MI+B2+Chapter+10

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Abstract
It is important that we not only teach following the Multiple Intelligence theory, but that we also assess with the same thought process. Authentic measures of assessment should relate to the real world, if they don't, their meaning is often lossed. All too often standardized tests are used, unfortunately, this reduces the knowledge that a student possesses into a single number or score and they can often discriminate against certain learning styles. One of the best ways to assess authentically is through observation. When observing it is important to keep detailed and organized records, this way we can create a profile of the student, it will also help us design other assessments. Another easy way to assess the MI way is through porfolios. When using portfolios as assessment we need to make sure that acceptable documents are not limited to those reflecting linguistic and logical/mathematical intelligences.

We already know that in our classroom we need to create lessons that teach to all eight (or more) intelligences. This chapter tells us that we also need to assess to all of the intelligences and gives us  some ideas for how to do that. In our classrooms we will need to be doing a lot of observation. It is important that we keep clear and useful records of student accomplishments and non-accomplishments. When creating the ever popular portfolio make sure not to slip into the easy trend of simply requiring or accepting the easy documents like terific tests and exceptional essays. Have students include a variety of evidence of their own learning in their portfolios.

Jordan
In “MI and Assessment”, Armstrong describes the benefits of using MI in the classroom. He states that “the kinds of assessment experiences that include access to a variety of presentation (input) and expression (output)” (98) are what students need in order to truly understand the material. He suggests that students’ portfolios are too limited to the linguistic and the logical/mathematical intelligences and that teachers should work to expand portfolios by offering a variety of assessments for students. Often times, a single question can be phrased in eight different ways: one that compliments each of the intelligences. Through observation, noting student behavior, and providing students with options for assessment, the learning experience is enriched and enjoyable. Reflecting on my experiences, I feel that some of my classes weighted too heavily on testing and written responses and others too heavily on discussion. Some teachers seemed to be apathetic when it came to acknowledging all eight of the intelligences in the classroom. I possess a logical/mathematical intelligence, so I find it hard to sit through an English or Art class. I feel that my boredom as a student in some classes will help me become a conscious teacher that tries to vary the work in each of the eight of the intelligences so that I can reach those students who do not process information in a logical/mathematical way.

Brittany
Because teaching by multiple intelligences target the different intelligences, there are different ways that the intelligences can be assessed. A lot of the non-traditional ways of assessment have to do with student involvement. Some forms of assessment that can be used are videotaping the student’s presentation of a project or portfolios of the student’s work. These different forms of assessment break free of the traditional fill-in-the-bubble multiple-choice exams. Various non-traditional assessments will probably be beneficial to most students in the class. All the different intelligences that are present in the class will require different assessments to truly shine. Above all, it is important to find the best way to assess the class so that all the students can demonstrate their understanding.

Leah
It's not a very fair assessment of one's knowledge and ability if we as teachers instruct targeting all eight intelligences, but only evaluate via a limited scope of the intelligences. Chapter ten focuses on making authentic assessments that show students competence in context. Many examples of assessments were given including: student journals, anecdotal records via observation, and portfolios. I feel that in the past, I and many of my fellow classmates could have benefited from different forms of evaluation. To actually make differentiated teaching effective we have to test targeting the multiple intelligences to truly understand what out students are capable of, but also to send the message that theory of multiple intelligences are worth while and are of equal or greater importance to standardized teaching and testing.

Corinne
Chapter ten is all about ways to assess students. it asks, "what's the point of teaching to MI if we don't test that way?" Other options for assessment are given besides test taking. For instance, it claims that observing students solving problems is a good way of seeing what they know and how they learn. It also advises the use of journals (student and teacher), portfolios, and periodical interviews with students. It was interesting to hear that in Key Learning Communities students are video taped during some lessons to observe them. I think that video taping is a negative way of assessing a student during class. A student will act differently if they know they are being videotaped, and it becomes an issue with parents and students who feel uncomfortable with the idea. Its best to observe students under normal circumstances and more often than twice a year.

