We had a great week in Mobile at our STIAchievement Services Summer Training. The last two days were especially great. Our guest speaker was Branton Shearer from Kent Ohio. Dr. Shearer is the creator of the MIDAS inventory for Multiple Intelligences (MI). OK, I am not the best tour guide in the world, and I took him to Dauphin Island. Not a good choice in my humble opinion. It was my first time to visit Dauphin Island as an adult. I should have taken him to Washington Co for a tour. I would have been a much better tour guide there.
Dr. Shearer did a great job with his multiple intelligences workshop. I learned so much about myself and about those around me. I cannot wait to get my certificate from him so I can begin sharing MI with others in the schools where I work. I truly believe in MI, and I know we would have better results in our schools if teachers used MI in their lesson planning more effectively.
We so often forget just how unique we all are as individuals, and as teachers, we tend to teach to those "like us". When I taught at Mae Eanes Middle School my first year as a teacher, I realized students had MI. When we utilize the fact that our students have MI in our classrooms, more learning can take place.
I believe the reasons I had the success I enjoyed with my students are directly related to the fact I understood a simple concept: Children are different. Children think differently. Our teaching should reflect those differences. Dr. Shearer validated so much of what I had believed and implemented as a teacher with his studies. Most funding sources today ask for Scientifically-research-based strategies. Well the MIDAS is scientifically based. He has thousands of profiles and many studies to prove the MIDAS has value and predictability on the MI of children and adult students.
However, like most educational strategies, the key is not in the profile itself. The key to the success of using MI profiling is to actually change instruction and student behavior based on the information the MIDAS provides.
I loved one of the quotes from Dr. Shearer's workshop. "It is not HOW SMART ARE YOU? but rather HOW ARE YOU SMART?" That is the question we should all be asking ourselves and our students. How are you smart?
Oh well, I have to call my mom and see if she will give me some of her flint rocks. Keep you guessing, unless you were at the workshop. Until next time... SBO
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