MI Chapter 14

This chapter is a great way to end the book. It brought up the idea of there being a ninth intelligence, ninth intelligence, that being the existential. This means “the capacity to locate oneself with respect to the furthest reaches of the cosmos” and then continues on saying that it’s related to “the capacity to locate oneself with respect to such existential features of the human condition as the significance of life” This is not advocating for religion in the classroom, but for students to be comfortable asking themselves questions like “who are we?” I think this is a good idea as long as the idea of religion is not being forced into a student’s brain and it truly stays focused on what this student feels comfortable with.

MI Chapter 13

This chapter focused on the fact that there are many other applications of the MI theory to education. One good example that they used was cultural diversity. This is extremely important because of how diverse the United States has becoming and is still becoming. A good point that Armstrong made was when he stated “it is important to repeat, however, that every culture has and uses all eight intelligences.” What Armstrong means here is that we cannot just assume that a certain race carries a certain intelligence or intelligences because of their race. It is important that educators have broad perspectives and do not make assumptions concerning intelligences because every is different.

MI Chapter 7

Chapter seven focused on the MI theory and the classroom environment. Through this, Armstrong discussed the eight multiple intelligences and the questions that may be posed in the classroom. Along with this activity centers was a main focus. Permanent Open-Ended, Temporary Open-Ended, Temporary Topic-Specific, and Permanent Topic-Specific were the four types that were given. Under each type, there were examples of places where every multiple intelligence would do best at. For example under temporary open-ended, under linguistic, was the game scrabble. This type of activity center was organized into eight scattered tables, and each table had a different game at it. This is a great way to see which student carries which intelligences!

FIAE Chapter 14

In chapter fourteen I really enjoyed the paragraph about dual approach to report cards. This dealt with grading your students on how far they have come along and improved. Along with this, their actual grades according to the standards of their education. I think it is very important that the student is rewarded for improving because students should not work incredibly hard to improve and then just see a mediocre grade because they are not as smart as everyone else. They should be graded on some sort of personal level as well and I feel as if it is important to incorporate this into their report card.

FIAE Chapter 13

Chapter thirteen discusses using different types of grading books for different types of classrooms. I like this idea a lot; I do not think that teachers should be limited to one specific grade book. This chapter is also very helpful because it gives actual examples of certain grading pages that you can use for different types of assignments. A good example is listing assignments in a grading book by the date that they were assigned. This is good way to know when these assignments are due for those students that have not passed them in yet. Along with that it is in an organized manner. I would definitely put the dates next to all of my assignments to stay organized with specific students, especially the ones who consistently miss work.

FIAE Chapter 12

Chapter twelve goes into detail about the two different approaches to grading, the four point scale, and the 100 point scale. It discusses the differences between the two and why each one is used. It also talks about why teachers like each one of these grading scales, and why they do not like them. I personally like the 100 point grading scale because it is easier for me to understand, and easier for me to average, especially in the grade level that I am going to be teaching. When I was in middle school, if I saw a 4.0 on my paper I would have no idea what that meant. If I did that to my own students I feel as if I would have to spend so much time explaining how to use this grading scale when they already know what getting a 100 on a paper is!

FIAE Chapter 11

Something interesting that I read and never thoroughly thought about until reading it was the zero or sixty topic. Wormeli made a good point when he talked about how students can have a test right in front of them and receive a sixty for just being in the classroom. Giving sixties to students when they do not do anything is cheating, like Wormeli says. If they are not doing anything then why do they receive any points? This is a good point that I do not think cross some educators minds. Although he then makes the point of saying that this is for grading purposes and mathematical reasons.