Ryan Snowman
This chapter discusses ways to test under the Multiple Intelligence theory. Testing this way relies less on standardized testing and more on authentic based measures. Authentic measures of assessment puts emphasize on real world scenarios and allow material to have more meaning to students. MI theory also suggests that any subject can demonstrate their understanding in all of the eight different intelligences. This is very beneficial for students because they can test in the way that will make them most successful. MI theory assessment is also project – based, which means that to complete a particular task, students will be exposed to a variety of resources. I think it is important for teachers to assess in authentic ways, which is one of the components of MI assessment. I also think it is very important that MI assessment is project based, which will expose my students to a variety of contexts and resources.

Ryan
Chapter ten of //Multiple Intelligences// shows how to assess students through using assessments that cover all of the multiple intelligences. This is important as teachers if we are going to try and teach every multiple intelligence. Tests are an efficient way to test, but if as teachers we are going to teach considering the eight multiple intelligences then assessments should also consider the multiple intelligences. This means that projects become more of the option to assess. Some of the great ideas that the book offered to assess students are having students keep journals, have interview with students and calendar records. This information will impact me as a student to try and come up with other alternative ways to assess. This information will impact me as a teacher to make sure I am testing all eight multiple intelligences of my students.

Jennie
Chapter 10 deals with how the Multiple Intelligence theory correlates with assessment. Armstrong gives us a list of different ways to document a student's performance. This list includes among other things, having a sample of the student's work, the student's journal, informal uses of standardized tests, and notes on student interviews. He gives a great example of how to incorporate all the multiple intelligences in to assessing a problem. A big thing that I like is the portfolios that he made for his students. Having things like some of their achievements, things to reflect on their work, and information for parents, other teachers, and administrators is really helpful for everyone. The three C's are a good idea (Celebration, Cognition, Communication, Cooperation, and Competency.). Having these things all put together so that they students can go back and be proud of what they have done is a really good idea.

Mykayla
Chapter ten of the //Multiple Intelligences// deals with the assessments for those classrooms using the eight intelligences. It was said that in order to accurately assess the multiple intelligences a teacher must evaluate all the intelligences and not just the students’ logical and linguistic intelligences. This seems really difficult to accomplish. How can a teacher incorporate every learning style into an assessment? The ideas for giving student choices was interesting, especially the student sign-up sheet. It is nice to see that people believe that students should have some say in their assignments.

Sarah
Throughout the readings in this book, I have found myself becoming more and more fascinated with the extreme diversity in public school population. As such, it only makes sense that we as teacher assess our students in the unique ways they function. Chapter Ten targeted just that and presented ways in which to assess all of the different Intelligences. While exploring the chapter, I could not help but consider how beneficial it would have been for me and my peers if my former teachers had assessed us in ways that unlocked our strengths and enabled us to perform our best. The example I found most interesting was where the book suggested using a musical phrase to describe Huckleberry Finn and almost immediately, I had my answer. The way that this prompt allowed me to create and expand, instead of struggling to find words to describe the same concept, convinced me that assessing based on student's intelligence is the most beneficial and effective way to teach and evaluate.

Kirsten
I was immediately struck with how many ways there were to assess using MI, and how many of the ideas suggested I had seen in FIAE and the UbD/DI books. When thinking in terms of MI, you can truly dig deeply and find a way that almost every student can reach into your content world and take something out of it. The first part of the chapter talks about the kinds of assessment //experiences// a student can have. I had never really thought of assessment as an experience before, but that's exactly what it is. Armstrong suggested using things like audio and visual recordings to document student success and proof that a student is moving along in an area. I like these sorts of ideas, because it takes a great deal of pressure off the students when they don't have a piece of paper in front of them demanding answers. I think a lot of the ideas the assessment experience section emphasized taking pressure off of students and letting assessment occur naturally. I also liked the example of assessing a student's understanding of the Huck Finn character eight different ways rather than with the ambiguous multiple choice question. It makes more sense to have a student answer a question in a way that works for them than trying to fit them into a box that just won't contain them.

