this chapter are useful as they provide us with an outline to go by when creating a lesson plan of our own. Chapter nine stresses the importance of differentiating lessons to benefit the students. Understanding by design is a sophisticated planning process that that requires in depth knowledge, attention to students thinking, and the ability to think like an assessor. Differentiated Instruction demands attention to the strengths and requirements of learners and the ability to be a flexible teacher. The result of integrating both models in the classroom will yield a more engaged and effective classroom.

It was important and useful for the book to include an example of what it has been trying to teach us throughout the reading. Having the visual of a backward design template in front of us is a good guide. It touched on various methods of assessment that should be integrated into the classroom, and how the flexibility on the part of the instructor is most crucial. The aspect of differentiation is key to the chapter, because with differentiation, the students will be more engaged, and a higher level of mastery achieved.

Chapter 14: FIAE

Armstrong expresses the need for responsive report card formats. As in my high school, a lot of report cards just have the letter grade, and then generic responses from the teacher who used a number key to comment on my performance in the classroom, usually summed up in a sentence. The grades on my report card were never justified or explained. Responsive report cards will help parents understand why their child got the grade that they did. My mentor teacher uses powerschool to submit students grades so that they can see them and show their parents. Beside the grade for each assignment, she write comments about if they didn't try, or it was late, or any other reason why they got the grade they did. It lets the parents know how the student is doing academically as well as any problems with understanding or missing work.

Chapter 13: FIAE

Armstrong gives many examples of ways to format a grade book. Some different ways are to: Group assignments by category (ex. Analysis, Synthesis, Prediction), which measure students level of performance based on skills that they have acquired. Another way is longitudinally or by date, a topic based grade-book, which I liked because it allows the teacher to see which topic the students struggled with and might need to work some more on, I had never thought too much into different formats of grading, all I have been exposed to are the generic ones that have the assignment and the grade out of how many points. As a teacher I would like to get creative with my gradebook, and most likely use the topic based format.

Chapter 12: FIAE

This chapter is all about different types of grading scales. Grading scales are either used in a 4 point system or a 100 point system. This causes teachers to justify their grades mathematically. What the math comes out to is the fair grade for the student. However, this does not take mastery into account, and more justification for student's grade than just mathematical reasoning is called for. Armstrong suggests using rubrics for assignments, which help to justify a grade clearly to students, but is also mathematically correct and uses a point system. Armstrong offered many different point systems in the chapter, to stress that interpretation of grades is not always universal. I did not like the 100 point grading system that went 94-100 and so on. There should be one universal scale for schools so that there is no mathematical differences between schools which could result in a lower grade for transferring.

Chapter 11: FIAE

Armstrong discusses how to grade fairly in chapter 11. The chapter begins with a discussion on whether or not it is fair to give zero's. Armstrong claims that giving a student a zero for work that was not handed in is not fair, and that it distorts their final grade. If a child is given a zero, their average will lower dramatically, even if they had all A's before. This does not reveal the students true mastery of the subject. The suggestion is to give the child a 60 instead of a zero so that their average drops, but not past the point where it is unfair. While Armstrong does have some good points here, I don't know if i agree with giving a student an undeserved grade. If a student does not complete the work they should not get the same grade as a student who did, and who may have tried but still did not do well, and got a 60. That student will start to wonder why they pass things in if they can get the same grade without doing the work. Armstrong also discusses what to do with late work. A lot of teachers take off a whole letter grade for each day that the assignment is late. Armstrong disagrees with this, and says that it will eventually deter the student from completing the work. Instead, points off every day should be taken, unless the student habitually turns in late

Chapter 10

Wormeli advises that teachers allow students to re-do work and assignments for full credit. This allows students to build mastery on the content and skills, if they did not understand it the first time around. Wormeli stresses that teachers need to have compassion for the student and their circumstances, and that as adults in life we get extra times or re-do's as well. However, the offer to complete re-do's on assignments should not be granted if students don't try the first time or wait till the last minute and come out with a product that does not show their full capability. When a student does this with the mindset that they can blow it off because they can always re-do it when they feel like it, then a re-do should not be an option. If students or a particular student show effort but constantly need to utilize the opportunity for re-dos, it can be an indicator to the teacher that the method they are using needs to be modified. I fully believe that students should have the ability to re-do an assignment. First, because students can have bad days or bad weeks that affect the quality of their work, or they may not have learned the content or built the skills at the same rate as other students.

