The Brain and Beyond

Mrs. Sterbinsky
Advanced Responding to Reading
UEQ: How will understanding my cognitive style
increase my ability to learn?
 Outline
• Learning Styles
– How do I learn best?
– What study strategies are preferred for my learning style?
• Multiple Intelligences
– What are multiple intelligences?
– Where do my intelligences lie?
• The Brain
– Decision making: What makes us moral?
– How does our memory operate?
– How can we keep our brains sharp?
– How does the teen brain differ from the adult brain?
– Who’s better at what?: boys vs. girls
– What does the word genius mean?
Multiple Intelligences
EQ: What are multiple intelligences?
Do Now: What is intelligence?

Intelligence:
-the ability to comprehend; to understand and
profit from experience
-the ability to learn, reason, and problem
solve.
 Multiple Intelligence
• Intelligence is often considered how well you score
on tests or what your grades are in school
• Howard Gardner
– Recognized many discrete (separate) facets of
cognition (The mental process of knowing, including aspects
such as awareness, perception, reasoning, and judgment).
– People have different cognitive strengths and
styles
 How many are there? 7-8-9?
• Multiple Intelligence (MI) theory states that there are at least
different ways of learning anything

1- body/kinesthetic
2- interpersonal
3- intra-personal
4- logical/mathematical
5- musical/rhythmic
6- verbal/linguistic
7- visual/spatial
8- naturalist (newly added)
9- existential? (newly added but many do not agree)
 Where does your true intelligence lie?

• Please pull out a piece of lined paper. You will now take a
quiz that will tell you where you stand and what to do about
it.

• Read each statement. If it expresses some characteristic of

yours and sounds true for the most part, jot down a "T." If it
doesn't, mark an "F." If the statement is sometimes true,
sometimes false, leave it blank.
 MI Test (Part 1)
1. _____ I'd rather draw a map than give someone verbal directions.
2. _____ I can play (or used to play) a musical instrument.
3. _____ I can associate music with my moods.
4. _____ I can add or multiply in my head.
5. _____ I like to work with calculators and computers.
6. _____ I pick up new dance steps fast.
7. _____ It's easy for me to say what I think in an argument or debate.
8. _____ I enjoy a good lecture, speech or sermon.
9. _____ I always know north from south no matter where I am.
10. _____ Life seems empty without music.
11. _____ I always understand the directions that come with new
gadgets or appliances.
12. _____ I like to work puzzles and play games.
13. _____ Learning to ride a bike (or skates) was easy.
14. _____ I am irritated when I hear an argument or statement that
sounds illogical.
15. _____ My sense of balance and coordination is good.
 MI Test (Part 2)
16. _____ I often see patterns and relationships between numbers faster and
easier than others.
17. _____ I enjoy building models (or sculpting).
18. _____ I'm good at finding the fine points of word meanings.
19. _____ I can look at an object one way and see it sideways or
backwards just as easily.
20. _____ I often connect a piece of music with some event in my life.
21. _____ I like to work with numbers and figures.
22. _____ Just looking at shapes of buildings and structures is
pleasurable to me.
23. _____ I like to hum, whistle and sing in the shower or when I'm alone.
24. _____ I'm good at athletics.
25. _____ I'd like to study the structure and logic of languages.
26. _____ I'm usually aware of the expression on my face.
27. _____ I'm sensitive to the expressions on other people's faces.
28. _____ I stay "in touch" with my moods. I have no trouble identifying
them.
29. _____ I am sensitive to the moods of others.
30. _____ I have a good sense of what others think of me.
 MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE SCORING SHEET
Place a check mark by each item you marked as "true.” Add your totals. A total of four in any of the
categories A through E indicates strong ability. In categories F and G a score of one or more
means you have abilities as well.

A B C D E F G
Linguistic Logical/ Musical Visual/Spatial Bodily- Intrapersonal Interpersonal
Mathematical Kinesthetic

7 __ 4 __ 2 __ 1 __ 6 __ 26__ 27__
8 __ 5 __ 3 __ 9 __ 13__ 28__ 29__
14__ 12__ 10__ 11__ 15__ 30__
18__ 16__ 20__ 19__ 17__
25__ 21__ 23__ 22__ 24__
__ __ __ __ __ __ __
Total
s:
 Is this you?
Children who Think Love Need
are strongly:
Verbal/ in words reading, writing, telling books, tapes, writing tools paper diaries,
Linguistic stories, playing word games, dialogues, discussion, debate stories
etc.
Logical- by reasoning experimenting, questioning, things to explore and think about, science
Mathematical figuring out puzzles, materials, manipulatives, trips to the
calculating, etc. planetarium and science museum

Visual/Spatial in images and designing, drawing, art, LEGOs, video, movies, slides,
pictures visualizing, doodling, etc. imagination games, mazes, puzzles,
illustrated books, trips to art museums
Bodily- through dancing, running, jumping, role play, drama, movement, things to
Kinesthetic somatic building, touching, build, sports and physical games, tactile
sensations gesturing, etc. experiences, hands-on learning
Musical/ via rhythms singing, whistling, sing-along time, trips to concerts, music
Rhythmic and melodies humming, tapping feet and playing at home and school, musical
hands, listening, etc. instruments
Interpersonal by bouncing leading, organizing, friends, group games, social gatherings,
ideas off other relating, manipulating, community events, clubs,
people mediating, partying, etc. mentors/apprenticeships

Intrapersonal deeply inside setting goals, meditating, being quiet, secret places, time alone, self-
themselves dreaming, paced projects, choices
EQ: Why is it important that we understand
multiple intelligences?

