Edited by author 04-25-2006 03:34 PM
There are so many good things going on here that I'm not sure where to start. First of all, thanks for that link to the multiple intelligences quiz online. I loved that Meg used it her classroom, and the online version is a great way to teach our students that it is ok to learn in different ways. Of course, it is key that our kids know what we are talking about, and speak this language, and it is wonderful that there are teachers out there who make that clear to them.

I also found the discussion on block scheduling interesting, as I am about to be challenged to create a lit block in 8th grade, which Rita is already succeeded at in 7th. I cannot see how a student could ever sit through 80 minutes of lecture -- I never could have. Activities certainly need to be varied and thinking them through using Gardner is a great way to deal with it.

Regarding the Donald Graves conference this past weekend, I think that the reader/writer workshop accomplishes many things that the first article in this discussion deals with. First, the r/w workshop truly does teach students to ask questions of themselves and others, to do things hands on, and to recreate things, which Gardner discusses in his importance of actively engaging students.

As to Donald Graves' focus on learning/reading/writing WITH the students, it gives the teacher an opportunity to frame a MEANING for the activity, to show that they can truly USE the activity, and not just in the classroom.

The notion of choice is important in reading or writing, as far as topics, but it is also essential to expose children to different processes, or ways to acheive an end. Each writer is different, and the more processes we can expose our students to, the more likelihood that even the most struggling writer can find one he/she can succeed at, whether it is musical, kinesthetic, spacial, mathematical, etc. We need to begin to show different paths instead of merely the end!