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As a teacher it is important to take into consideration how your students will internalize the material you teach them. Each student will learn differently and have a diverse range of subjects that will stimulate their minds in various ways. This is something a teacher should take into consideration when planning classes. The theory of multiple intelligence is based around this idea and suggests that all people have different kinds of “intelligences,” or intellectual potentials in different fields/subjects. There are eight theorized intelligences which include visual-spatial, linguistic-verbal, interpersonal, intrapersonal, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, and naturalistic. Each one of these relates to different areas of learning. As a teacher it is important to keep the different intelligences in mind when planning your lessons and try to include activities that will stimulate most, if not all, of the types of intelligences in your class. By doing this you are able to ensure your students will have an enjoyable learning experience. Most traditional class settings teach towards linguistic-verbal and logical-mathematical intelligences, but it is necessary and easy to incorporate activities for other forms of intelligence such as spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, and musical. Each of the intelligences listed above has a specific area or way of learning that they tend to lean towards. Visual-spatial deals with the ability to visualize things while bodily-kinesthetic deals with an affinity to physical movement and motor control. Those with linguistic and verbal intelligence tend to have strong skills in words, language, and writing while those with logic and mathematic intelligence are good at reasoning, recognizing, and problem solving. Interpersonal has the ability to understand and relate to others and intrapersonal deals with introspection and self-reflection. Finally, those with musical intelligence usually learn through patterns, rhythms, and music, and naturalistic intelligence finds relationships to nature. Each child is going to learn differently and will understand material if it is taught to them in a different way besides the traditional sit down and lecture. Every student has their own style of learning and they are heavily influenced by what intelligence they are classified as. For example, a bodily-kinesthetic learner will learn better when they are moving, and they tend to have better physical control and hand-eye coordination than their peers. This type of learner will do much better in a class where physical movement is incorporated into the curriculum, so while lesson planning it is important to include some activities that will stimulate this learner’s brain. In a lesson about the alphabet with kindergarteners, create a matching game where the students are required to match a letter (or object) in their hand with a corresponding one on the floor at the front of the room. They must find the letter and say the letter before they can go back to their seat. This is a simple way of stimulating the student’s movement centers while forcing them to think about what the letter is, and where it goes. In this same type of lesson, the teacher could create movement for each letter of the alphabet and as the students sing the alphabet song they would be required to with the song. These are simple ways to excite a student who learns through bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. The first activity could also work for visual spatial learners while the second activity could work for musical learners. The above examples are simple ways to engage students with multiple intelligences and it adds activities for all the students to participate in that are different and could be considered fun. By taking into consideration the theory of multiple intelligence when planning classes, a teacher can make sure they include activities that stimulate all of their students and gets them interested in the topics being covered. This can also lower the amount of teacher talk time in a lesson because it allows students to think on their own as they are doing the exercises. In a lot of traditional class settings, the teacher will focus the lessons on activities that work well for students who learn through towards linguistic-verbal and logical-mathematical intelligences, but it is necessary and easy to incorporate activities for other forms of intelligence such as spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, and musical.
