Chapter 9: The MI School

Chapter 9 of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom was all about the MI School – a school that not only uses, but is actually built on the ideas of multiple intelligences and differentiated instruction. Key elements of the MI School include daily instruction in all eight of the multiple intelligences. Actual physical differences in the school include things like “pods,” which act as student/teacher groups which focus on specific disciplines or pursuits, or the flow room, where students do activities that stimulate their intelligences rather than letting them flounder. Another key aspect of the MI school is mixed-age grouping. This is based on the theory that having students at different ability levels is more enriching than having a class full of students who are theoretically at the same level of mastery and ability.

Chapter 14: Responsive Report Card Formats

Chapter 14 of Fair Isn’t Always Equal looked at the differences between teachers’ and parents’ views on report cards. Parents focus on how their child is doing in comparison to the other students in the class, where a good teacher is concentrated on what the student is doing to accomplish the standards. The approach that the chapter listed that I found most helpful was called the dual approach. This involved grading both the student’s growth and achievement in relation to the expected standards. The growth element will indicate how much the student has progressed in the course of the year. I really liked the idea of presenting the grade in a format like “A3” or “B2.” I think this reaches a good balance between what the teacher thinks is important and the satisfaction of the parent worrying about his or her student’s abilities and performance.

Chapter 13: Gradebook Formats for the Differentiated Classroom

Chapter 13 focused on gradebook formats in a differentiated classroom. The system that the chapter proposed that I liked the most was categorizing graded activities by the standard that they were designed to meet. For me, this will help me stay on track – if I have to constantly list what standards were met by which of my assignments, then I will stay on track more than if I just put it on autopilot. This will keep me focused on meeting the standards I have set out. The other gradebook formats the chapter proposed, such as listing assignments by date or weight seem kind of arbitrary. The organization of the gradebooks by these systems seems to focus on the teacher more than the content or standards. The date format could help track student progress over time, however. It would be great if there were a type of gradebook that could list these grades in different systems. Can powerschool do this?

Chapter 12: Grading Scales

Chapter 12 is all about different grading scales. The bulk of the chapter focused on the pros and cons of the two most common grading scales, the 100-point scale and the 4-point scale (which also included other small-scales). The chapter discussed how things like minus grades are useless and harmful to student morale. I hadn’t heard of school districts that didn’t use minuses, and I think it’s a tiny little change in grading systems that could make an improvement on student morale. I thought that the chapter got really interesting, however, when it moved on to the section that listed more grading scales, such as “A, B, C and ‘not-yet-achieved’ or ‘you’re not done’,” or ones that listed how often students showed understanding (consistently, usually, sometimes, seldom). Also, there were scales that boiled the grade right down to the standard itself (exceeds the standard, meets the standard, making progress, getting started, or no attempt). This scale emphasizes that students can make up work and see assignments not as hills they have to get over but as roads that they can always keep going down.

Chapter 11: Six Burning Grading Issues

Chapter 11 deals with six grading issues that come up very often. The first one listed, the “Zero or Sixty” argument is one that I feel strongly about. I don’t think having a permanent zero in the gradebook is ever acceptable. On one hand, if the grade is intended to reflect understanding, it is irresponsible to assume that a student has a 60% understanding of the content. On the other hand, it’s irresponsible to assume that they know absolutely nothing about the content being graded. I also really liked the chapter’s suggestion for grading late work where you record two grades – one that reflects mastery and one that includes the late penalties. I also agreed with the suggestion that a full letter grade off is more punitive than instructive.

Chapter 10: Conditions for Redoing Work for Full Credit

Chapter 10 was about something that I feel very passionately about – full credit work redos. When the author said that in some situations, mostly when the issue is the student’s character, it is better for the student’s learning to rescind the option to redo work, I agreed – while redos are allowed in life, they’re generally not preferred. Also, bragging about knowing how to rip off the system is not a life skill. I agreed with most of the segments listed in the chapter. Not allowing redo work during the last week of the grading period sounds like it prevents many stressful situations for the teacher – as long as the students are well-aware of this policy. Of course, as mentioned before in Chapter 7, it is important for a teacher to be able to bend if it will facilitate learning in one or two individual cases.

