Howard Gardner’s theory of five minds breaks down the way
people’s minds process information.
According to Gardner, student’s potential can only be nurtured if
teachers can express a clear objective (Bellanca & Brandt, 2010). As an educator being aware of the five minds
theory will help us be aware of the diversity of students and how they process
information. Teachers also need to
capture the student’s attention that can be done through the use of integrating
the big idea question. This question
encourages students to ask follow up questions, make predictions, and discover
new information (Coffman, 2013). The
encouragement of this thinking allows for the students creative minds to kick
in and process the information critically.
Technology in the world is evolving and the education system isn’t
evolving with the technological advances. Students today grow
up learning from technology, enter the school systems and have to learn
how to absorb information in a new way. Teachers today need to
incorporate learning the same way students grow up learning outside
schools today possibly through these big idea questions. Both creative and critical thinking cause
students to think broadly and deeply using many types of the mind theory which
shadows thinking skills that will be used throughout student’s lives. Adapting my material to consider how the
students in my classroom are best at learning and absorbing information will do
excellent teaching in my classroom.
Creating the classroom environment for student to best succeed is done
by thinking of the students and the technological advances of the world today.
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out that teachers need to express a clear objective in order for students to reach their full potential. This is extremely exigent to us as future teachers, in that this is a good reminder that we should articulate, post, etc. the daily objectives so that our students will be aware of them. Furthermore, I agree that our educational system is not evolving with technology. Last semester, I remember McCall would always say, "Schools don't exist in a vacuum," and I believe this applies to technology. The purpose of our educational system should be to serve our society, and this can not be done without current technology.
I like the idea of keeping the Big Idea question incorporated throughout instruction. It reminds me of how Dr. Pailen would talk about “through-lines” in Teaching of. We need to ensure that students stay interested and *invested* in the content/concepts with which we are attempting to engage them. This also makes me ask, “How would a teacher be able to know whether she/he is successfully integrating the Big Idea throughout her/his lessons?” and I immediately think of what we’ve been talking about in 351, and throughout our EDUC courses, really – the importance of assessment.
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