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Josh Lambert Presents: Abstract: The theory of multiple intelligences does not apply simply to learning. It also makes sense to use many different ways to assess a students learning. It would not be an accurate assessment of their knowledge if you know you have all types of learners in a class but only gave one type of test. This chapter introduces many different types of assessment tools that are available to accurately gauge your students learning.

Synthesis: The greatest common factor in everyone’s response to this chapter is that teachers need to use different methods to evaluate their students learning other than tests. If a teacher presents material in a certain way they should take that into consideration when they are assessing the same material. Allowing students to demonstrate that they are learning instead of simply seeing if they can answer questions about the material they learned is a powerful way to assess how the student is progressing. Teachers also need to be good at observing their students. Whether this means creating journals that are kept throughout the course or a portfolio of work, the teacher needs to make sure that when they are assessing the students they are taking into consideration all aspects of the class, not just one test.

Olivia Wandelear
Chapter ten offers a really good set of resources for assessing students when using the MI Theory, and focuses on the need to observe students continuously in order to accurately witness multiple intelligences. I learned that types of “Authentic Assessment” allows a teacher to acquire an all-around sense of his or her students’ personalities and learning styles while also placing a bigger emphasis on the students’ strengths as a learner rather than their failures to measure up to standardized, uniform testing. I found that an informal use of standardized testing serves as a really innovative way to assess students without putting too much unnecessary pressure on them. I can visualize myself using standardized tests informally in my classroom and encouraging students to answer in more ways than just filling in bubbles or choosing a letter. Using the standardized test as a starting point for more creative and useful applications allows students to exercise many of their strengths while allowing the teacher to remain on track.

Erika Tingley
The focus of this chapter is on the various techniques that can be used to assess learning in a multiple intelligence classroom. There are many ways that students can be evaluated based on the intelligence being appraised. The key point that stuck out to me was to make sure that my assessment method is in context with what is being assessed. If the tool that is used to evaluate a student’s success is not representative of the method that was used to teach the material than it is not a fair representation of what was learned. As a teacher, it will be my responsibility to determine the best approach to take in assessing student learning based on how I have presented the information to them.

Dylan Stefani
Chapter ten talks about the different ways that a teacher assesses a student. Many teachers take the final tests only into consideration when they are figuring out how a student learns things. This is the wrong way. A teacher needs to be open to teaching students the tricks to the real world. If students can demonstrate that they can apply the information to the real world then they have mastered the content. This chapter tells teachers to study their students by having them keep journals, work samples, audio files, checklists, and so much more. Teachers are able to learn the students learning style and be able to assess them the correct way at the end of the unit by giving them questions based on their learning style.

Andy Shorey
In this chapter the authors give ways for assessing students that are not standardized tests. It gives ways that as teachers we can assess students without them really knowing and that they don't really give a grade it is more of just a check up. They also give ways that a student can as himself or herself. It really helps in teaching us ways to give the students choices on the way they want to be assessed based upon there learning style. It gives ways of assessing based upon the Multiple intelligences. I would really like to use this in the classroom however I am not sure whether or not all the ways they tell us we can assess can be used in a math classroom. I would really like to have students build portfolios which is a good way for students to help themselves keep up on there work.

Courtney Burns
One of the most important pieces of information provided by the chapter is that students should be able to show what they know in context. This means that as a teacher I must keep in mind tests are not always the best mode of assessment because they are only tailored toward those individuals who demonstrate linguistic or logical intelligences. As suggested in other chapters of the book, one of the best ways to assess students is through observation and a journal is a great way to document these observations and keep track of students. Other assessment methods include work samples, student interviews etc. When considering assessment methods I must also remember that there could be eight different types of learning styles in the classroom and it will be appropriate for me to considered methods that are fair for all the learners; eight different learners means there could be any combination of eight different assessments

Timothy Grivois
Testing is always a sensitive subject among teachers and students alike, though for different reasons. Teachers should always strive to keep their students involved and personal with the material. As such, testing should follow that model. When teachers are burdened with state-mandated testing, they must strive to keep the material relevant and applicable regardless of intended purpose. In the same mold, students can be intimidated and put-off by testing, especially if it appears irrelevant and inane. Assessment as a concept in its entirety means something different when applied to Multiple Intelligence classrooms; namely, it does not just mean standardized testing. Assessment can come in many forms: projects, videos, presentations, and even simple conversations. Assessment in an MI classroom should take into account the MI theory itself; students should be aware of the concepts and during whatever medium is selected for assessment, an MI evaluation should take place.

Josh
This chapter shows us how the use of different types of assessments fits better to a student’s actual learning than a standardized test does. It argues that if we agree that students all have different types of intelligences then a standardized test would naturally put anyone that is not a written learner at a disadvantage. This is very important in my classroom because the students deserve the chance to showcase what they have learned. It will be difficult to find ways to assess kids in math class that allow them to demonstrate the skills they are learning, but that is a challenge for me. It seems that politically the schools are stuck with standardized tests, but I can still find ways to let my students feel good about what they are learning.

Heath
Today’s teachers are spending a lot of time and energy to identify how our students learn. Why would we then turn around and assess them using the same old methods? Standardized testing drives the political machine of education and has a great deal of effect on the student/teacher relationship, but it still leaves many students attempting to perform well outside their natural abilities. The book recommends designing assessment techniques that touch on all 8 intelligences and varying their use. Not only will this provide equal opportunities for every student to excel but also allow teachers to gain further insight into how our students learn.

