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Intelligence Isn’t Everything
Intelligence Isn’t Everything I’m one of those moms who had their kids tested for intelligence at a very young age. I insisted they be placed in gifted programs as young as kindergarten. I made sure they had music lessons, Eric and I coached Arielle’s Odyssey of The Mind team, and I insisted on straight A’s for many years. Why? I knew my kids were capable of the work and I didn’t want them to be slackers in school like Eric and me. Eric is one of the most all-around intelligent people I know yet in school he did next to nothing and was once sent out of class because he was…
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Stretching Your Intelligence
I’m a huge fan of Kagan’s Multiple Intelligences teaching model. It’s based on the theory that students are smart in different ways. Kagan’s Multiple Intelligences teaches teachers to engage all their students through instructional strategies that target many of the intelligences at the same time. For a list of the intelligences check out one of my previous posts. What’s Your Strongest Intelligence? My strongest intelligence is Intrapersonal or as Kagan describes it: To Know Thyself Philosophers, poets, political leaders, religious figures, theologians, and visionaries have a strong intrapersonal intelligence. One of my weakest intelligences is Visual Spatial. People who appreciate architecture, arranging, decorating, painting, drawing, graphing, building models, solving jigsaw puzzles, people…
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Epic Fail Fall Cake
It all began when I was perusing the Martha Stewart dessert site and I spotted the most colorful cake I had ever seen. It was called the Super Epic Rainbow Cake. Of course in true Krista fashion I decided immediately I was going to make this super epic cake but with the colors of fall instead of rainbow colors. What better way to begin the season than with a super epic cake? That’s what I told Arielle and she replied, “but you don’t like cake. Maybe you should make recipes you want to eat.” Nah, someone will eat my cake, the fun is in the challenge of making it. That’s…
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What’s Your Strongest Intelligence?
There is little that upsets me more than when I hear a child say they aren’t smart. Unfortunately, I hear it often as a substitute teacher and it always breaks my heart. Sitting in the back of the room, arms crossed, the high school sophomore blurted out “This is an ESE class. That means we’re stupid.” Not wanting to lecture, but wanting to help, I gave a brief lesson on multiple intelligences. According to Dr. Howard Gardner’s theory, there are eight intelligences. • Linguistic Intelligence • Musical Intelligence • Logical-Mathematical Intelligence • Spatial Intelligence • Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence • Interpersonal Intelligence • Intrapersonal Intelligence • Naturalist Intelligence I explained that our…
