MI+B2+Chapter+10




 * Chapter 10: MI Theory and Assessment**
 * Abstract and synthesis by Kelly Steinhagen**

Chapter 10 focuses on the need to assess students using the Multiple Intelligence theory if they are learning by it. Although we cannot escape the use of standardized tests, as teacher we can ensure that our classes avoid merely assessing through linguistic and logical ways. Also, using [|authentic assessments] that incorporate the differing intelligences pushes students to have a deeper understanding of the material. The best way to do this is by having products that either allow students to choose how they would like to do a project or by having projects that, by description, require the use of all the various intelligences. The latter type of projects could be turned into a group project, respecting our interpersonal learners. The chapter gives various examples as to the different ways one can asses using the MI theory, but one particular idea that it focuses on is having [|Multiple Intelligence portfolios] that demonstrates all the intelligences rather than just writing or math.
 * Abstract:**

As future teachers, we recognize the potential use that the multiple intelligence theory provides in the classroom, specifically when we want to get students interested in learning. Therefore, we also know that it would be hypocritical to teach the students in the way that they learn best, so to say, and then revert back to traditional tests and quizzes. Most of us were intrigued by all the examples that the book supplied. Our class particularly liked the ideas of student interviews and MI portfolios. As teachers, we would be able to track our student's success better with either of these examples. Student interviews, for instance, would allows one to have a one-on-one conversation that focuses on the student's knowledge, progress in the unit, and how they personally feel that they are doing. The MI portfolios would be a project that requires students to reflect upon their own works and would give the teacher insight to their progress as students over years. One person also made the connection between assessing in the MI theory and the MEL model, mainly that the students have options when it comes to how they want to present their knowledge.
 * Synthesis**:

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Kassaundra
Chapter 10: MI Theory and Assessment When implementing authentic assessment student performance needs to be documented. There are many ways to do this but I have come across the idea of anecdotal records multiple times and it seems like a way I would want to keep track of my students work and accomplishments because I like writing stuff down. Also, I think the idea of having student interviews would be beneficial. It would give the students a chance to show me what they have been working on and also I could help clear up misconceptions that I might not have had a chance to clear up without one on one time. Besides documenting student performance, the eight intelligences need to be assessed. We can’t reinforce the concept of learning through all the intelligences without assessing with them also. This impacts me because not only will I need to be comfortable enough to introduce the intelligence to my classroom, I will need to be able to come up specific ways to assess them. Keeping portfolios is a way to track student learning. These portfolios should include materials that represent the intelligences. This means I will need to keep a camera/video camera handy so I can capture non-traditional portfolio material.

Charli Sayward
Chapter 10: MI Theory and Assessment When trying to teach a variety of students using the MI Theory, we must assess our students using the MI Theory as well. Observation is the most important assessment; however, there are various ways to observe students’ progress. Ways I felt would be useful for a math class are keeping files of students’ work, have students keep journals, use standardized tests informally, student interviews, and checklists of important skills for the class. In my high school math classes, I never experienced much variation when being tested. Formal tests and quizzes and the occasional project were the only forms of assessment. I hope to incorporate more creativity and activities for my students. I found the charts in this chapter to be very helpful in seeing ways to combine different teaching methods and assessments. When planning assessments, I will definitely refer back to this chapter.

Bri Douglass
Assessment is the topic of this chapter and like in the other two books we are reading it explains the difficulty involved with creating it. Here they speak about making assessments that involve all eight intelligences. As I was reading this I thought to myself how is one teacher supposed to assess students eight different ways? It then goes on to say that it is not necessary to use all eight but rather give the option to use one of them. I think that options are great when trying to involve students with multiple intelligences because it gives the nature lover the option for a nature project or the musically intelligent to make a rap or song. In my own classroom someday I will be able to offer options when doing group or individual projects as assessments. This also connects to the MEL model, which says that students learn better when given options. So as a math teacher not just for assessments but also in everyday lessons it is necessary to offer different variations on the same subject.