Jennie
This chapter ties in really nicely with Chapter 10 in Thomas Armstrong's //Multiple Intelligences.// Rick Wormeli talks about three different ways to assess students in a differentiated classroom. The different ways are using portfolios to track students' work, rubrics that student can see exactly what they are getting assessed on, and self-assessment. He talks about how the portfolios are very flexible. They can be as simple as a folder with their work in it, or as complicated as one online like Tk20. Rubrics should be assessed for content, clarity, practicality, and technical quality/fairness. With self assessment, students get input about their grade. Wormeli also talks about using interactive journals as self assessors, by having students record things like the skills and information that they had learned in the unit. I really like the idea of having interactive journals. Having regular journals to write down their ideas about things is a good thing too, but to have the interactive ones where you can record yourself makes it that much more fun for the students.

Drew
Chapter ten makes a good point. Why teach in multiple intelligences if you do not assess in multiple intelligences. It seems to me that it would be pointless not to assess by the same principle. Instead of constantly using traditional assessments like tests, projects that are more open ended, I believe, would be much more beneficial in the process. If this is the case, the student would be able to show their understanding in a way that works for their specific intelligence. The book offered some great ideas for assessment including student journals, student interviews, and recording on calendar. I find this chapter to have some very useful ideas for my future classroom. I found the idea of teaching and assessing in multiple intelligences to be really practical and a bit logical.

Tim
Chapter ten of //Multiple Intelligences// begins by stating that the MI theory proposes a new way of being able to assess a student within the classroom. The MI theory of assessment would rely less upon standardized tests and more upon the student’s ability to reflect on their past performances. The “authentic assessment” Armstrong begins to refer to is anchored by the teacher’s ability to observe students within the classroom. Armstrong then states that documentation is another strong component of authentic assessment. These I find both to be true because in a classroom with differentiated learners it appears to be extremely necessary for a teacher to conduct both careful observations and document a students learning and progress in order to truly assess the student. The MI theory also gives teachers a plethora of different ways to evaluate students. The MI theory of assessment has given me more insight into the contributions MI can have within a classroom not only teaching students but also in assessing students and their levels of learning.

Rachel
What stood out to me the most in chapter 10 was actually the chart that compared standardized testing and authentic assessment. Some of the main complaints of standardized testing include that it reduces students’ knowledge and skills into a single number, possibly leads to the narrowing of curriculum, could discriminate against some learning styles, and doesn’t suggest room for improvement. Authentic assessment, on the other hand, can give a teacher a sense of a student’s learning style, makes the learning experience fun and exciting, and has a positive affect on the learning process. While this information is all objective, it still is excellent information to take into account as a future teacher. I hope that I can remember this.

Cara
I know that I have always hated standarized tests because I was a poor test taker in high school. Even if I understand concepts and ideas, I did poorly on tests. Having student portfolios is a suggestion in this chapter as it was in Wormeli's book that we are reading. The author introduces "The Five C's of Portfolio Development", which will help me as a teacher when I do decide to use portfolios in my students learning and my teaching. The chart of what to put in a MI portfolio helped me to get ideas for lessons. The "Celebration of Learning" stood out to me in this chapter because, again, it gives the students a choice in their learning. I would have loved to have had more of that while I was in high school!

Scott
It would be hypocritical to assert the importance of Multiple Intelligence theory and teach using its guidelines, but assess in a non-MI way. To avoid using standardized pencil and paper tests, the best way to assess competency is observation, making sure to keep records. Just as a subject should be able to be taught in eight different ways, it should also be able to be assessed in eight different ways. It is important to allow students to try out different performance tasks to see which ones work best for them. We don't have to teach every lesson in eight different ways, but when developing a unit we should try to incorporate tasks for as many different intelligences as possible. When using portfolio assessments it is important to include allowances for many different types of work to be showcased, and the assessment for the portfolio should no look like standardized test results.