Chapter 9: Ten Approaches to Avoid When Differentiating Assessment and Grading

Chapter 9 was a list of ten grading ideas we should avoid in our classrooms when grading. I agreed with many of these but disagreed with others. As I stated in the chapter 8 response, I think the important life skills of participation and behavior are important enough to merit grades in the classroom, as long as it is made clear to students. I agreed with most of the tenets though. I strongly agreed with the segment against grading multiple attempts at mastery. I think revising and rethinking work is very important in the classroom and in life. Students need to learn that it’s not only acceptable to make mistakes, but it is acceptable (and desirable) to try to correct them and deepen understanding of a topic. Grading students in ways that doesn’t reflect their mastery is also a bad idea. If you’ve only given verbal practice, asking them to draw a picture of what they learned just doesn’t make sense. My classroom will ensure that all students have a fair chance during assessment. I also agreed with the statement that we should avoid recording zeroes for incomplete work.

Chapter 8: Why Do We Grade, and What About Effort, Attendance, and Behavior?

Chapter 8 focuses more on the purpose of grading and the values of grading things besides content like effort, attendance, and behavior. A part of this chapter that stuck out for me was the six reasons for grading that the chapter offered. The dividing line between the top three, which were all valuable information for a teacher who’s interested in staying on top of his game, and the last three, which were not as good reasons for grading, was something I agreed with a lot. The chapter said that the bottom three reasons for grading diluted the value and accuracy of the grade. I agree with the chapter that teachers must always be focused on why they are grading. I’m not sure if I agree with the author’s sentiments about grading participation or behavior. In a discussion-based class like I want mine to be, participation is more important than he makes it seem.

Chapter 7: The Relative Nature of Grades and Their Definitions

Chapter 7 of Fair Isn’t Always Equal discusses grades themselves, and what exactly about grades makes them so feared in the classroom – what gives grades their power, and where do we make critical decisions about the weight of grades. The first main question that the chapter addresses is whether or not good teachers bend in grading decisions with individual students. The chapter makes the good point of stating that the teacher’s role is not to feed information and then simply grade how much was digested – the teacher’s role is to facilitate understanding. If bending in a grading decision will help a student to learn more, then it is the teacher’s responsibility to do so and understand why he is doing so. The second big debate in the chapter on grading is whether students should be graded at all. There is a substantial movement to eliminate grading altogether, as adding an extrinsic reward to student work eventually diminishes the quality of the work. The chapter includes these perspectives not because it agrees with them, but because they offer perspectives counter to grade-obsessed views that are more prevalent.

Chapter 8 Abstract and Synthesis

Abstract (Ted):
Chapter 8 of Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction was about grading and reporting achievement. Grading serves two primary roles in our classroom: simplifying students’ work into a single summarizing letter and letting parents, students, and administrators know how students are doing in the classroom. The chapter contends that for grades to be useful, they must meet 6 guiding principles for effective grading and reporting:

• Grades need to be based on learning goals and performance standards
  
• Evidence used for grading should only measure the goals and standards being targeted, so avoid relying on extraneous variables
  
• Grading should be based on an established criteria, ruling out grading on bell curves or mandatory grade assignments.
  
