Report
about what we learned in the seminar
Effective Learning and Teaching Strategies
"Everybody is Born to Learn!"
11 eager learners
participated in the seminar
the 3rd day
| "GENKI" English education homepage by T. Suzuki |
| The 3rd Summer Seminar 2002 at MSU-A Report about what we learned in the seminar Effective Learning and Teaching Strategies "Everybody is Born to Learn!" 11 eager learners participated in the seminar the 3rd day |
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Click to see each picture in a bigger size!
Go to the 4th day -- more pictures and stories Click here.
Summer Seminar related pages:
summer seminar
the 1st day
the 2nd day
the 3rd day
the 4th day
the 5th day-1
the 5th day-2
the 5th day-3
my poem
Read a poem Takeshi made for English Teaching Lovers Click here
| A Multiple Intelligences It was good that we have learned about the multiple intelligences at the seminar. |
I watched "Shaberi-ba" NHK educational program aired on August
10. About 10 young people (15 to 19 year old students) participated in
a very active discussion. A 15 year old participant brought up an interesting
topic. The smart girl, who aims to enter Tokyo University in the future,
believes that junior high school education is not necessary for everybody.
Why does she think so? It's because that almost everything she learns at
school is not interesting nor useful to her. It is a waste of time going
to school for her according to her! She thinks more freedom and more choices
should be given to young learners so that each can choose to learn what
she/he wants to learn.
Her opinions in the discussion gave me a lot of things to think about in
terms of education. What is smart or intelligence? Many say that only linguistic,
logical or mathematical intelligence are valued at school while there are
other intelligences. Is it true? What are the other intelligences? Are
they valuable for human beings? Is it possible that they can teach them
to students? Is it possible to evaluate and/or test them properly? How
about emotional intelligence, which has been frequently talked about these
days? I will keep thinking about human intelligence from now on. It was
really good that we have learned about intelligences at this seminar.
Is Intelligence Quotient getting obsolete? .... The old idea that intelligence is a single quantity that you can measure with a single number like an IQ (Intelligence Quotient) score, putting everyone somewhere on the same line from smart to dumb, is giving way. Instead, say researchers, everyone has many different intelligences. But no two people have them in the same combination..... .... The question they should be asking, says Gardner, is not 'How smart are you?' but 'How are you smart?' .... (the above is quoted from ABC News) more quotation on this - click here! |
| A Multiple Intelligences (MI) Self-Inventory for University and Adult Level
Learners Directions: Rank each statement 0, 1 or 2. Write 0 if you disagree with the statement. Write 2 if you strongly agree. Write 1 if you are somewhere in between. Then add up your total in each area. Write all your scores in the chart at the end. 1) Verbal / Linguistic Intelligence (Word Smart / Language Smart) ____ 1. I like to read books, magazines, newspapers, email and/or webpages. ____ 2. I think I am a good writer. ____ 3. I like to tell jokes and stories. ____ 4. I can remember the names of people and/or places easily. ____ 5. I like to recite tongue twisters. ____ 6. I have a good vocabulary in my naive language. ____ 7. I like to play word games, such as shiritori or karuta. 2) Logical / Mathematical Intelligence (Logic Smart / Number Smart) ____ 1. I can explain things clearly. ____ 2. I am good at chess and/or igo. ____ 3. I like to put things into categories. ____ 4. I like to play number games. ____ 5. I am very interested in computers. ____ 6. I ask many questions about how things work. ____ 7. I often do arithmetic in my head. 3) Musical Intelligence (Music Smart / Rhythm Smart) ____ 1. I can hum the tunes to many songs. ____ 2. I am a good singer. ____ 3. I play a musical instrument and/or sing karaoke. ____ 4. I can tell when music sounds off-key. ____ 5. I often tap rhythmically on the table or desk. ____ 6. I often hear music in my head. ____ 7. I sometimes make up my own tunes. 4) Visual / Spatial Intelligence (Space Smart / Picture Smart) ____ 1. I can read maps easily. ____ 2. I enjoy activities such as drawing and painting ____ 3. I like looking at art and/or fashion in museums and other places. ____ 4. Movies, slides and videos really help me learn new information. ____ 5. I love books with pictures. ____ 6. I enjoy putting puzzles together. ____ 7. I enjoy arranging things in my house or room. 5) Bodily / Kinesthetic Intelligence (Body Smart / Movement Smart) ____ 1. I like moving better than sitting still. ____ 2. It is easy for me to follow exactly what other people do. ____ 3. I am good at typing, sewing, knitting, etc. ____ 4. I am good at sports. ____ 5. I enjoy making things with my hands, such as origami. ____ 6. I enjoy running, riding a bicycle and/or dancing. ____ 7. I am good at acting or communicating with gestures. 