Alyssa Wadsworth
I learned in this chapter that the best way to measure a student's eight intelligences is to authentically measure them in context rather than a standard test because standard tests focus mainly on linguistic and/or logical-mathematical intelligences. This involves assessing them in a situation closely related to an instance in real life. "The most important prerequisite to authentic assessment is //observation//" (page 131). This impacts me as a teacher because, although I will be required to give my students some standardized tests, in my own units I can give them varied assessments so I can get a more accurate measurement of what they know and have learned from what I tried to teach them. This also gives me a more accurate way to measure how well and diversely I am teaching my class. The varied assessments I can give my students will affect them because they can experience an appropriate, flexible type of testing for them as well as me. If they do better on an assessment created for them than they would on a standardized assessment, they might be encouraged or motivated to do better in the class as well because everyone enjoys the good feeling that accompanies doing well.

Darcie Simmons
This tenth chapter in Multiple Intelligences discusses how to apply assessment to the MI theory. The one thing that I really learned from this chapter was the many ways you can see your students’ progress in the classroom, instead of just doing the usual testing process. I personally thought the anecdotal records, work samples, student journals, and calendar records. I also learned that to test the 8 multiple intelligences in the classroom, you literally manipulate the different learning styles to show you through their particular way of learning how they know the material. While I’m in the classroom I’m definitely going to try to use this 8 way assessment for my students, because I know that as a student I would have liked that option.ayl

Taylor Kemp
In this chapter, it talks about how when using Multiple Intelligences, it is most effect if you teach that was, but also assess in that way. If you know your students well enough to realize that they learn in a certain way, why should you throw that away when testing them on their knowledge. Even though I have never thought of this before, it makes perfect sense. Why should your only testing option be something like standardized testing. Not to say that each student needs their own test, but making one that could be optimal for more then just one learning style is a good idea. I will definitely be using this in my classroom, i only wish that my teachers had done the same for me. It would have made tests days much less daunting and I would have been able to prove my knowledge much in the same way I obtained it.

Ryan Pelletier
In chapter 10 I learned how to use authentic measures. Authentic measures dig deep into the students thinking and understanding of a subject. By making it authentic it is not true or false. You are either able to relate the subject to real life, or you are able to use real life techniques to answer a question. A great way to assess your students authentically is by observing them. You also have to record or take note of any observations that you think are important. I think student journals would be effective in my health classes. You have to relate to your own beliefs and lifestyle a lot in health. Having a journal would be a great way to learn about your students, and hopefully teach them something about themselves.

Kelly Steinhagen
The variety of assessments mentioned in this chapter seem much more innovative than most of the assessments I received in high school. They also seem like better options for assessment, especially in accordance to everything we have read thus far. It is definitely easy for a teacher to fall back upon the traditional assessments consisting of tests and essays, but incorporating the eight intelligences into the final assessment is much more powerful. I really liked the idea of having a portfolio that included more than the usual writing samples/math work. At least I have only ever experienced having a writing folder, but a portfolio that demonstrates how a student achieves in various areas of his or her entire academic career throughout high school would be very beneficial to the student and all of the teachers. Hopefully, students would be able to flourish in a classroom that held their portfolios so that the student can continuously see their progression through school and improve their own standards.

Megan Wallace
I learned that it isn’t enough to just teach with the multiple intelligences. You must also assess with them as well. If in the end the point is to test the students to see what they have learned, it is pointless to only test in a way that won’t help all of the students succeed. As a teacher I want to give all of my students the best chance to succeed. To do this I plan on using a variety of assessment methods. Not only will this be beneficial for the students but it will be more interesting for me to grade.

Linda McLaughlin
//Chapter 10: MI Theory and Assessment// This chapter thoroughly discussed how to apply MI theory to the way we create and implement assessments in the classroom. One point that was stressed is that we must use a variety of assessments, and not only teach in the eight intelligences, but also assess in the eight intelligences. I learned that students should be using assessments as an opportunity to learn and grow, not just something to dread. Some interesting ways to use assessments that impacted me include using anecdotal records, student interviews, and informal assessments. Student interviews are something that I’ve never thought of, and I wish that teachers had done that with me when I was going through school. This will impact my classroom because my students will encounter a variety of assessments. Having different kinds of assessments will help my students be able to really show me what they know and what they’ve learned.

Matt Towle
Although this chapter reviewed much of what was read in chapters 4-6 of Fair Isn't Always Equal, it still had valuable information about assessment. I learned many ways in which to assess students with different learnings styles. The tables throughout the chapter gave examples of how to assess each learning style in different contexts. This will impact my classroom because it will help me in brainstorming ideas for different projects. By giving students various choices for projects, they will be able to choose projects that best suit their specific learning style. If I can give students the opportunity to express what they have learned in the best way for them, then I will be able to gather the information necessary to determine whether or not they have reached the essential goals.