• Grading and assessment should not be confused – while everything should be assessed for learning, not everything needs to be graded
  
• Grading based on averages is a poor indicator of student learning
  
• Achievement is the main item to report, so keep it separate from unrelated items in grading
  

The chapter goes on to say that differentiating instruction is very important, so grading two different types of learning can be difficult. Therefore, it becomes important to report standards and differentiation rather than one or the other. The three items that the book suggests reporting are achievement of goals, progress towards goals, and work habits. The reporting systems the book endorses are ones that capture these three traits, although it concedes that many districts require report cards and more traditional practices.
Synthesis:
The entire class seemed to agree on the three items that the book suggests reporting: achievement of goals, progress towards those goals, and, to some degree, work habits. We were all focused on the student reactions to grades and trying to downplay the importance of grades relative to learning in our classrooms, which is one of the things that the chapter supports. I found a website that mentions these same topics – downplaying the importance of grades in students’ eyes – along with offering valuable information on other practical elements of grading in our classrooms. It offers yet another six functions of grading, mostly ones that hadn’t been discussed in great detail in the chapter.
The reporting of grades to students and parents was another topic we worried about when it came to our own classrooms. We mostly all supported the standards-based grading and reporting rather than mere activity-based grading. It’s clear that the rest of the country, at least outside the field of education, is on the fence about standards-based grading. I found a page from an Iowa administrator resource site about a shift to standards-based grading encouraging administrators to have faith in the new system, reminding them that research will continue to support standards-based grading.

Chapter 8: Grading and Reporting Achievement

Chapter 8 of Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction dealt with grading and reporting achievement. It is perfectly reasonable for parents to want to know how their children are doing, as much as it is important for students to receive informative and helpful feedback on their work. The chapter emphasizes that it’s important, however, not to let the grade get ahead of the assessment. The purpose of assessment is to measure a student’s achievement. While reporting and recording this has value both when examining a particular individual’s development and looking at statistics about achievement, the main value of assessment (to teachers, anyway) is to know what needs to be done better. Of course, grading is the part of assessment that teachers face the most pressure about – it is grades, after all, that determine if a student goes to college. That is why the principles of grading are so important. Grading with valid evidence on established criteria is important so students can understand the fairness of grading, rather than succumbing to suspicions of favoritism or arbitrary randomness. The warning to stay away from raw averages is also valid. The emphasis on reporting systems that support standards and differentiation is good for students because they get assessment of their achievement that suits them, rather than judging a dog by horse standards, for example.

Chapter 12: MI and Cognitive Skills

Chapter 12 of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom focused on a series of topics such as memory, problem solving, Blooms levels of cognitive complexity, and other ideas. The section that stuck out most to me was the one on Christopherian Encounters – those special rare moments when you suddenly realize that something you’ve been sure about was a misconception. Those moments are rare, but I honestly believe that that is the most helpful part of learning something new. I really appreciate the value of the tables in this book, and the table on Bloom’s six levels of Educational Objectives was really helpful – it’s good to think about how you can get things to stick in students’ minds not so they can rattle them off, but so they understand them. The memory section was really good too – making sure that students can pass a test is one thing, but to make sure students fully understand and can use information is another story entirely.

Chapter 11: MI and Special Education

It was really cool to hear special needs reframed as a growth paradigm instead of a weakness. I hadn’t really thought about how intelligence difficulties besides linguistic and spatial aren’t regarded by the majority with the same severity as those two. The table 11.1, which emphasized translating the traditional views of special education to a growth paradigm, was really interesting. I particularly liked the part about maintaining the individual’s integrity. Figures 11.2 and 11.3 were really eye-catching and absolutely fascinating. The high achieving people were really amazing to think about, and the suggestions for dealing with difficulties in different fields by empowering different intelligences were really helpful. I really hope that knowing this will lead to fewer referrals to special education classrooms, because I feel that isolation, in most cases, is bad for everybody involved and self-esteem is vital.

Chapter 8: MI and Classroom Management

Chapter 8 of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom discussed using the multiple intelligences as a means of managing classrooms. Many of these techniques I’ve seen used before – the summer camp I worked at made extensive use of kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal techniques for getting the attention of students. Managing individual behaviors is one of my fears, and I hadn’t thought of many of the ideas given in the chapter (Some of them would have come in very handy over the summer)! The chart that the chapter supplied was really a great summation of what the chapter was discussing. Aggressive, withdrawn, and hyperactive children have always tested me and made me doubt my ability to help them, but now that I know more than one outlet for dealing with it, I feel a lot more confident.

