Lecture 3 : MI

 Hey, blog fam! So today’s lecture was on Multiple Intelligences (MI), and let’s just say it shook my whole view of what being “smart” really means ,or to better say ,it made me realize some things. I always thought of intelligence as someone who is capable in every field but mostly science like: mathematics ,biology ,medicine or different fields , but Gardner’s theory totally flips that idea around – like, we each have our own custom blend of intelligences! Pretty cool, right?

According to this theory, there are eight (or nine!) kinds of intelligence. There’s your usual verbal, logical, and math types, but also some super interesting ones I never thought of, like musical, bodily-kinesthetic, and even naturalist (for those who love nature and animals!). Oh, and existential intelligence, which is perfect for people who like to get philosophical about life and existence, something that until today I dint realize . Gardner’s take? Everyone’s got their own superpowers, and I couldn't agree more .

So here’s where it gets personal: We did an online test on MI and according to the result my  top three intelligences were interpersonal, intrapersonal, and verbal/linguistic. Basically, I’m a mix of being a “people person” and also loving to spend time with my own thoughts – yep, totally me. And with verbal intelligence, I guess that’s why I love blogging and having deep convos with friends. So yes is nice to realize that maybe I might not be mathematics smart ,but I do indeed have my own intelligences which make me who I am !

A few interesting things that I found interesting in today’s lecture:

1. Different Cultures, Different Takes on MI – Did you know that places like China and Norway have started using MI in schools? In China, they view intelligence as part of a community, not just an individual thing, and in Norway, they have a great phrase for kids who can’t sit still: “children with ants in their back” (ha!).I think that this is pretty cool ,because it show that these countries have adopted and accepted their students for who they are ,they do not try to force them to fit to a certain standard of intelligence . Maybe this might be an indicator of the development these two countries have nowadays.
2. Gardner’s Roots in Psychology – Gardner was influenced by big names like Piaget and Vygotsky. He questioned the whole IQ thing, suggesting intelligence isn't a single measure, which I totally agree with after today. Actually it made me realize one thing .  I remember back when I was in high school , that I had many classmates ,that were not much dedicated to learning .In fact one student in my class was failing the year because everyone said he was not "smart" enough, but in fact when we would work on group projects he always wanted to share the concept via drawings that he would make ,which in fact were very good and understandable. Expressing himself with words wasn't his best field ,but thru his drawings you could tell that he indeed knew the concept and explained it very well thru complex drawings.
3. Egalitarian Education – MI theory is huge in making education more fair. Imagine if schools focused on each student’s unique strengths instead of just grades! By focusing in their strengths it would help them express themselves better ,and to understand what their intelligences are so they can focus their future on them .If one student might not be good in mathematics ,it may be good at literature ,so why "forcing" the student to focus on mathematics to get those good grades  ,when we can encourage the student to focus on literature ,something that might be useful for his/her future.

This whole theory makes so much sense to me. Gardner’s approach shows that intelligence isn’t a race to be “the smartest” – it’s a journey to understand what you’re great at and how you can bring that to the world. I’m definitely going to be thinking about how I can use my own MI mix, especially the interpersonal and verbal parts, to do more of what I love. And I will definitely try to encourage my students to follow their MI ,so they can be productive and at the same time do something that they love .It doesn't mean to discard completely the other fields or subjects ,but we might find a way to incorporate their intelligence in the subject that they are learning . So to find a balance between their intelligence and the objective that we want them to achieve in our class.

Thanks for reading my MI reflection – here’s to each of us rocking our unique “smarts”!

Would you like to share with me your top three intelligences?