How Is Your Child Smart?

“It’s not how smart you are, it’s how you are smart”

~Howard Gardner, founding father of Multiple Intelligences Theory

There is no question that all children are smart in their own way but do you know how your child is smart? Your child’s teacher may be able to give you some insight into how your child learns best. Parents and teachers alike have always recognized that children learn in different ways but understanding your child’s primary intelligence and particular learning style can have an intense impact both on classroom performance and study habits at home.


Howard Gardner, the founding father of Multiple Intelligences Theory, defines eight different intelligences-also known as “smarts”.

                                       

linguistic - word smart

logical-mathematical - number smart 

bodily-kinesthetic - body smart

musical - music smart

spatial - picture smart

naturalistic - nature smart

interpersonal - people smart 

intrapersonal - self smart

These intelligences all work together to create a whole learner but some smarts will be stronger in your child than others. The dominant intelligence for your child will define how your child learns best in the classroom and at home. Does your child learn easiest by viewing pictures and charts or is it through movement and music? Does your child enjoy snuggling in your lap for a story or does he want to act it out as you read?  You can help determine your child’s strongest intelligences by talking with the classroom teacher, reflecting on how your child plays and completes activities at home, and by utilizing multiple intelligences learning surveys. By understanding your child’s primary intelligence you can support your child’s educational performance and help him or her approach learning situations in a more positive way.

It is also important to understand which smarts your child shows a weakness in. You can engage your child in targeted activities that will encourage him or her to strengthen that particular intelligence.  This will be especially useful if your child’s teacher does not have a clear plan for addressing varying learning styles in the classroom.  It is also helpful for you (as the parent) when you conference with your child’s teacher to address classroom performance as it relates to these smarts.  You can ask the teacher how your child’s unique learning style is being addressed and give some personal insight into how your child learns.

Below is a brief description of each of the intelligences. As you read each one, see if you can identify some that fit your child’s habits and personality.

• Word Smart: Children with this strength have a broad vocabulary and express themselves well. They use language to remember and think. These children enjoy reading aloud, word games such as Scrabble, and writing poems or stories.

• Number Smart: Children with this smart easily manipulate numbers, are logical and see patterns in everyday objects.  They enjoy using measurement, experimenting with cause and effect, number games or puzzles such as Sudoku.

• Body Smart: Children with strengths in this area have excellent fine and gross motor skills. They are physically active and tend to move when they learn (appear fidgety).  These children enjoy things involving experimentation and discovery learning, outdoor activities, and anything hands-on.

• Music Smart: These children have outstanding listening skills and detect rhyme and rhythm easily.  They are interested in any type of sounds. Children who are music smart enjoy listening to music and singing. They are also good with grammar and learning languages.  These are the children who love deciphering symbols and secret codes.

• Picture Smart: Children with this intelligence can visualize in their head and have a very active imagination. They express themselves through drawing or creating physical forms.  These children will enjoy seeing or making models, drawing and painting, taking objects apart to see how they work, and visiting museums.

• Nature Smart: Children who are nature smart appreciate anything related to organisms. They can see minute differences between living or nonliving things.  They appreciate nature and enjoy organizing collections of objects, recycling and preserving nature, and using scientific tools such as a microscope or magnifying glass.

• People Smart: Children with a strength in this area show concern and empathy for others. They enjoy interacting with people.  This is your collaborator and your leader.  They love to talk with others, work together as a team, and help others.

• Self Smart: Children who are Self Smart recognize their own strengths/weaknesses and are effective at goal-setting.  They are very concerned about fairness and have strong likes and dislikes.  These children enjoy journaling or scrapbooking and are self-directed both in play and school.  They relate what they have learned to real life.

By recognizing the intelligences that your own child possesses, you can help them to relate to life and to learning in a way that enhances each experience.

Grade Level Retention: Is It Our Best Alternative?

As an educator of young children have you ever reflected back to THAT student-the one you retained-and wondered if you made the right decision?  Have you spent countless hours deciding just the right way to approach a student’s parents to convince them that their child should repeat the current grade?  Few educators can say they have never faced this dilemma at least once during their career.  The No Child Left Behind Act and accountability standards currently in place in education hold both the students and the teachers to a level that demands high performance or the only other alternative...failure. Contradictory to this pass/fail mindset is a decade of research which has proven that grade level retention at any time during a student’s school career is detrimental.

Let’s take a look at what research tells us as educators making these decisions:

     Students who are retained:

• are more likely male than female
• are more likely to be from a minority group
• at least once during their school career are much more likely than their peers to drop out of school by age 17. Multiple retentions increases the chances of dropping out to almost 100%!
• are more likely to have significant increases in behavior problems
• exhibit lowered self-esteem
• have lower attendance in school during subsequent years
• are more likely to engage in activities that impact their health upon reaching adolescence. Some examples are alcohol use, drug abuse, increased sexual activity and even suicidal tendencies.
• have poor peer relationships compared to other students of the same age
• are more likely to rely on government assistance upon reaching adulthood. They are less likely to hold a full time job.

