Teaching multiple intelligences

The more I learn about multiple intelligences the more mad I get at standardized testing and No Child Left Behind. Our schools are essentially being forced to focus on two intelligences, math and logic, so they can meet the government's standards. In so doing we are indeed leaving intelligent children behind!

The truth is that there are eight, possibly nine or even more, intelligences. There are a number of tests online to help you figure out what your strongest intelligences are. I like this one, because of how they display the results. However, it excludes one of my strongest intelligences, existential intelligence. Here is a printable version of a test, that includes existential intelligence, that you can use in your classroom (or future classroom).

I do wonder though, if a written test is an unfair way of measuring some people's intelligence, is a written test the best way to discover a person's intelligence strengths?

A student-made curriculum?

The argument in Young Minds, Fast Times is that the best source to learn how to teach our students, is the students themselves. I couldn't agree more. When I was a student in grade school (and still in some classes in college) I knew that my voice didn't affect anything. My peers and I agreed that school was mostly boring and that the teachers didn't listen to us. After a while, you accept that school is just like that, and you think, perhaps that's the only way it can be.

Thank goodness for educators like Marc Prensky. He decided to use his position as a presenter to educators, to bring the voice of students to the foreground. At his presentations he has a panel of students who share their opinions and experiences of school, and what they would like to change.

This is a new approach to education. It's almost like treating it as a business, where the students are the customers. No successful businesses tell their customers what's good for them or what to like, they cater to their clientele. Why shouldn't schools do the same?

Podcasts in the classroom

For those of us who find the iTunes store frustrating, confusing, or just not helpful when looking for education related podcasts, there is a great site: EPN the education podcast network.

This site has podcasts categorized by elementary, middle and high school, and by 14 different subjects, including music education, with 80 podcasts listed under that subject. You can also share any podcasts that you have found or made yourself through their "sugest a podcast" option.

Earthdance

In my exploration of the internet recently, I came across a site called Earthdance. It serves as a networking site to coordinate a yearly, simultaneous, global music and dance festival with the goal of promoting peace.
It began in 1997 with 22 cities in 18 countries. It has grown to over 300 locations in 60 countries.

Every public Earthdance event donates at least 50% of its profits to local charities that fit into one of the following areas:

• The Welfare of Children & Urban Youth
• Indigenous Peoples & Cultures
• International Relief and Development
• Environmental Sustainability & Protection
• Organizations that help Promote Peace

Earthdance 2008, was on September 13th, so I assume that it will happen around the same time next year. The closest location to Maine was Washington DC, and I don't know about everyone else, but as a college student, it's difficult to travel that far in regards to both money and time, particularly in the school year. I wonder if this is something that could happen up here? Perhaps on a much smaller, private scale?