Chapter 9: FIAE

Wormeli lists ten different things to avoid when differentiating assessment and grading. Mainly these restate past chapters that discussed flaws and ways of grading that should be avoided, such as grading nonacademic factors like attendance. It even jumps ahead by advising teachers to stay away from giving zero's, as is the basis of chapter 10. One thing to avoid that I found interesting, and really does make perfect sense, is avoiding allowing students to do extra credit. Often the extra credit is busy work and does not use the same skills that were meant to be built in the original assignment. At first it seemed a little cruel, but it does make sense. The teacher can allow an alternative and allow students to receive a better grades by allowing re-do's on assignments.

Chapter 8: FIAE

Chapter eight discusses whether teachers should incorporate behavior, attendance, and effort into the students final grade. Overall, Wormeli was against using any of them as part of assessing a student. The argument was that often times these serve to discourage students when they are penalized, and often there are factors or reasons behind why they have not been in class, have behavioral problems, or are missing assignments. I like how Wormeli states that often students missing assignments aren't because they just decided not to do it, but teachers treat them as if that is the case. There have been past experiences in school were I had extenuating circumstances and could not complete an assignment on time, but teachers punished me as if I just decided I did not care or just blew it off. In the case of some teachers, it feels as though they do not treat students as human beings who have a life outside of school with other priorities and problems. Taking time to understand students instead of reducing there final grade for not being in class is important as a teacher.

Chapter 7: FIAE

In this chapter, Wormeli discusses how to give grades meaning. It is argued that letter and number grades in many systems do not accurately describe mastery, and that too much emphasis is put on grades. There were two major points in this chapter that I found particularly interesting. The first in the results of a test that Wormeli quoted, that was taken of A and B students at an impoverished school. It turns out that they tested the same as C and D students at an affluent school. These schools are help to the same state learning standards so why is this? Wormeli claims that it could be because the teachers of the impoverished school have lower expectations. This is unacceptable, it discriminates upon students based on their socioeconomic status. This is no basis for lowering the level of education that is available to students. Another problem described by Wormeli is the idea of a "passing grade". If a student gets by with a D, the lowest grade they need to move on the the next level, then the student does not have mastery of the content. That is the flaw with the system, when we allow students who have not built the skills set forth in the course, to leave without meeting the standards.

Chapter 12: MI

Chapter 12 discussed the ever popular method of students memorizing knowledge so that they can get a good grade on a test, and then forget it after because they don't think they will ever need that information again. As a teacher, MI states that we are responsible for helping students retain what they learn. The chapter explains that memory is intelligent specific. I believe this is true because some students memorize knowledge by putting it to a beat or making rhymes, others like myself benefit by relating the content to real life. If you can find the strengths of your students, than you have to tools to help them retain the knowledge that is being fed to them. Another method of helping students retain knowledge that works with MI is getting students to think and allowing them to come to a conclusion themselves. I can recall many experiences were a teacher made me think and find the answer myself, a method that I think worked very well for me and gave me greater appreciation for the material. The content or ideas that I understood on my own I never forgot, and my self-esteem was boosted along with my ability to think.

Chapter 11: MI

Multiple Intelligence's are found in every human being, including those with special needs. While they may experience difficulty in many areas, they also have a strength that can be related to a multiple intelligence. The example given by Armstrong in chapter 11 is that autistic kids, while having difficulty in interpersonal intelligence, are amazing interpersonal learners and may have an amazing aptitude for music, art, or mathematics. This is why as a teacher, it is important to find the strengths within all of your students. MI insists that this needs to be done at the instructional level and also at the assessment level. Those students will be motivated to learn and gain a higher self esteem. I read that in Europe, an autistic child walks around looking at buildings or famous pieces of art, and with only walking by them, can recreate them in amazing detail and ability. Helping students find what they are good at, will help them succeed in your classroom and later in life.