Students who repeat a grade early in their school career may initially show some academic gains. Follow-up information on these students show that this affect only lasts for two to three years before the student falls behind again.  Students who have been retained during their elementary years are usually the very same students that may be considered for retention upon reaching middle and high school.  Retention at any level is the single most powerful indicator of a student’s chances of dropping out of school. As educators we need to begin looking at alternatives to grade level retention.

Some alternate considerations include:

1. early intervention (k-2) before the student is so far behind peers
2. one-on-one or small group tutoring
3. private tutoring
4. counseling/ adult mentoring
5. reading intervention (reading is the area rated highest as reason for retention)
6. homework alternatives
7. summer school or summer acceleration classes
8. advocating for more parental involvement
9. use of ongoing formative assessment and progress monitoring to set short term goals rather than relying solely on summative assessments for information
10. utilizing the problem-solving team to identify the specific areas of weakness for each at risk student

Many politicians and even some educators feel that ending the practice of retention leads to social promotion. This means students are passed on to the next grade without meeting the academic goals of the current year. These students are passed on to the next level with their peers. Many in the public feel that educators are not doing their job a student is sent to the next grade level before he is academically ready. So, educators, what is our answer?  We need to implement a system of preparing students for the next grade level with interventions in place for support where it is needed. This practice is not social promotion but rather it is a way to combat the negative impact that grade level retention has on students. Educators must utilize research-based instructional strategies to support the student(s) in need. Achieving this level of effectiveness and intervention correlates with the Response to Intervention model.  Many states are using this model in their quest for a solution. 

 

As educators, it is our job to find a solution, not be a part of the problem. Retention is no longer the correct answer!

What Does It Mean to Differentiate?

"Can't I just email you a link to my blog, Miss?"

     One of the current hot topics in education right now is differentiating instruction. As educators we all know we are supposed to be individualizing but what does it really mean to differentiate instruction and meet the needs of all learners? From an elementary perspective I can honestly say that early childhood educators (preschool to second grade) have been differentiating for years-out of necessity! Our children come to us from so many different situations and such varying levels of background knowledge that if we are to meet our curriculum goals we MUST differentiate. Teachers have to find a way to “make it happen” for each individual student. If a student needs to wander around to accomplish a task, we let them. If a child needs manipulatives to complete a math problem, we provide it. If a child has to have a hug to begin work for the day, we hug them.  It is understood and accepted as a part of the job for early elementary educators but I think much of this acknowledgment of individualization disappears as students head into testing grade levels.  The pressure to perform on tests and to cover content seems to overtake the need to address uniqueness in learning.  If all educators were trained to embrace differentiation I think we’d see the testing pressures begin to diminish because students who feel empowered in learning will meet the set testing goals.

If you differentiate instruction in your classroom you will:

• provide instruction at all levels of achievement

• set high expectations for ALL students

• allow for the diversity of learners

• encourage inclusion of all learners (EC, regular ed., AIG)

• meet student needs-educationally and emotionally

• address varying learning modalities (visual, kinesthetic, auditory)

• utilize Bloom’s Taxonomy and understand multiple intelligences

• present content in a variety of ways

Differentiation can occur in any combination of three realms: student interest, skill readiness (student background schema), or student learning profile (the way they learn best). To differentiate in any of these areas you can make individualized changes within four domains.

*Content-some examples of differentiating within this domain include providing reading materials at varying reading levels, providing information in another format such as books on tape or computer, varying spelling or vocabulary lists to match the learner, small group or individual instruction as well as whole group information.
 

*Process-some examples of individualizing within this domain include tiered assignments, varying levels of support provided by the instructor, interest-based assignments, personal contracts or agendas, flexible grouping and hands-on or manipulative supports when needed.
 

*Product-some examples of differentiating within this realm include providing optional ways to present the learning outcome (role play, powerpoint presentation, oral report, website creation), rubrics made to fit the learner’s level of performance/ability, choice in whether to work individually or collaboratively, and student created assignments reflective of the content being taught.
 

*Learning Environment-examples in this domain would include arranging areas for individual and/or collaborative work, choices in where to complete work, options to stand or sit when working, classroom materials/displays that reflect the diversity of the school community, and consistent routines for work performance (clear guidelines).

There are so many positive reasons to differentiate instruction. It promotes student success which will help combat the student dropout rate and raise test scores. It encourages both independence and creativity in learning. It allows for collaboration among students and teachers. Student understanding occurs rather than just memorization of facts.  Students feel empowered about learning when a teacher differentiates for them. It is our job as educators to KNOW our students and it is our job as the trainers of our future leaders to DIFFERENTIATE instruction to create the strongest individuals we can!

 

Some additional tools and resources are listed below:

http://toolsfordifferentiation.pbworks.com/w/page/22360094/FrontPage

http://www.edutopia.org/stw-differentiated-instruction-replication-tips

http://www.uhseport.net/published/k/sh/kshaw/collection/1/

http://www.eht.k12.nj.us/~jonesj/differentiated%20instruction/Assessment.htm 

http://web.westbloomfield.k12.mi.us/ealy/lafer/language.html