Day 2
 Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence

• ability to use words and language. These learners have highly developed
auditory skills and are generally elegant speakers. They think in words
rather than pictures.

• Their skills include:

-listening, speaking, writing, story telling, explaining, teaching, using humor,
understanding the syntax and meaning of words, remembering information,
convincing someone of their point of view, analyzing language usage

• Possible career interests:

-Poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, translator

**http://www.mypersonality.info/multiple-intelligences/verbal-linguistic/
 Logical/Mathematical Intelligence

• ability to use reason, logic and numbers. These learners think

conceptually in logical and numerical patterns making connections
between pieces of information. Always curious about the world
around them, these learner ask lots of questions and like to do
experiments.
• Their skills include:
-problem solving, classifying and categorizing information, working with
abstract concepts to figure out the relationship of each to the other, handling
long chains of reason to make local progressions, doing controlled
experiments, questioning and wondering about natural events, performing
complex mathematical calculations, working with geometric shapes
• Possible career paths:
-Scientists, engineers, computer programmers, researchers, accountants,
mathematicians
**http://www.mypersonality.info/multiple-intelligences/logical-mathematical/
 Visual/Spatial Intelligence

• ability to perceive the visual. These learners tend to think in pictures

and need to create vivid mental images to retain information. They
enjoy looking at maps, charts, pictures, videos, and movies.
• Their skills include:
-puzzle building, reading, writing, understanding charts and graphs, a good
sense of direction, sketching, painting, creating visual metaphors and
analogies (perhaps through the visual arts), manipulating images,
constructing, fixing, designing practical objects, interpreting visual images.
• Possible career interests:
-navigators, sculptors, visual artists, inventors, architects, interior designers,
mechanics, engineers

**http://www.mypersonality.info/multiple-intelligences/visual-spatial/
 Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence

• ability to control body movements and handle objects skillfully.

These learners express themselves through movement. They have
a good sense of balance and eye-hand co-ordination. (e.g. ball play,
balancing beams). Through interacting with the space around them,
they are able to remember and process information.
• Their skills include:
-dancing, physical co-ordination, sports, hands on experimentation, using
body language, crafts, acting, miming, using their hands to create or build,
expressing emotions through the body
• Possible career paths:
-Athletes, physical education teachers, dancers, actors, firefighters,
artisans
**http://www.mypersonality.info/multiple-intelligences/bodily-kinesthetic/
 Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence

• ability to produce and appreciate music. These musically inclined

learners think in sounds, rhythms and patterns. They immediately
respond to music either appreciating or criticizing what they hear.
Many of these learners are extremely sensitive to environmental
sounds (e.g. crickets, bells, dripping taps).
• Their skills include:
-singing, whistling, playing musical instruments, recognizing tonal patterns,
composing music, remembering melodies, understanding the structure and
rhythm of music
• Possible career paths:
- musician, disc jockey, singer, composer

**http://www.mypersonality.info/multiple-intelligences/musical/
 Interpersonal Intelligence

• ability to relate and understand others. These learners try to see things from
other people's point of view in order to understand how they think and feel.
They often have an uncanny ability to sense feelings, intentions and
motivations. They are great organizers, although they sometimes resort to
manipulation. Generally they try to maintain peace in group settings and
encourage co-operation. They use both verbal (e.g. speaking) and non-
verbal language (e.g. eye contact, body language) to open communication
channels with others.

• Their skills include:

-seeing things from other perspectives (dual-perspective), listening, using
empathy, understanding other people's moods and feelings, counseling, co-
operating with groups, noticing people's moods, motivations and intentions,
communicating both verbally and non-verbally, building trust, peaceful
conflict resolution, establishing positive relations with other people.

• Possible Career Paths:

-Counselor, salesperson, politician, business person, coach

**http://www.mypersonality.info/multiple-intelligences/interpersonal/
 Intrapersonal Intelligence

• ability to self-reflect and be aware of one's inner state of being.

These learners try to understand their inner feelings, dreams,
relationships with others, and strengths and weaknesses.
• Their Skills include:
-Recognizing their own strengths and weaknesses, reflecting and analyzing
themselves, awareness of their inner feelings, desires and dreams,
evaluating their thinking patterns, reasoning with themselves, understanding
their role in relationship to others
• Possible Career Paths:
-Researchers, theorists, philosophers
**http://www.mypersonality.info/multiple-intelligences/intrapersonal/
 Naturalist Intelligence

• How we relate to our surroundings and where we fit into it. These
learners enjoy gardening, scenic places, and having pets.
Conscious of changes in weather and like to camp, hike and fish.
• Their skills include:
– ability to recognize and categorize plants, animals and other
objects in nature
– gifted at nurturing and growing things
– Interacting and caring for animals
• Possible careers
– conservationist, farmer, zookeeper, animal trainer, veterinarian