Chapter 8: MI

Chapter eight discuses many ways to manage your classroom. There are many little things a teacher can do that are meant to get the classes attention at the beginning of each lesson. This chapter gives some great examples of how to do this effectively, and how to use methods that involve one or more multiple intelligences. These are meant to be used during transitions that occur before instruction or when the class gets in to small groups, and before activities. Things such as turning the lights off when students get too loud or having some your own sort of thing to do to quiet a class down is helpful. In my experience it takes much more than words to get the full attention of a group of students.

Chapter 8: UbD/DI

This chapter discusses the problem of grading for the rule book, and the idea of assigning a meaningless letter or number to a student at the end of the year to put on a report card and show to their parents. Often times too much emphasis is placed on making a letter or number grade, and not enough on creating learning and understanding. A student can memorize information just to get a good grade, without really absorbing the material. This method of grading does not really motivate student to understand or achieve mastery in the content. The chapter asks teachers to give grades based on clear goals and performance standards. This way the student needs to understand the content and goals, and the grade becomes almost explained instead of just being assigned. This way, a teacher can use grades to motivate students to understand the content, instead of discouraging them so that all that is focused on is a meaningless letter or number.

Chapter 14:MI

This chapter focuses on the potential ninth intelligence, Existential. The first part of the chapter covers how the intelligence mostly fits the criteria the other intelligences fit into, but it seems to be hard to fully chart aspects of the intelligence or find a way to evaluate students work as existential work. However, the book reminds us that it's important to keep this intelligence in mind, despite certain difficulties. The book gives suggestions on how teachers can incorporate existential intelligence in the classroom.

Chapter 13:MI

Another way to teach to different intelligences is exhibited by Armstrong in this chapter. The author suggests using various software, and gives examples of a few of the many that exist that target specific learning intelligences. Another suggestion in this chapter is to give career counseling to students. I like this idea because explaining the different jobs allows kids to relate to their strongest intelligence and a possible future career they would be good at and can get excited about. This process would help students with their self-knowledge, especially at the adolescent stage, where the students are still trying to figure themselves out. Another message in this chapter is that culture and the environment around a student has an effect on intelligence. This is because different cultures nourish certain intelligences from a young age. I have never personally experienced how culture affects my intelligence, but it is something to keep in mind when I start teaching.

Chapter 7: MI

Armstrong goes deeper into his explanations of the eight multiple intelligences, and discusses how a teacher could use each one in different ways in the classroom. The chapter explains that just speaking does not necessarily work for a linguistic learner, because it matters how you say the words and the vocabulary that is used, because both have an effect on the meaning of what you say. The author offered the idea of creating different activity sections of the classroom that each target a different intelligence. This idea seemed a little elementary for a high school or middle school. Personally, I had this kind of set up kindergarten and first grade, and I feel as though that image would be conjured up by every high school student who walks into their classroom and sees this set up. The idea is interesting, but I find it hard to believe that it would work at a secondary level.

chapter 9: UbD DI

This chapter discusses the backward design model, and how it works with differentiation. Tomlinson outlined an extensive example of a lesson outline that uses the backward design model. What was helpful was when the authors took lessons from the example and adjusted the lessons to differentiate the classroom according to different students needs. Mostly, from this chapter I was able to grasp a better understanding of how a unit planned with the backward design models ends up looking like, and how to adjust it to the needs of other students. As a result I better understand how a learning environment should look in an Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction classroom. Looking back I can remember teachers who outlined essential questions and ideas in the beginning with the introduction to the unit. However, if the class was having trouble understanding something, they would adjust their method or reinforce the idea in a different way.

Chapter 5: MI

Chapter five outlined different tools and ideas for teaching to multiple intelligences. I took note that some of these ideas fit more easily into a classroom, in that they were basic ways of teaching, while others required more creativity. This made me wonder if my past teachers had all of this knowledge about multiple intelligences. I can't help but think that if my teachers had known and been more creative about incorporating different methods into their teaching that I would have been able to grasp some of the lessons I did not understand and never learned. The chapter begins by stating that children learn through experiences. In terms of myself as a learner, I find this to be true. In classes where I found meaning and was allowed to experience through projects or field trips I had more success. In other classes were teachers did not make an effort to create an experience for me I had difficulty. I aspire to be the teacher who creates experience and meaning for students.

