MI Chapter 8 Reflections

This chapter talked about the use of MI theory in classroom management. It talked about several aspects of management but the one I found the most useful was the one on gaining the students’ attention. As a student I have always found it hard to focus on what I am doing in a busy classroom. I don’t multitask well (listening and taking notes at the same time). In order to focus on what I am doing I have to shut out all external stimuli. As a result, when the teacher is trying to get the attention of the entire class, I often miss something or fall behind. I am sure that some of my students will have a similar problem, and having multiple ways to get their attention using multiple intelligences would really help them not miss things. Some of the other suggestions for preparing for transitions, forming groups and dealing with class rules were intriguing and looked fun to try, but I don’t know if they are anything that I would use as a teacher because they seem like they would suit a younger audience, or would be too complicated to implement. Mostly I think that as long as I keep the students engaged in rewarding learning, I will have few behavioral issues and the ones I do have can be dealt with by listening to the student to find out what will work best for the individual student.