MI Chapter 10

Chapter 10 makes a very good point in saying that if you teach the lesson using MI theory, you should also assess using MI theory.

I found this chapter very interesting because I think this is something I will struggle with in my classroom. When I look back through my schooling, I can’t honestly think of any examples of using all eight intelligences to assess a lesson, and that’s extremely disappointing. I was particularly taken with this chapter because I think that past experiences will make it harder to master this idea.

I thought that the chapter made a good point in saying that any types of assessment should start with observation. This does not just apply to MI theory, and I think it makes this easier to work with. The idea that really seemed to strengthen my confidence in my ability to use this was using links to the students’ lives. If I’m working from observing my students, I should be able to come to some conclusions about appropriate links that connect to them. This idea helps break down any of the confusion about how tying in MI to assessment could happen in every class.

Finally, I really like the idea of tying all of the assessments back to portfolios, which are a concept any content area or teacher can easily handle. Also, tying in the idea that every portfolio should, in some way, support all of the eight areas, could be helpful to any teacher, and would prevent them, at least to some degree, from forgetting about differentiated instruction in assessment.