Chapter 6: MI

This chapter stressed that methods that are successful with one group or class may not always be successful with another. It gave examples of lessons that are targeted to each specific intelligences. As a teacher if I take any one of the examples, that means that it will only reach a select group of students, while leaving others unengaged. The idea is to combine all the intelligences in one lesson, so all students stay engaged and learn most effectively. What I think would be useful would be examples of combining intelligences in the lesson ideas. I realize that reaching every single student in one lesson would be very hard to do. I would aim to be as creative as possible to reach out to as many intelligences in one lesson as I can, if that is possible. Rather than making each lesson target different students. Because of this, I feel strongly that as a teacher my job is to be as creative as possible to cater to as many of the intelligences as possible in each lesson so that success can be reached by each individual student.

Ubd Di Chapter 7

Chapter seven is helpful in discussing how to cover the content with limited time usually given in the classroom. I like the method outlined in this chapter about using essential questions. Throughout the design of the unit we are creating in class, I have learned that the development of creative essential questions is an important part of gearing students minds to learning the appropriate information. I will use essential questions in my classroom as part of the introduction to the unit. Essential questions give meaning to each lesson because it gives the students the answer to where their learning will end up, and also gives teachers a a place to refer back to, in order to keep each lesson on track and stick to the big idea. The essential question in this idea is constantly repeated to frame the lessons, so students can relate one lesson the the others in the unit. I really took to the idea of using a series of lessons with in one unit.

Ubd Di Chapter 6

Chapter 6 discussed how to design a rich, challenging, and learning based curriculum. It gave the reader the key to designing a good curriculum based on the Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction theory. The key is focusing on important ideas, giving the lessons meaning, making the students think, allowing students to find knowledge for themselves, and eliminating the mystery of where the lesson is going. I will try and use this information when I create lesson plans myself. The chapter also discussed several questions that frequently arise from teachers. The answer the book gives for every question is that it takes experience to understand students and find patterns in what works and what doesn't. This impacts me because now I understand that teaching will be very difficult at first, and that once I am a working teacher my learning process is not over, I will always be learning about not only my subject, but about the students and patterns in human beings.

Abstract & Synthesis

Teaching MI theory is simple because all eight intelligences are linked to things that all children can relate to: words, numbers, pictures, the body, music people, the self, and nature. When describing MI theory, it is best to use simple terms when discussing the eight intelligences so the students can better understand the meaning of each one. Terms such as word smart to define linguistic intelligence, number smart to define logical-mathematical intelligence, picture smart to define spatial intelligence, and so on and so forth. Asking simple questions pertaining to each intelligence helps to build inclusion and makes every student feel intelligent themselves. Simple questions such as "How many of you can do math?" and "How many of you can draw?" are questions that a teacher can pose. Doing activities to introduce the model in real life instances so the students can experience all eight intelligences is a good way to introduce how the intelligences work. For example: having a career day in which people from different professions such as having an editor come in to discuss how he uses "word smart" activities in his job, or a tax accountant to see how he uses his "math smarts" in his area of work is something that could be done. Or going on a field trip and taking students to places in the community where each of the eight intelligences are practiced. The idea is to continue these activities throughout the year to give the students plenty of exposure to familiarize them with MI theory.
Most everyone of my classmates agree that teaching MI theory to students is important as it introduces them to different ways of learning. Through this, students can find the ways they learn best and incorporate it when in school and out in the "real world". It is important to get the students involved in activities that give them experience with each of the eight intelligences so they can get a feel for how they can be used. Keeping MI theory relevant to what goes on in the class helps familiarize the students with the model and keeps them focused on their strengths in learning.