Chapter 5 Abstract and Synthesis

Abstract
Chapter 5 of Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design focuses on considering evidence of learning in diverse classrooms. The chapter starts by pointing out three key principles of effective assessment. The first assessment principle deals with looking at assessment as a photo album, rather than a snapshot. This means that it's better to have a wide, deep assessment sample rather than a single item of assessment. It was once said that "genius relies less on flashes of brilliance than it does on just plugging away." Photo album assessment means that there is more than one form of assessment for each content standard, and they should come from different intelligence areas. The second assessment principle demands that the assessment measure be matched with the goal it is assessing. This is the traditional "apples to oranges" argument. Educational goals can be divided into declarative knowledge (facts and knowledge), procedural knowledge (skills and techniques), and dispositions (attitudes). An assessment measuring dispositions or procedural knowledge will not effectively assess a student who has been instructed with declarative knowledge only. The assessment should always align with the goal being measured. The third assessment principle (which is brought up later in the chapter) demands that the instructor should know why they are using each type of assessment in each case, be it summative, formative, or diagnostic. I found a website that further explains these types.
The chapter makes it a point to further the distinction between inauthentic work and authentic work, ensuring that assessment have a real-life sense of importance to students. The chapter also introduces the GRASPS framework for assessment tasks. This means assessment should have:

• Goal relating to the real world
  
• Role with meaning for the student
  
• Audience from the real world
  
• Situation relating to the real world
  
• Products and Performances that are student generated
  
• Standards to judge performance success (page 70)
  

The chapter then makes it clear that diagnostic assessment is important to teaching. It says that students should be given choices in parts of their assessment, and offers a Tic-Tac-Toe board allowing students a lot of choice in their assessments. The next point the chapter makes is that teachers should make timely, specific, understandable feedback that allows for adjustment. Just as important as teacher assessment is student self-assessment and reflection. Giving students metacognitive abilities helps to solidify learning. A really good website explaining the importance of self-assessment to critical thinking can be found here.

Synthesis
The elements of the chapter that most people pulled out were the three assessment principles and the GRASPS framework for assessment. Everybody understood and agreed that the assessment principles would lead to better evaluation of students' understandings. It seemed to be a very common-sense sort of reading - we all agreed that a student with a certain intelligence preference would better express understanding in an assessment style tailored to that intelligence. The photo album assessment principle strongly stood out in agreement - we all noted that a single impression of a student's understanding will show less about that student than a long-term and comprehensive selection of assessment. The GRASPS framework and assessment principles will be very helpful in our classrooms in guiding our assessment decisions.

Chapter 14: MI and Existential Intelligence

I was really excited to read Chapter 14 of MI in the Classroom, because I’ve always related as an existentially involved individual since before I became heavily interested in music or literature, and have always kept existential concerns at the forefront of my thoughts. It probably didn’t hurt that my human behavior teacher in high school preemptively included this as one of Gardner’s intelligences. I’m glad that the chapter did not dismiss Existential Intelligence as ridiculous, even backing it up in fields like math and science. I really hope that study of existential intelligence develops further. To my own experience, people who identify as existentially intelligent can feel alienated by a curriculum that could seem useless not only to real life, but to something larger than life. There’s a reason many existential thinkers have pushed away from schooling, or sought to educate themselves.

Chapter 13: Other Applications of MI Theory

Chapter 13 of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom was really interesting – it applied Multiple Intelligence theory to fields that I hadn’t really considered. The cultural section really appealed to me, because I’ve always felt deprived of exposure to anything except certain European and American cultures. I do admit that I thought it was funny that Linda Ronstadt was the best Hispanic American musically intelligent person they could come up with (although I love her music). I was also really interested in the computer aspect of Multiple Intelligence Theory – I liked how the book said that computers were intelligently neutral and relied upon the software to interact with users. The career counseling part struck me well too – I feel like I never had any career counseling, but that may have been because I was so sure of what I wanted to do when I graduated from high school.