6) Intrapersonal Intelligence (Self Smart) ____ 1. I go to the movies or other places alone. ____ 2. I like studying alone better than working in a group. ____ 3. I can tell you some things I am good at doing. ____ 4. I am interested in astrology and/ or religion. ____ 5. My friends do not always understand why I do what I do. ____ 6. I learn from my mistakes. ____ 7. I am good at planning what I will do and getting things done. 7) Interpersonal Intelligence (People Smart) ____ 1. I am often the leader in activities. ____ 2. I enjoy talking with all kinds of people. ____ 3. I often help my friends. ____ 4. People often talk to me about their problems. ____ 5. I notice how the people around me are feeling. ____ 6. I am a member of several clubs or groups. ____ 7. I think people are very interesting. 8) Naturalist (Nature Smart) ____ 1. I enjoy having a pet. ____ 2. I take care of the environment. ____ 3. I am good at shopping and cooking. ____ 4. I like gardening and/or houseplants. ____ 5. I am good at taking care of children, sick people and/or old people. ____ 6, I know the names of many plants, birds, and/or animals. ____ 7. I always notice the weather and/or the seasons. Directions: Rank each statement 0, 1 or 2. Write 0 if you disagree with the statement. Write 2 if you strongly agree. Write 1 if you are somewhere in between. Then add up your total in each area. Write all your scores in the following chart below. For example, if your added total score for the verbal/linguistic intelligence is over 11 or 12, you are well talented in the verbal/linguistic intelligence. You are word/language smart. If your score is less than 5 or 6, well, you are not so talented language-wise. ;-) But don't get disappointed. Your other intelligences might be higher than others.
Originally made by students of Mary Ann Christison, published as ''Student-Generated Inventory for Secondary-Level and Young Adult Learners,” TESOL Journal, Autumn 1996. p. 13. Adapted by Linda Peterson, with help from many students in Japan, l998. |
HUMAN BRAIN ===INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT GETTING OBSOLETE===  (quoted from World News Tonight ABC News broadcast on January 25, 1993) The human mind turns out to be far more flexible and capable in all of us than we ever thought. Scientists even believe now that whenever you learn something, you literally grow brain. You grow more links between your brain cells, little connecting strands they call dendrites. The more you are challenged, the more dendrites you grow. And unless there is a specific disease preventing it, this brain growth happens throughout life even into old age.  This has enormous implications for education of all kinds. Whenever you concentrate your thoughts, your brain begins to reorganize itself, build new connections. It actually helps to change itself, rewire itself. And this create new powers for it. The fact that we grow brain helps explain why anyone can learn. Adults learning to read or learning anything new. Anyone who is in school of any kind. Even kids born with brain damage or learning disorders. Like this young lady who was completely withdrawn until her brain was challenged by some knowing teachers.  (A teacher asks her girl student) "What do you want to be when you grow up?" (The girl answers,) "A movie star, and an artist. Of course I am an artist already, because I know I am..." Her imagination is beginning literally to change her mind. Scientists are beginning to radically change their minds about what our minds can do and about the very nature of intelligence itself. The old idea that intelligence is a single quantity that you can measure with a single number like an IQ (Intelligence Quotient) score, putting everyone somewhere on the same line from smart to dumb, is giving way. Instead, say researchers, everyone has many different intelligences. But no two people have them in the same combination. The psychologist Howard Gardner has discovered that everyone has at least seven different intelligences. (1) Interpersonal intelligence: the ability to understand other people's moods and concern. (2) Introspective intelligence: the ability to understand yourself, your own feelings. (3) Spatial intelligence: the knack of visualizing shapes or location with movement and dimensions. (4) Bodily intelligence: when the muscles have their own memory and meanings. (5) Musical intelligence: thinking in sounds in their infinite variety. (6) Verbal intelligence: the ability to use words spoken, written or just heard. (7) Mathematical or logical intelligence: numbers, symbols, abstract relations. the illustrated images of 7 intelligences by ABC News -- click here (A teacher calls to his students,) "You have 24 minutes to do this test." These last two verbal and mathematical or logical intelligences are often the only ones valued by traditional schools. It's a great waste for those schools and many employers who often fail to recognize and nurture the great variety of intelligences in those they supervise. The question they should be asking, says Gardner, is not 'How smart are you?' but 'How are you smart?' (An examiner says,) "Here's a first test item. Begin." 