Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom

1. After completing the test my results were:
Naturalist – 80
Musical – 60
Logical – 70
Existential – 70
Interpersonal – 40
Kinesthetic – 70
Verbal – 40
Intrapersonal – 100
Visual – 50
The main strengths of my intelligence according to the test were Intrapersonal, Naturalist, Logical, Existential and Kinesthetic. Intrapersonal students can best be described as those who know who they are and what they stand for, often aware of their own feelings, thoughts, actions and behaviors. These types of students express their feelings toward a particular task and will let you know if they like it or not. They are comfortable with themselves, confident in their abilities and set realistic goals. My second strongest trait was the Naturalist, which could be defined as students who find organization and hierarchy within sets and can create categories based on like and unlike attributes. A logical student is one who uses reasoning and problem solving to solve the task at hand using linear, concrete, and abstract reasoning. Logical students are also aware of cause and effect relationships. A kinesthetic student is one who learns through physical interaction, these students often have developed body movement and skills such as agility, reaction, and sensory.

I did find it very interesting though that I had a low interpersonal intelligence, being a youth basketball coach all summer and often being in charge of an entire camp with other coaches following my lead I would think that leadership would be one of my qualities and one of every teacher. Other interesting qualities of interpersonal that I feel that I possess are the social elements of knowing and understanding other individuals, often knowing how a student is feeling by their body language or tone. Maybe I wasn’t feeling very interpersonal when I took the test but I feel this is most definitely an intelligence I use more than the given 40 shows. If I had to pick my best core of intelligences it would be Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Existential. I believe that my care for others is above my need for order, reasoning and hierarchy.

2. Each intelligence has different strengths and learning styles, while some overlap, some are completely unique. A student who is primarily verbal will not have the same needs as someone who is primarily visual, but students who have tendencies might not necessarily be entirely one way all the time and have the capacity to learn multiple ways.

Intrapersonal students are confident in their abilities, set realistic goals, express their opinions and feelings well, make appropriate choices and follow their instincts. These students often relate to others through their own sense of self, being confident with themselves they are often confident with others through their sense of values, morals and judgment. Intrapersonal students are those who are deeply reflective and understand themselves because they are comfortable with themselves in their thoughts, actions and behavior. Often showcasing the qualities of a quiet leader, who’s actions speak louder than words.

Interpersonal students are those who seek support of the group, value relationships, and tend to be natural leaders. This type of student are often the head of their classroom, a person other students often look to. They enjoy sharing information about themselves and might be the first student to introduce themselves in a group and be willing to get right to work, often blending with several different view points to accomplish their goal. A winning attitude that often can be transferred to their classmates who might not share the same feelings can be the added bonus of these students in the classroom and group.

Existential students seek meaningful learning and enjoy connecting different curriculums, wanting to be presented information about what they need to know and not added information to simply fill time or space. These students also have a strong connection to their friends, family and community; often feeling as though part of a “global” community seeking political activism. Existential students enjoy also making connections across other cultures and enjoy learning about the rest of the world and how their actions affect others through the arts such as philosophy, and religion.


3. The way of being able to implement several different intelligences into your classroom is that you make sure as the teacher you take into account that every student is different and unique. Using different methods of teaching can guarantee that no single student feels left out or ignored. Playing to all of the intelligence’s strength gives each student an opportunity to shine and show off their strength.

Intrapersonal students need the opportunity to be given choices and a chance to express their feelings. Using journals and other reflective activities helps aims both choices and an opportunity to reflect. Since these students have strong moral and justice values they often have an opinion on the social justice system and contribute well to group discussions though must be given a chance to reflect before answering.

A student who use interpersonal intelligence enjoy peer interaction so allowing students to work in groups allow these students to thrive, also giving them an opportunity to pick and chose their own groups. Competitive assignment also tends to bring out the best of these students who naturally want their team to do the best. Teamwork tends to be the key to including interpersonal intelligence in your classroom activities, giving these students the chance to be a leader allows them to shine and push other students as well.

Having existential intelligence in your classroom you should often have overviews, multiple view points, and relating the materials and curriculum to local and global events. These students seek to connect different events and information to a larger global picture, so helping them with an overview or outline encourages this type of thinking. Since existential students tend to have a connection to the arts, including interpretation to a painting or poem relating to the curriculum.

4. Technology is a new enterprise in education, allowing there to be more opportunities for students to learn towards their own strengths. Technology doesn’t just mean using the computer or internet, but can be counted as other educational advancements that stimulate intelligence.

Intrapersonal intelligences are stimulated by journals, diaries, surveys, class discussions, learning centers, online forms and surveys, and self assessment. Many of these technologies can be used inside of the classroom such as journals, diaries and class discussion with little interruption to other intelligences. Online forms, surveys and self assessment are possible chances for outside of the classroom growth and the opportunity for the student to grow and learn on their own.

Interpersonal intelligences are stimulated by class discussions, collaborative projects, chat, message boards, and other areas that focus on communication with others. By creating greeting cards these students are allowed to express themselves. Board games and other competitions give students a chance compete and lead which are two attributes of interpersonal intelligences that I feel allow these type of students to truly showcase their abilities.

Existential intelligences are stimulated by the arts, so art replicas/exhibits, planetariums, stage dramas, classic literature and philosophy, and focusing on symbols of religion. Students who display existential intelligence enjoy the opportunity to explore the global community and see the connections between different subjects and often form their own opinions and ideas.

5. The understanding of multiple intelligences is essential to your growth as both a person and a teacher. To understand the different mentality of people is both beneficial inside and outside of the classroom, but being able to help students at an age where they can be influenced heavily by outside sources giving them an opportunity to be unique and an individual is an important part of the education process. Understanding all of the intelligences and their strengths and weaknesses can help you plan your lessons to include all forms and not exclude certain students from the learning process. The impact on each student is that they can feel included in the classroom where sometimes students are often ignored or forgotten in other areas of their lives it is important to give them the chance to feel included. Also if you aim certain classroom activities and learning towards all of the intelligence it gives every student a chance to shine to his or her highest level. The process of including all forms of the multiple intelligences is also essential to the teacher; by being exposed to all forms you can better yourself as both an educator and person.

-Matt Melka

GO COUGS!