Chapter 7: MI and the Classroom Environment

Chapter seven of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom really appealed to me – I took a Human Behavior course in high school that really did a lot to clue me into the effects of a student’s immediate environment on learning, understanding, and demonstrating knowledge. The list of questions is really helpful – if the needs that applied to me were not met in a classroom, I would have a lot of difficulty concentration, and I certainly understand that other people would be just as concerned about other issues. The grid of topic-specific and open-ended for centers addressing intelligences seem like a really great idea, but in a small classroom the temporary centers may be difficult to pull off. I’d definitely run through the checklist before opening my classroom for business!

Chapter 9: Curriculum and Instruction Through the Lens of UbD and DI

Chapter 9 of Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction was intended as a wrap-up of the Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction models. For me, the most helpful parts of the chapter were the ones that described the health unit according to the models. The chapter definitely made it clear that using these models is not an easy process – it takes systematic planning and dedication, but it is absolutely worth it to help the students succeed. The chapter warns against letting us cower in our comfort zones and make steps to keep learning new things. I personally am ruing the fact that it’s irresponsible of me to learn Spanish, but I recognize that it’s probably going to be important for me to make that step someday. I think I need to work more on curriculum planning, as that’s where I feel I’m having the most trouble.

Teaching in a Diverse World

The first seminar I attended on Thursday was "Debunking the Myth of Homogeneity in Maine."  It was really interesting - Dr. Achenson shared a series of quotations she has heard or read in studies, straight from the mouths of students, parents, and teachers.  During that powerpoint, she shared a collection of anecdotes about Franco-Americans, immigrants, class, and discrimination that seemed like they were taken from a collection of sources. She revealed, however, that all of the anecdotes, as varied as they were, were all from her own childhood in Maine.  I learned that what Maine lacks in racial diversity (which is becoming more prevalent), it more than makes up for in national background diversity.  I come from a French background, and I had no idea that the Maine Ku Klux Klan attacked Franco-Americans in the early 20th century.  

The other conference I attended was "Growing Up Poor," with Elyse Pratt-Ronco.  This was a powerpoint presentation describing Maine rural families living below the poverty line, and explained the Bronfenbrenner systems model, a series of systems spreading out from the individual. This model is supposed to help people empathize with other people who are, essentially, living in a different reality due to personal and social differences.  She worked with Upward Bound students by giving each student a camera and asking them to take photos resembling family, friends, school, home, and other aspects of their lives.  This helped her get a personal feel for what it's like to grow up in rural poverty, where urban poverty has a great deal of research devoted to it.

Chapter 6: MI and Teaching Strategies

Chapter Six of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom was immensely helpful. I’ve been having trouble wrapping my head around how some of the intelligences could be addressed in an English classroom. The trouble spots for me have mostly been Naturalist intelligence, logical intelligence, body intelligence, and spatial intelligence. This chapter was full of really great ideas, and it was good to read the context that the strategies could be used in as well. For naturalist, I really like the idea of going on a nature walk – that could be good for a day of writer’s workshop. Classroom theater would be really good for discussing a play. Idea sketching out a plot line would be really good in my classroom for spatial, and I was really surprised that I’ve always left out the organization and logic aspect of logical intelligence, focusing instead on math and science. Logical organization would be my best bet for that intelligence in my classroom.

Chapter 5: MI and Curriculum Development

Chapter Five of the Multiple Intelligences book was about the role of Multiple Intelligence theory in developing our curriculums. The long lists of ideas for teaching to different intelligences was really helpful – that would be a good few pages to have an extra copy of, maybe to keep somewhere. I may have trouble coming up for ideas for some of the other intelligences I don’t really relate to, like naturalist or spatial, so it’s good to have a laundry list of ideas that can be elaborated on. I think this chapter will be very important when I’m teaching a classroom. I’m starting to realize the importance of having a professional library. The idea of making an eight-branch graphic organizer is also really helpful to me.

