How might incorporating multiple intelligences into math lessons impact students learning?

Seminar Title

How might incorporating multiple intelligences into math lessons impact students learning?

Multiple Intelligences in mathamatics

Kindergarten

Elementary

Mathematics

All Disciplines

How can we do our best to differentiate for our students without creating a great deal of extra work for ourselves? Does differentiation even make an impact? What does differentiation look like in a primary elementary classroom? In order to help answer these questions and guide my review of literature, I researched the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics eight Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices in order to best serve my students. Through researching the most effective practices I decided to focus my action research on incorporating various multiple intelligences into a kindergarten math block. The research was done in a kindergarten math classroom, but having taught second and third grade before, the same principals could be transferred to that grade level as well as any subject.

My interest in this topic came about because I was trying to figure out how to best and most effectively teach mathematics after a change in grade levels. After learning more about teaching best practices in mathematics I focused in on incorporating multiple intelligences into our math time. I wanted to make the most efficient use of time and resources for students. The idea behind including various intelligence throughout our math lessons each week was to give each student the chance to be exposed to the learning style that might fit them best. It also gave various opportunities for students to reinforce the concept being taught. To track my data I used FastBridge, unit tests, and teacher observation. Our FastBridge test was given in September and again in January. I used these results to show overall growth from the start of the school year to the midway point. Unit tests were given upon the completion of each unit in the curriculum. I only kept track of the final unit test, but also gave a pretest and mid-unit check as well. Generally speaking the pretest and mid-unit check were short and had high percentages for scores. The unit tests gave a better idea of students’ understanding because they contained more problems for students to solve. Finally, I also used teacher observation. Formal assessments are nice, but they cannot necessarily give clues into the reasoning why or give an explanation for a score. As teachers we know our students. We know their strengths and their areas of growth. By knowing these things I could tailor their experiences with the intelligences to meet their needs. Overall, my findings have been fairly inconclusive. In an ideal world I would be able to say for certain that incorporating various intelligences into our math block has made a positive impact. Unfortunately, I can’t be certain that is the case. However, I do believe that it has not had a negative impact. Students are enjoying participating in a variety of learning experiences. It has given them a chance to explore which intelligences might work best for them in the future. The content in our curriculum is very basic therefore, I can only assume that through teacher observations, FAST Bridge data, and chapter tests that students are gaining some benefit from learning through multiple intelligences.