Chapter 6: Creating Good Test Questions

Tests should not be a list of tiring questions that may or may not judge a students comprehension. They should test a students mastery, and should keep the student engaged and give them freedom to answer questions with their own knowledge. It is a good idea to mix traditional and non traditional questions and writing essays. Mixing up questions with forced choice questions (questions that require students to choose from assessments from the teacher) and constructed response questions (questions that require the student to generate information themselves) are ways to effectively set up an assessment. "By using a variety of questions and prompts, we get a better picture of students' mastery"(FIAE page 75). Providing "T" and "F" rather than true or false make grading easier for the teacher because they get rid of interpretations of messy letters or words. Keeping matching questions on the same page and having fill in the blanks toward the end of the sentence are both things that help with comprehension issues. When giving a prompt, the teacher needs to create questions that do not give room to roam. Providing specific instructions on how a question should be answered keeps the responses concise and on target. A fun way to construct an exam is to include students name in questions. They will have more fun answering the questions and will look forward to seeing their name appear in print on the exam. The fashion in which a teacher gives feedback on an exam is equally important. Students spend a lot of time studying and taking the test, it is the teachers job to grade them promptly and provide feedback so the student can learn from mistakes before further learning is implemented.

Chapter 5: Tiering Assessments

The whole point of tiering is to adjust assignments and testing based on individual students' readiness, interest and way of learning best. This is not to make assessing easier for some, and harder for others, but to actually create the best way of learning for the individual. It is important to not tier every aspect of every lesson. "It's often okay for students to do what everyone else is doing..."(FIAE page 57). It is the teacher's job to change how they tier and to adjust the complexity of assignments more subtly each day. A learning contract is one method of tiering assessments. They give each student the ability to work at their own level in each lesson at their highest level of performance. They help the teacher assess progress and keep the student dedicated to their work. Learning menus can be used to give your student a choice of assignments to complete from a list of options. "Through tiering, we teach more effectively"(FIAE page 73). The object is to push students. They will be comfortable being pushed and will succeed as long as the bar is not set too high.

Chapter 4: Three Important Types of Assessment

When assessing students learning, there are three very helpful methods that FIAE recommends. First, portfolios. "Portfolios are an excellent way to determine accurate grades for students in differentiated classes"(FIAE page 43). This is helpful for teachers, because they do not need to make any guesses as to how the student is mastering a subject. Many student samples of work give a teacher a broad range of work and gives the teacher a better idea of how learning is progressing. Portfolios are helpful to students because they help to set goals for the next thing a teacher will grade. It can be a good reflection period for both the teacher and the student. Rubrics are another popular tool used by teachers. They help focus learning and give a clear report of student comprehension. Student self assessment "is an important aspect of successful differentiation"(FIAE page 51). It give invaluable results and helps to set goals for both teacher and student. A recommendation is to make the first and last assessment of a unit the same. That will really give the teacher an understanding of how the students have grown.

Chapter 3: Principles of Successful Assessment in the Differentiated Classroom

Assessment is a very important aspect in a differentiated classroom. It guides practice. Giving students information up front that they will need to know at the end of a unit is a positive thing a teacher can do because it gives students an idea of what is to come, and maybe what they can do to prepare. Students are likely to be more involved and actually do the work if they have a clear idea of what the finished product will look like. A stratedy to teach understanding can be done by offering essential questions; larger questions that are interesting to ponder and have more than one answer. I feel that students like to have discussions more than they would like to be lectured to. A teacher that assesses their own work benefits them because they can alter lessons as they go along. A teacher should be able to have a curriculum that can be changed, as through assessing students one will know what things need to be fixed.

Chapter 2: Mastery

The concept of teaching mastery to students was the main focus of chapter two. "Mastery is more than knowing information, of course, but it can even go beyond manipulating and applying that information successfully in other situations"(FIAE page 11). Mastery of something can be difficult to accomplish, but methods for teaching are improving to give students the knowledge needed to complete tasks. If a student can be proficient with each aspect discussed in a subject, mastery has been achieved. I feel that having every student being able to demonstrate a thorough understanding of a subject is a definite struggle, but that's what keeps teachers teaching. Things such as tests, quizzes models, demonstrations, videos, cds, and rubrics, are all things that puts students on the right track to achieving mastery of a subject. To have students be able to tell you how they got to the point where they have mastered something is key to understanding if they have really reached that level.

