Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — Although it’s helpful to teach and learn about our eight intelligences in isolation, in practice they don’t work alone. For instance, because word smart involves listening, speaking, reading, and/or writing, it’s very rare that we’re not using it. Those of you who are very picture smart probably always have pictures in your mind. They just naturally appear to help you. Our smarts aren’t always automatically engaged. If we choose to use them anyway, even when we don’t need to, we’ll have richer experiences. (Students will have deeper understanding and a longer memory for what … [Read more...]
Explaining Our Smarts Part 8 – Self Smart
April 17, 2013 by · 1 Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — Howard Gardner’s research that determined we each have eight intelligences has certainly encouraged thousands and thousands of people. I’ve enjoyed writing about each of the eight intelligences in detail these past two months. Today, we finish this series with details about self smart, or intrapersonal intelligence. Although last in our list, it’s not last in importance. The importance of each is determined by our call, passions, and purposes. For some people, this intelligence is key to their success so they’d rate it high in importance. Others wouldn’t. As I explained in their posts, word … [Read more...]
Grieving the Boston Bombings – Practical Insights to Help Process
April 15, 2013 by · 1 Comment
In light of the tragic bombings in Boston today and the loss of life and the number of injured, I thought I’d repost this blog (with some slight edits) from about a year ago. --- Grief is on my mind and it’s probably on yours. And, it’s in our hearts. Fear and confusion may be on your mind and you may notice it in your children, depending on how aware they are of what happened. Would it surprise you to know that understanding how we are smart can help us process grief, fear, and confusion well? It’s true. And, it’s important because grief isn’t well understood. Too often, people can be made to feel they’re not grieving right. Really? Disappointing. If your children have definite intelligence strengths, you’ll want … [Read more...]
Explaining Our Smarts Part 7 – People Smart
April 10, 2013 by · 1 Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — I sometimes joke that people-smart children go to school for their friends and teachers get in their way. People laugh. It’s not exactly true. It’s close, though. People smart, or interpersonal intelligence, is the seventh of our eight intelligences I’m presenting in this series of posts. As with the other smarts, everyone has at least some of it. It may be your strength and your child’s strength. Or, it may not be. Those of us with people-smart strengths think with other people. We talk even more when we get excited. You know you’re people smart if your ideas are clarified … [Read more...]
Explaining Our Smarts Part 6 – Nature Smart
April 3, 2013 by · 2 Comments
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — “It sure is ugly outside today.” “What do you mean?” “You know. It’s so cloudy and foggy. It’s dark and the air just looks heavy today.” “It’s just another kind of beauty.” “What?” “It’s just another kind of beauty.” A friend and I had this conversation. I’m the one asking “What?” with disbelief in my voice and a perplexed expression on my face. My friend is so nature smart that she sees beauty in it all. Because of her, I’m more nature smart then I used to, but I’m still not as nature smart as she is. Nature-smart children would rather be outside than inside. … [Read more...]
Smart Interactions: An Orlando Example
February 13, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — We walked past many unique stores and restaurants. We noticed one restaurant up ahead with a patio area looking over the water. We headed there. We settled into our table. Blue water was off to my left. The large Fulton’s Crab House, designed as a river boat, was also there. Straight ahead sat my good friend, Christine. Past her, I noticed many red geraniums planted on the walk way. I hadn’t noticed them when walking to the patio. After attending a leadership retreat in Orlando with 70 colleagues, most of us were spending several hours at Downtown Disney. Christine Sneeringer and I began by … [Read more...]
Strategic Use of Thinking Verbs
January 30, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — Last Wednesday, I wrote about the power of multiple intelligences. Truly – listening, reading, talking, learning, studying, and writing are all enhanced when we remember to use many smarts. In addition to the suggestions from last week and other things you’ve gleaned from my blog, we can strategically use a variety of thinking verbs to make sure we’re using all 8 smarts. To help you, here are some suggestions. Please consider printing this out and using it. Multiple intelligences are very practical! Studying with them can really help. Don’t assume your children will automatically know how to … [Read more...]
Employing the Power of all 8 Intelligences
January 23, 2013 by · 1 Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — One of the best ways to discover the power of our eight intelligences is to think about one topic with all of them. You’ll see how much more complete your understandings become. Using all eight smarts usually increases motivation, too. Back in June, I demonstrated that in this post using a pine cone as the thing to think about. Because more than one example is helpful, here’s a brief look at using all our smarts when learning about volcanoes: Word - write a story or make a speech Logic - list 10 questions and find answers to at least 3 Picture - watch a video Music - write a poem or song … [Read more...]
Motivating Children is Not a “One Size Fits All” Situation – Part 2
January 16, 2013 by · Leave a Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — When children misbehave or lack motivation, sometimes consequences help them improve. Both punishments and rewards can help. They’re most effective when both are used and when they’re related to the issue you’re hoping changes. As I pointed out in last Wednesday’s post, matching incentives and negative consequences to children’s smarts can also be effective. “One size fits all” does not work. Last week, I explained how to consider a child’s word-smart, logic-smart, picture-smart, and music-smart strengths when setting consequences. Today, I’ll cover the other four. Body smart: They … [Read more...]
Count Your Blessings
November 28, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Every Wednesday, I’ll post about multiple intelligences so we can better understand children and why they do what they do. — Do you feel yourself reacting to different situations with your intelligences? The more you become familiar with them, the more this will probably happen. It’s even possible to choose what part of the brain to think with in any situation. For example, when reacting with our logic-smartness, we may spontaneously count without thinking about it. Numbers are a natural for us. On Sunday morning, in the context of the lesson in my small group at church, our leader mentioned the song “Count Your Blessings.” As soon as she mentioned it, I began to make a list of mine in my mind and I counted them. Are … [Read more...]
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