19 separate intelligences or aptitudes are measured at the Johnson Ocarner Institute based in Manhattan. Discovering what you are good at, they say, is critical to success. (Ms. Ellen Leifer, Aptitude Counselor explains) "Yes, that's correct. The aptitudes determine the direction that you'll get satisfaction from. The more you use your natural talents, the happier we think you will be." They believe that if you have a strong aptitude for something, you have to use it. If you are in a job or a class which does not call on your strength, it will make you unhappy, restless. It's the reason some adults never advance in their work and the reason some kids may become discipline problems or dropouts. They become bored or frustrated when what can be good at is not recognized. At this public elementary school in Indianapolis called the Key School they recognize and nurture each student's unique intelligences. Its students are just regular kids chosen at random. Yet after it was founded, it quickly got the reputation of being only for the gifted. Actually it is! The philosophy here is that every child is gifted, and they prove it. Here the seven intelligences identified by Howard Gardner are each given equal time and importance. Every child is given the chance to develop his or her unique combination of talents, which may emphasize spatial intelligence or verbal, or musical. (A boy student says,) "When I take music class, usually there's one in the day. I am really happy. And just it makes me feel better." So he does better in his other classes once his special strengths have been given the exercise they are so eager for. For those who love art (A teacher explains,) "They get confidence in art. They feel like being good in art. They get recognition for that, and it's respected. Then they have more confidence in another areas." That confidence helps their performance. And their test scores go up. These kids experience being good in some areas while learning to appreciate classmates' strength in other areas. Experienced teachers in the past have often felt every child is gifted. At this school it's policy; Nurture each student's unique combination of talents rather than look for a single IQ number. In fact psychologists say that all fixed IQ model for imagining what our minds are like has often done great damage. It has crippled many kids and adults with the notion that they are somehow stuck with inadequate minds. So they don't even try to succeed, which means they never experience the excitement of learning something new and the discovery that you play a part in controlling where your thoughts and learning will go. One psychologist Robert Stamburg says such control, the ability to organize your thoughts and coordinate them with your actions is what intelligence really is. And this can be taught to most anyone as some teachers are now doing. (A teacher asks, ) "What did you learn about shapes?" (Another teacher asks,) "What were some of the problems?" "Let him think. Let him think for a minute. He is thinking." The fancy word for this is metacognition. It means thinking about your thinking, starting to direct it, work with it. (A kid says,) "It takes time to think." Yes, it does! And in schools we visited where teachers are getting kids to realize they can invent new ways of thinking for themselves, the kids turn out to be natural at metacognition. And the test scores go up. Children's games, after all, are all about imagination. They are always making up new games with new rules, in effect, inventing new ways of thinking. The Key School even uses a game's room to help kids become aware of the enjoyable concentration they have when they are playing a game they like. The teachers then tell them to go for the same kind of fun of happy concentration in the game of learning in their classes. It works! Kids who in other schools would be just average become eager learners, truly bright, full of questions. Brain scientists might say they are growing dendrites. (transcribed by Takeshi Suzuki from World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, January 25, 1993) |
Summer Seminar related pages:
summer seminar
the 1st day
the 2nd day
the 3rd day
the 4th day
the 5th day-1
the 5th day-2
the 5th day-3
my poem
| Read My Diary 4(from January 1, 2003) other pages: MSU-A Akita JALT My Message My MSU-A Speech PALS English Class Hi! We are PALS students My thoughts about MSU-A |
| Takeshi Suzuki was asked to give a keynote speech for Winter 2001Honors Convocation held at MSU-A on February 22, 2001. You can read the full script of the speech |