Chapter 1: The Differentiated Instrution Mind-set

I like how this book started with discussing what differentiated instruction is. In our UbD book, it defines the term but I feel that this book explains what it is a lot easier. The book describes differentiated instruction as "doing what's fair for students"(FIAE page 3). It is giving students all the tools necessary for them to succeed. What is important to remember is that it is not individual instruction. It is a highly developed method of teaching and research shows that teachers that use the method have students who succeed at higher levels. Using differentiated instruction will help students use the method in future classes, regardless of whether they're differentiated or not, because they have acquired the tools necessary to handle whatever comes their way.

Chapter 10: MI

Chapter 10 discussed ways to asses students with multiple intelligences. Research has shows in recent years that authentic methods of testing has proven to be a better way to gauge student's understanding as opposed to multiple choice and tests of the like. The best way arguably to assess a student is by observation. " Observing students solving problems or fashioning products in real-life contexts provide the best picture of student competencies in the range of subjects taught in school" (MI page 89). Documentation comes next as important components of assessing a students problem solving methods. There a several projects that have been put into place to create models of assessment that work with the philosophy of MI theory. Among them are Project Spectrum which consists of "rich and engaging activities forming an integral part of the spectrum curriculum"(MI page 92), and Key Learning Community in which an educator uses videotape in their assessment. As students work with MI projects documenting their learning can be done effectively by using MI portfolios. MI theory suggests expanding to include materials from each of the eight intelligences. The following quote sums up MI theory assessment very well: "Ultimately, MI theory provides an assessment framework within which students can have their rich and complex lives acknowledged, celebrated, and nurtured" (MI page 101).

Chapter 5: UbD DI

Chapter 5 discussed how learning can be measured with assessment. Assessing students tells the teacher what the student learned, how they can adjust their curriculum to be effective to students of multiple learning styles, among other things. They are equally important in determining things for teachers as they are for students. There are three key principles that should guide classroom assessment: photo albums versus snapshots, match the measures with goals, and form follows function. An important part of the chapter I believed was in principle 1: consider photo albums versus snapshots. It talked a lot about how one test does not say a lot about what was really learned. “In other words, reliable assessment demands multiple sources of evidence” (UbD page 60). The article went on to say that giving a single test is less likely to provide a full picture of what a student learned as opposed to diverse sources of evidence is. It is okay to give a standardized test because of what the results do show, the real problem being when using the results of one test to make “high-stakes decisions”. Effective assessments do not only measure students but help them in becoming evaluators of their own learning.

Chapter 4 MI

Research shows that “children benefit from instructional approaches that help them reflect on their own learn processes.” When shown properly, students can discover proper techniques for problem solving. In order to help students discover which of the multiple intelligences they find their strongest, teaching the MI model in all eight intelligences is how a teacher should explain the model. There are many different way children of different intelligences can find which is their strongest. Taking field trips, reading biographies, experiential activities are just a few examples. Having students learn in each of the eight intelligences is a strategic way to help them discover which one works for them.

Chapter 3 MI

Finding the strongest intelligence a student has is very important for a teacher. The best way to asses the students strongest intelligences are simply by observation. Watching how they act towards others, how they spend their free time in school, and even how they misbehave are ways to find the intelligence. Discussing with other teachers what the students strengths and weaknesses are in other classes is a beneficial way a teacher can find out as well. Introducing multiple intelligences to students would be a great way to find out from the student themselves the best way they know how to learn. After all, they know how they learn best.