Chapter 7: Teaching for Understanding

The highlight of Chapter Seven of UbD/DI was the explanation of WHERETO. The WHERETO framework has seven sections with a few questions to consider for each one. The first focuses on what is being taught, why it’s worth knowing, and what evidence will show the learning. The second focuses on hooking and holding the learners’ attention. The third aims at equipping students to master standards and making learning experiences to help develop and deepen understanding. The fourth encourages learners to rethink, revise, and refine their ideas throughout their lives. The fifth point urges student self-evaluation. The sixth focuses on tailoring activities and instruction to differentiated learners. The last aspect of WHERETO is organization, or the order in which teachers address parts of instruction. The other part of the chapter that really struck me well was the rejection of the “ladder” metaphor for education.

Chapter Six: Responsive Teaching with UbD

Chapter Six of UbD/DI was mostly a series of tables offering instructional and management strategies. Mortimer Adler’s division of the teacher’s three key instructional roles (direct instructor, facilitator, and coach) makes a lot of sense, and the table that offers the students counterroles to each of the teacher’s roles. Since we’re doing all of this Stage 1 and Stage 2 stuff, I thought it was a really interesting idea to share the information on our sheets with the students – after all, making education a series of surprises for students doesn’t seem to make that much sense now that I think about it. The idea of flexibly using classroom elements as a way to address student needs was interesting too, especially on the topic of space. I was really struck with the efficiency of clustering learning needs together and addressing them as groups. It looks like a lot of work, but using these elements in my classroom will be really helpful.

Chapter 6: Creating Good Test Questions

Chapter Six of Fair Isn’t Always Equal was about designing tests and test questions that will most reflect students’ learning. It’s very refreshing to read that teachers are now keeping an active eye out for confusing negatives or “trick” questions. If I had read that as a student, I wouldn’t have believed it – it seemed like those things were the only prerequisites for a test. Everything in this chapter sounded great for my class – I’m glad there’s so much innovation in crafting test questions. I’ve often found myself stuck coming up with ideas for what I will write for tests (when I have a class).
The section that I’ve seen the most in classes, and that I most anticipate, was putting fun into test questions. Especially painful puns are my specialty, and that’s going to make these tests easier for both me and the students (I hope!).

Chapter 5: Tiering Assessments

Chapter 5 of Fair Isn’t Always Equal was all about tiering, which is the technique of building platforms around the on-grade level to accommodate early readiness students and advanced readiness students. I feel like this is one of the parts of education that was either overlooked as a student, or went unused in my schools. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the students in our class said that they were bored in classes in high school to the point of hurting our learning.
I really appreciate the Tic-Tac-Toe boards, partially because of novelty (this is my first introduction to this assessment style), and partially because I love how much choice it endows students with. Students get to choose 3 ways to best express their knowledge and understanding, rather than force themselves into a hole through which they won’t fit.
The taxonomy of creativity also really connected with me – I can’t wait to incorporate those elements into my lessons. Like the chapter concluded, it seems like tiering needs practice, but I can’t wait until I am an expert at it.

Chapter 4: Three Important Types of Assessment

Chapter four of Fair Isn’t Always Equal looked at three assessment types. I’ve been in classrooms that used all of these types. My high school English classes in particular used all three types of assessment at the same time. Portfolios are a good type of assessment to look at the span of an entire year – I remember choosing documents in different learning areas of my English class and explaining why I chose those items for my portfolio. I remember picking out well-done items for my portfolio and feeling really proud of myself when I was finished – that is a feeling I’d like to be present in my classroom.
Rubrics were the most common assessment style used in my schooling. They’re good for traditional school products like essays or projects because they lay out the guidelines clearly, and the student can see exactly what needs to be done to demonstrate knowledge, skill, and understanding. I liked examples 4.2 and 4.3 because they spent the most time discussing what the standard of excellence looks like, making it easier to aim for excellence instead of shooting for mediocrity.
I really like the student self-assessment type. It’s good to get students thinking about their own work. All of the techniques the book proposed sound good to use in my own classroom.