Justin Stewart
Chapter ten discussed the way that we cannot only use MI theory on our lessons, but also on assessments. Some of the methods that were suggested were student interviews, anecdotal records, and informal assessments. Student interviews was the one that really jumped out at me because I had never used it or even heard about it being used in a classroom. Varying assessments will be a good way to keep my students interested in my class and help them learn truly master the material, not simply know it for the test. By varying the ways that my students will be assess, I hope to change the process of learning the material for test and then forgetting about it later. By doing assessments that require the knowledge of the material, I hope they will have deep understanding, not surface knowledge.

Jenn Baum
Chapter 10: MI Theory and Assessment This chapter focused not only on the multiples intelligences and how children learn, but also how to assess all of those different learners in a fair and effective way. One way to do this is to test students in an authentic situation; one that they can relate their learning experiences with everyday life examples. Another way to assess students fairly is to compile evidence of learning over time, for example taking and collecting thorough notes about each child’s learning style. When thinking of ways to assess students, it is important to keep in mind each of the eight different intelligences. Linking these intelligences with various options for assessment is one way to make sure you are fairly assessing each of the various learning styles. After reading this chapter, I have learned that including all of the intelligences in a lesson, but then using only one or two different intelligences to assess their learning is not appropriate. In most of my classes, assessment has been typically exclusively written tests and papers. When I become a teacher, I will have to make sure that I am assessing with as little bias as possible by providing options in order to attempt to rid this unfairness.

Kaitlyn Haase
Chapter 10: MI Theory and Assessment Multiple intelligence theory implies that students can be instructed **and** assessed in eight different ways (based on the eight intelligences). Unfortunately however, many teachers have relied on, and continue to rely on standardized testing to assess their students. Standardized tests only assess the students on a linguistic or logical level and rob them of opportunities to fully express their knowledge. In this chapter, the author has given great examples of how to incorporate MI assessment into different content areas. The author also has given readers good advice about constructing “MI portfolios.” The portfolios should be used for “The Five C’s of Portfolio Development”: celebration, cognition, communication, cooperation, and competency. The “Five C’s” significantly impacted my thinking immediately after reading about them. I thought back to the meaningless rubrics some of my former teachers used on projects that I worked so hard on. It was clear that I was competent, but instead of real feedback I was scored on a 1-4 scale in a few categories. Their assessment made me feel as though I wasted my time. In my classroom, I would like my students to look forward to having their work assessed rather than dread it.

Lyzz Stevenson
**Chapter 10**: Teaching with the multiple intelligences is beneficial to your students and needs to be paired with assessment using the multiple intelligences. There are many ways in which students can be successful, one of the best ways to tell is to observe. Other ways of assessing their learning is through student journals, work samples, calendar records, etc. This is important to bring into your classroom as sometimes one cannot tell a students learning from simple test scores and other quantative grades. My goal as a teacher is to assess students’ success and learning through observation and other methods of assessment not just test grades and attendance.

Olivia
In chapter ten of Multiple of Intelligence, I learned that when I assess my students, I would need to assess them using the eight different intelligences. When I was in high school, I always hated using standardized tests to measure my abilities as a student, because the standardized tests did not seem to directly reflect my intelligence, or my ability to prove mastery of a topic. This chapter made me realize that when I become a teacher, I will keep track of how my students progress in the classroom using the variety of methods mentioned in the chapter.

Erin
In Chapter 10: MI Theory and Assessment, I learned that not every single student in my class will be able to show me what they have learned through the same method of assessment. As a teacher, I will come across students in my class that will have all (if not more) of the eight intelligences at one point. This taught me that I should prepare unique assessment topics and use them in my classroom. Using the idea of multiple intelligences in the classroom along with the tic-tac-toe method found in the Fair Isn't Always Equal text would not only give the students options, but they could also choose a topic where they could really show me what they have learned. The MI book gives great examples of how to set up assessments based on the multiple intelligences (p. 141-142). For my content area, math, I got fantastic ideas that I would use in my classroom: from analyzing statistics and building a model for bodily kinesthetics to creating a song for music. This impacted me because I never had this type of choice in my high school career and I know this would have helped the connection between me and my teachers a lot.