Chapter 4 UbD DI

The beginning of chapter 4 discusses teaching for understanding which means “to provide the sort of intellectual diet that yields thoughtful, capable, confident learners-and citizens.” The idea behind this is that we are not just teachers of academic students, we are teachers of human beings. There are nine skills that define the type of teacher that helps all learners, the thought being that the more professional a teacher is in all of the areas, the more successful students are likely to be as learners. I liked the quote, “It is not helpful to struggling students to do less of what they do not grasp. Nor is it helpful to advanced students to do more of what they already understood before they began the task.” I feel that is not always the belief for some teachers. Making sure the student understands what is being taught is the key to this chapter. A teacher needs to be clear about understandings of a unit in order for the student to learn. The chapter ended with discussing how a teacher can expand their teaching strategies. When a teacher uses different teaching strategies, tasks become more engaging.

Chapter 3 UbD DI

Chapter 3 of Ubd discussed what content is necessary to teach to influence to most learning. Legistations have passed at an attempt to solve content overload and to focus teaching and learning. However, it seems that these standards are just adding more to what a teacher needs to cover. The chapter also discusses the backward learning model which also focuses learning. “The deliberate use of the backward design for planning courses, units, and individual lessons results in more clearly defined goals, more appropriate assessments, and more purposeful teaching.” The thought behind this model is that with the results in mind, more appropriate activities can be created.

Chapter 2: MI

Chapter 2 began with an inventory on figuring out which intelligence the reader is dominant. There are many tests that show individuals intelligences which prove how difficult it is to accurately determine someone’s intelligences. There are ways to become stronger in other intelligence which is important for teachers to learn to do. It is important because every student is different and has different needs and ways to be effectively taught. Teachers can do things such as calling on a colleague’s expertise, or asking a student who may be more efficient in certain intelligences. Also using technology is a beneficial way to use tools to tap into other intelligences. Genetics, personal life experiences, and cultural background all have an influence on the development of the intelligences. “MI theory is a model that values nurture as much as, and probably more than, nature in accounting for the development on intelligences.” There are ways that intelligences can be activated and deactivated. They are two types of experiences called crystallizing experiences and paralyzing experiences. A crystallizing experience is a moment that sparks the start of an intelligence to mature. An example in the book was of a boy going to an orchestra performance and after wanting to play the violin. In opposition to that, a paralyzing experience is one where the experience is shut down, sometimes due to shame, guilt, fear or anger resulting from a bad exposure with a certain intelligence.

Chapter 1: MI

The basis of the first chapter in this book was primarily geared toward describing the eight intelligences as compliment of Howard Gardner. It was interesting to see that there are people who are very strong in one intelligence but have low levels of others. These people are called savants. Some intelligences like musical can be developed early in life and last until late in one’s life, while others like mathematical don’t develop as fast and stop developing generally by the age of 40. The development of certain intelligences is also based on the times. The example was used where about a hundred years ago emphasis was put on the naturalist intelligence when the majority of people lived rurally and relied on hunting, harvesting. Today a large percentage of the population becomes informed through computers and other forms of technology, where a strong spatial intelligence is developed.

Chapter 2: UbD DI

This chapter discussed a lot about how student’s issues and personalities affect the teacher’s lesson plans. That no matter how organized and thought out the plan is, it is always subject to change. It is the hope of the teacher to be able to alter their methods to help the student get a deeper understanding of the material. Responsive teaching was a focus of the chapter in which the aspects of how a particular student learns best was the focus. Working in small groups helps students learn better and targets different levels of learning to specific students. Also, a main focus which I found important was being able to have the ability to teach in multiple ways. This is the only way that one can effectively teach all the students in the classroom. Understanding one’s students is the only way a teacher can adjust their curriculum to fit the needs of every individual.

Chapter 1:UbD DI

Chapter 1 gave me a good idea of what DI and Ubd are and their impacts. “In tandem, UbD and DI provide structures, tools, and guidance for developing curriculum and instruction based on our current best understandings of teaching and learning.” It is up to the teacher, however to use these strategies in creating an effective learning environment for students of all learning styles. Involving students by giving them personal examples of how they can relate to the subject matter is an effective way to increase understanding and enthusiasm for the topic at hand. A well constructed test will give the teacher an idea on how effective they are at teaching the various learning styles. It is important to make necessary changes to increase understanding. Also, technology is an important aspect of today’s classroom and student growth. Group projects involving computers and other forms of technology will help to “collaboratively design, share, and critique units of study.”