Chapter 10: MI and Assessment

The chapter on Multiple Intelligences and Assessment had a great many suggestions for assessing students. The chapter started off with a good laundry list of observational assessment that we can use. Observational assessment is good because it’s almost always authentic. Observation forces the assessor to look at students’ abilities and works, strengthening impressions of multiple intelligences. One idea that I was somewhat surprised with but really liked was informally administering a standardized test. In addition to relaxing students and keeping them from freaking out (which is a normal response to standardized tests), the test would give students the chance to see what standardized tests look like. Familiarity with standardized tests could help prepare them for taking high-risk tests like the SAT (assuming, probably rightfully, that College Board doesn’t make sweeping changes recognizing the validity of Multiple Intelligence Theory). On that note, the large tables comparing Standardized Testing to Authentic Assessment made the distinction even clearer than it has ever been.
The section on assessing in eight ways, suggesting for each intelligence various ways to let students show their knowledge about specific topics. I really liked the large eight-by-eight grid showing assessment contexts for assessment by activity. If I can overlap certain activities, it will certainly help my own classroom. The MI Portfolio will also be really useful, providing I can use it correctly. I think I should be able to.

Chapter 3: Principles of Successful Assessment in the Differentiated Classroom

This chapter repeated a lot of what we’ve already read in other books. I take this as emphasis of the chapter’s importance rather than needless repetition. Everything from avoiding fluff to furthering differentiated instruction to keeping one’s eye on the essential goals was reiterated in my mind as I read this chapter. The bulk of material in this chapter, which for the most part was reiterating differently things we’ve already read about, was summed up excellently toward the end. The “good assessment” bullet list would be a great thing to scan down when testing out an assessment strategy for the first time in a classroom, especially if I’m nervous about it.

Chapter 2: Mastery

Chapter Two and its focus on mastery of subject was immensely helpful to me. I have always thought about the ambiguity of exactly where a student was supposed to be in understanding of subjects by the time a unit was over. The definitions that the chapter compiled were helpful, but I can see this as something I need to define for myself in my school. My high school always had some infatuation with students reaching mastery, but I’m not certain the teachers ever discussed the definition of mastery in the teachers’ lounge. Again, the table on page 13 was invaluable for me to see examples of mastery.

Chapter 1: The Differentiated Instruction Mind-set: Rationale and Definition

Chapter one explained the differentiated instruction mindset, which focuses on fairness in instruction and assessment for students. The example of the two kids sitting at the back of a class, one with glasses and one without, was very well-crafted. I hadn’t heard it before. I like how the book, which I assume will focus on assessment, referred to Differentiated Instruction as a mindset, implying its value could exceed instruction. As we’ve pointed out in other readings, the Differentiated Instruction mindset is one that I wholeheartedly agree with and plan on using in my own classroom eventually.

Chapter 5: Considering Evidence of Learning in Diverse Classrooms

This chapter was packed with great things to keep in mind. The one that really popped out at me was GRASPS, mostly because I’ve heard the term before but never had it explained to me. All of these mnemonic devices in our books are going to be very helpful. Also very helpful to me were all the tables, like the one comparing authentic and inauthentic work. The 3 assessment principles will be used in my classroom – they make sense, but I hadn’t exactly thought of them or put them into words yet.