Dan Horne
In this chapter it talks about if you use the multiple intelligence theory to teach your students then you should assess your students using the multiple intelligence theory. This chapter stresses the importance of observing your students to see how they learn and how to properly assess them on the ways that they learn. There are many ways to assess and you don’t have to create one way to assess that uses all 8 intelligences but one way for each. If you give a student a choice in class on what they want to do from one of the 8 intelligences you just need to create a way of assessing each one and you have succeeded. One thing that really jumped out to me was the idea of teacher student interviews. I have honestly never heard of that in a classroom and I am sort of skeptical to its effectiveness because I know most students wouldn’t feel comfortable in that situation.

Shila Cook
In Chapter 10, //MI Theory and Assessment//, Armstrong talks about the different types of assessments. Some of the examples of anecdotal records (keeping a journal), work samples, audio files, video, photography, and checklists to name a few. This chapter gives teachers different ways to help assess the eight different learning styles. This chapter again discusses the usefulness of portfolios during assessment, which I am planning on using when I’m teaching. The chapter finishes with giving a very specific portfolio checklist for teachers to go on.

Caitlin Alexander
Chapter ten in the //Multiple Intelligences// book deals with how to best assess students while teaching them through the multiple intelligences philosophy. The least productive way to assess students who have been exposed to multiple intelligences is through traditional testing methods, which call back to the simple logic/verbal intelligences that the current standardized testing method relies on. Instead, the book recommends using authentic assessment to assess students’ progress in the classroom. It also suggests observing how students use the multiple intelligences to problem solve, documenting their progress throughout the class and keeping a record of it. What I feel to be one of the more effective methods suggested would be the portfolio project, which usually spans a minimum of a year: a portfolio helps a teacher not only see the growth of the students’ learning over time, but also allows the student to try multiple intelligences to solve many different problems over the course of the year. I feel that it is important to incorporate the multiple intelligences into the assessment methods, because it would end up giving a more fair and accurate picture of where the student is in their learning by allowing each student to pick from the intelligences and use which ones they are strong in, or even experiment with those that they are not.

Kasey Darnell
This chapter discussed the importance of varied assessment when using MI theory in the classroom. The author noted that since “any objective can be taught in at least eight different ways, so too does it imply that any subject can be assessed in at least eight different ways” (Armstrong 136). Using standardized tests that focus on only a few intelligences may not be effective for students who possess other types of intelligences. Typically, standardized tests focus heavily on linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences, and students who are not strong in those areas may not be able to demonstrate their knowledge and skills. By using a variety of assessment methods, educators can incorporate all eight intelligences and allow students to show what they have learned in a way that best suits them. Several examples of assessments were highlighted, such as anecdotal records, work samples, student journals, and student interviews. The author also provided charts with examples of types of activities that would appeal to different learning styles, yet still meet the same objective. I will definitely refer to charts such as these when I am designing lesson plans in the future. My only concern is that standardized testing is deeply embedded into schools, and there seems to be no way around it. We can use MI theory in teaching and assessment, but students will still be forced to take standardized tests, which only focus on a few intelligences. How can we better prepare them for these tests without neglecting their individual learning styles?

Kyle Rines
This chapter was about how there are various techniques that educators can use to assess learning within their classrooms. Every student has a different learning style, and learning how to assess each one based on their learning style is the key to assessment. It mentions how a standardized test might be beneficial to a linguistic learner, but difficult to a kinesthetic or visual learner. Finding ways to test my students will be very important to me because if I know that the majority of my students hate standardized tests and don't do well with them, I will probably find an alternate route. In an English class there are many opportunities for a number of learning styles to exceed. Visual, verbal, musical, and kinesthetic to just name a few. Finding the ways to teach and assess in these frameworks will be essential to the success within my classroom.

Ben Villeneuve
Chapter ten of //Multiple Intelligences// discusses assessment in a slightly different way than the other books have. It talks specifically about assessment with regards to multiple intelligences. One of the more helpful parts to me is that chart that shows how activities geared toward a certain intelligence can then be assessed using a different intelligence, or that same intelligence. For example, if an instructor wanted to have students observe nature and then be assessed in an interpersonal way, they could observe nature, then share with a friend. The only part of the chart that seemed a bit off to me was the assessment for the naturalist intelligence. How would doing an ecology project assess whether or not a student benefited from reading a book, or playing a cooperative game? Stuff like that makes me suspect that the naturalist intelligence might not stand up to the same scrutiny of the other ones.

Kay Sue Collins
===This chapter was on alternate forms of assessment besides standardized tests. It dealt heavily with finding out what students really know by allowing them to express it in ways that match their strongest intelligence. This seems very exciting in theory, but in practice I am skeptical that it would be possible to implement it all. I did like the form that allowed the student to pick the type of project he/she would prefer to use to show mastery of a subject. With the right project rubric, that would be workable. I see this chapter as a brainstorming session to see how many ways it would be possible to assess students without filtering for real classroom logisitics. All of these would depend greatly on the environment of the classroom, the number and kind of students being taught and the goals of the unit being taught.

Tyler Brookings
The main premise of this chapter was to introduce separate forms of assessments other than standardized tests. The chapter follows along with the theory of Multiple Intelligences and how to use them not only to your advantage but the students. Using Multiple Intelligences teachers can center their tests based on individual students strongest intelligence. For example: standardized tests may be the best assessment for a linguistics learner but not so much for a natural learner or Kinesthetic learner. I feel that this theory is a great one but it will be extremely tough to work it into the classroom. I however, will do my best to center my tests around everyone's strongest intelligence.