As I was rereading the Chapter 4 packet I became interested in Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory. The packet describes a learning style as the preferred way in which an individual received and processes information. While I was reading the variety of intelligences something occurred to me. Only one of my elementary school math teachers changed their lessons for me because I was more of an visual, kinesthetic learner. All throughout school I struggled with mathematics and I came to think that I was just awful when it came to math. I excelled in all other areas of the curriculum but when it came to long division and things of that nature I thought I was better off not even trying after years of disappointment, struggles and stress.
In seventh grade a teacher, (the only teacher) changed her explanations just for me. She noticed that I wasn't grasping the formulas and I was sure to fall further behind if she didn't change something. After a week of after school sessions she was able to transform my thought process into one that associated numbers with pictures spatial proportions. With this new frame of mind I was able to work more efficiently and effectively.
This links to ELL students because these intelligences are demonstrated in a wide variety of cultures , they may manifest themselves differently in different cultures.
My teacher and all teachers should focus on giving students time to nurture and develop their own intelligences. Students & teachers need to realize their strengthens and weaknesses. If my teacher hadn't taken the time to sit down with me and discuss where my issues were stemming from I might still be in the math rut I lived with for so many years. I am still not a math whiz but I no longer let myself get stressed out and anxious anytime someone mentions algebra or fractions.
anyone have a similar story? Have you ever felt lost and not understood why?
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I also found my self interested in the multiple intelligences section of the packet. I have been noticing among my students that many of them learn in different ways also. I have to agree with you, personally, because when I was younger I hated math as well. I actually feared it (sometimes I still do haha)! Anyway, I was not as fortunate as you to have a teacher modify lessons for me! I am also more of a visual learner, and I always felt that in Math the teachers just kind of went through the lesson fast and expected the students to "just get the hang of it." I would have really appreciated it if someone had helped me the way your teacher helped you. Maybe this is why I hate math???
The school I'm working in right now has an excellent music program, which I thought was amazing. It allows the students to express themselves through music. Some people may not find this educational but I do. Gardner must think so too because one of the intelligences is musical. I think learning how to play an instrument is a hard thing to do. It was really amazing seeing my students play different instruments. Many of the students even played more than one, some even played four different instruments. I think a child that can master the violin, the clarinet, and the saxophone is extremely talented. Watching these students play these instruments made me so proud of them, and they did it with such ease! It reminded me that when I was younger, I used to play the piano and the violin. I think that having a good music program and allowing students to express themselves in this way is crucial.
I don't know if that has anything to do with the fact that now I love music so much. Hmmm...maybe?
Brendee I had a similiar experiance with a math class but I didn't find an understanding teacher until junior year of high school. I am also very visual oriented but I did do very well with word problems too. My teacher showed me how to turn math problems into visual pictures I could relate to or how I could put them into sentences that were easier for me to figure out.
When teaching an ELL student, the teacher needs to step back and take a look at what type of learner the student might be. If you can understand that then it may be easier to reach that student by creating a lesson that would appeal to him/her. Although this can't be done all the time with every lesson, the teacher just needs to give the student the tools or "formula" for learning and show them how to apply it to the lessons. That's what my math teacher did for me and it made a world of difference, math no longer looked like a foreign language.
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