Chapter 4: Teaching Students About MI Theory

I’d always just figured that I would explain the Multiple Intelligences theory to students. While a lot of the techniques explained in this chapter were innovative and creative, many of them seem to be targeted towards younger children. These are of course excellent techniques for those grade levels, in my opinion. However, this is operating under the assumption that they’ve already been introduced at one point to these, as I was. If students have never been introduced to MI Theory, these may be excellent ways to start. In that case, I’d be glad to use them in my classroom. For my envisioned classroom, the biography exercise would be very fitting, as would the reading from books about MI Theory. I also thought the Human Intelligence Hunt was a really cute idea, especially for students who don’t know each other very well. It almost (almost) makes me wish I were planning on teaching a younger crowd.

Chapter 3: Describing Intelligences in Students

This chapter, while repeating a lot of information about Multiple Intelligences that we’ve already become familiar with, offers a great deal of useful information-seeking techniques to become very comfortable with students’ strong intelligences. I was a little surprised and frustrated with the initial contention that quick tests shouldn’t be used to exactly identify students’ strong multiple intelligences. It seemed to me like that would have been a good technique to get an immediate inventory of students, even if it weren’t exact. I think it could work if there were also personal connection to students. A lot of the ideas offered sound really helpful for going in depth.

Chapter 4: What Really Matters in Planning for Student Success?

Chapter 4 was a handy laundry list of teaching attitudes and skills that teachers should strive to be. I was somewhat surprised by how much importance was attributed to including students in classroom decisions around their own learning. I still have the mental paradigm that students are trying to get out of work, but I imagine that the other elements of DI and UbD would soften the relation between students and teachers. The advice that seemed most helpful to me was building awareness of what works for each student. I really like the idea of having a fact base for each student that helps me remember how they learn best.

Chapter 3: What Really Matters in Learning? (Content)

This chapter plainly explained the scope of our essential standards by giving two examples that were too big and too small, and making them correct. The clear description of the 3 Stages plan was very helpful, especially as I was making my key understandings and essential questions. I’m glad they pointed out the “twin sins” of classroom planning and teaching – that’s good to know. I can imagine it might be easy to accidentally slip into those habits, and it doesn’t seem like it would be easy to get back on track. The planning template is something that would be very helpful to use in a classroom.

Chapter 2: MI and Personal Development

This last chapter makes it a point to make it clear that the favored intelligences of the educator will be evident in the classroom. It is important not to obscure less favored intelligences in the classroom, so the teacher must be proactive in including other intelligences, either through student involvement or seeking advice from a colleague. The chapter emphasizes that a teacher can take steps to develop intelligences that have maybe been missed out on earlier in life. The example of Mozart really helped to show the importance of nurture in the theory of multiple intelligences.

Chapter 1: The Foundation of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences

This chapter really made multiple intelligences fall into place for me. I’d always had a vague detached understanding of Multiple Intelligence Theory since even elementary school, but until this reading it never really connected. The big chart starting on page four showed me just how big the scope of MI theory is. I also hadn’t thought about the tests that Howard Gardner set up to prove the labels of his intelligences. The key points that the chapter discussed were helpful too: I hadn’t thought how an activity could connect to many intelligences – the examples for multiple intelligences that are usually given are isolated to that one intelligence.

Chapter 2: What Really Matters in Teaching? (The Students)

This chapter definitely forces the focus towards the students, where it should be. The examples the chapter gave of students who have barriers that need accommodation were striking. The example of Noah, who couldn’t sit still at his desk because he was a physical learner, really stood out to me as a fidgeter myself. I remember putting a lot of effort into suppressing that motion instead of putting the effort into learning, and I’m glad people are starting to pay attention to what really matters in a classroom. The chart in the chapter shows how much variation there is in any given classroom.

Chapter 1: UbD and DI: An Essential Partnership

The seven axioms and their corollaries presented in Chapter 1 definitely do explain that Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction go hand in hand with one another. It seems like Understanding by Design could probably merit some explanation, as I don’t know if I completely understand what it is just yet. I agree with all of the axioms presented. I really agree with Axiom 3 – work and activities that seem pointless and don’t apply to one’s life are really bad for learning. I definitely see that the benefit of a good classroom comes only with a lot of concentration and deliberate planning.