It grabbed me because as a Teacher one of my desires is to see my students finding their passions and taking opportunities to develop them. In my mind, our passions are linked to our talents/gifts. I believe everyone has one but sometimes it takes a long time to identify it.

So my question to you is “What are we doing to help our students identify and develop their passion/s?”

Here are two successful ways I feel I have done this, this year:

Example A “Multiple Intelligences“: Teaching these has given my students and myself a window into their talents, strengths and possible passions. The survey I discussed in an earlier post identified some common M.I’s my class demonstrate and has given me ideas for possible learning contexts. I discovered that I have a strong contingent of nature and visual “smart” learners. I have therefore planned with these in mind so that the students with these talents/smarts/passions can have an opportunity to flourish.

Example B “Contracts”: I run a management system where by if the students have finished an activity early there are two sections on the board they look to. The first is called “Must Do’s” and the second is “Can Do’s”. The first is obviously things they need to finish but the “Can Do’s” section gives them opportunity to explore and be extended in activities.

One such activity is where they negotiate a contract with me. Past examples of contracts are student initiated inquiries/projects and student responsibilities. It is has given space for students with a particular passion or bent to develop these further. I have loved observing my students “take off” on projects they have negotiated with me. One example recently has been a small group of boys in my class who love sport and wanted to take it further. We have negotiated a contract where by they are responsible for organising the “Teachers vs Students” sport matches. They are buzzing with this negotiated contract.

So back to my question: “What are we doing to help our students identify and develop their passion/s?” Are we squashing our students passions or allowing them to fly?

Picture Authors:

- Flying Eagle www.birdwatchersdigest.com/slideshow/gallery.php?Show_ID=3&Slide_ID=169

- Contract www.mma-analyst.com/post/Can-Couture-escape-his-contract-A-brief-look-at-contract-law.aspx

I decided that with my new Yr 6 (Grade 5) class this year I wanted to help develop their thinking. One way to do this was to begin the year with an investigation into Multiple Intelligences. Why? I wanted my students to:

1. Think smarter.
2. Understand how they learn best so they can be involved in choreographing their learning.

Of course it also meant that I could gain an insight into my dynamic bunch of students and look for ways to connect with individuals.

Please note - I do not agree with everything Gardner has suggested. This exercise was meant to open the students eyes to our different ways of learning and give a chance to acknowledge their strengths/gifts and weaknesses. This activity was not meant to put my students in “boxes” and I explained this to them.

I performed an inquiry into online and off line resources and after sifting through some came up with the following:

• Online Diagnostic Survey: This survey was the best I could find because it:
  1. Gave 40 easy to read questions that allowed you to select a dot on a continuum line acknowledging your stance on the question. This was better than those tests in which you can only answer “yes” or “no”.
  2. Produced an excellent graph at the end acknowledging up to 8 intelligences/smarts you may have. Other tests just give you one smart at the conclusion of the test and placed you in a “box”.
  3. Showed a colourful and easy to read graph that was a hit with the students.

  My 10 year olds completed the questionnaire in 8 minutes.

• Teacher Resource Book: The book is entitled “Multiple Intelligences Activities” from Teacher Created Materials, Inc. This book is full of activities for Teachers who wish to develop the students understanding of each intelligence. It is designed for Grades 5-8. Some of the chapter titles are as listed below:
  • 7 Intelligences (”Nature Smart” is missing from the 8 mentioned in the above survey.)
  • How they can be identified.
  • What about assessment?
  • Ways to teach and assess the Multiple Intelligences.

  (Note: the book displayed on the right is the updated version of the 1996 edition I obtained.)

• A Fellow Teacher’s Resources: It was great to be shown this wee beauty of a resource (Thanks Amanda). If you scroll down you will see the following in Laura Candler’s “The File Cabinet”:
  • Multiple Intelligence Survey
  • Multiple Intelligence Lesson Ideas (Directions, 8 Kinds of Smart, Ways People are Smart Sorting Clips and the Smart Song.)

  These ideas provided some good resources that aided me in introducing M.Is to my students.

Well the journey has begun and my students are responding well to coming up with new ways to learn using their smarts. It was a good move to begin here.

Has anyone else come across good resources on Multiple Intelligences?
What lessons on this topic have you found to be successful in your class?