In order to best engage and support all students, one must be flexible and knowledgeable about their students.

Howard Gardner theorizes, “An intelligence is a biological and psychological potential…capable of being realized to a greater or lesser extent as a consequence of the cultural and motivational factors that affect a person."

Gardner’s theories have heavily influenced my outlook on education and students. I am more appreciative of diverse abilities and realize that it is my role to discover and encourage these abilities. We are the REAL talent scouts! My own elementary teachers were masters in this area. They were able to identify students’ abilities at a very young age. In my 8th grade class (I was in a K-8), many students were given school jobs, awards, and opportunities to develop their talents. Many from my class have gone into professions that match the school jobs/challenges they were given. It amzing to see the effect a great teacher has on young child. A lesson I taught in a 1st grade classroom, entitled “Seasons” (Artifact #5) effectively engaged students using kinesthetic, interpersonal, visual, and oral modalities. Students listened to a book about seasons, worked with their group to create a large season page for a class book, shared their finished page with the class, and returned to their seats to complete individual seasons books.This lesson was especially a success for one of my lower performing students that had a more artistic intelligence. My lesson entitled “Computer Research Methods” (Artifact #6), developed for my 4th/5th graders effectively engaged my students using the internet quizzes to test prior knowledge, T chart organizers, search tool scavenger hunts, and the attention word “boolean!” This lesson also encouraged students to use various modalities of intelligence including visual, tactile, kinesthetic, and verbal. Students were very enthused about using technology and could see the practical use of their knowledge. I chose two "computer gurus" or helpers that answered questions during computer time. I was able to recognize students that excelled in this area and build a better relationship with them.

I have discovered that students respond better when I understand them better. One of my 4th grade students was always silly at inappropriate times and became defiant when asked to follow instructions. He was one of our lowest students in writing and math. After a few months of working with this child, I learned to give this child a little more extra attention and maintain humor in our interactions. Also, I recognized this child had unique intelligence in music and physical education. I allowed him to create several projects using these abilities. As I did this, the child showed a much softer side. He was much more willing to follow instructions. He seemed like a different child. Within Stage Four, I learned to sensitively and diplomatically work with parents. As the parents became comfortable, I was able to learn more about my students. In my last stage, we had several students that had struggled throughout their education. One student was constantly disrespectful and neglected to turn in many of his assignments. My master teacher and I invited this student’s parent to come in and help with giving our weekly spelling pretest. In this way, we were able to see the way that she interacted with her child. We were able to more comfortably talk about her child’s behavior and missing assignments because we had a foundation established. I learned to choose my words carefully when dealing with delicate and complex issues. As we worked with the child’s parents, there was more follow up at home, and teaching became much more effective.

A different student struggled with daydreaming in class and missing assignments. I spoke with the parent about missing assignments and inattentive behavior. This mother was willing to check her son’s binder every night to ensure that he was organized and turned in his work. Additionally, while conferencing with this mother, I became more aware of her parenting style and the child’s background. I learned that this child had struggled throughout his education. Psychologists and speech therapists had repeatedly tested him. Additionally, I learned that this child did not speak until he was three or four. As a result, his China born mother only taught him English, hoping that it would be easier for him to only learn one language. Since her English was still rather broken, there was a communication barrier between this child and his mother. The extra knowledge I obtained about this student helped me be more effective as a teacher. It helped me understand some of the frustration this child is encountering. I also found more effective ways of enlisting this child’s mother’s support. With extra parent support and adaptations within the classroom, this child was able to concentrate better, and turn in most of his assignments by the end of the year.

When teaching young children, flexibility is the watchword. I found that at times, my students were not mentally and emotionally ready for the material I had planned. At times, they were unexpectedly interested and ready to learn. Half the class might be raising their hands after doing a simple math problem on the board. I've learned to would use that teachable moment to teach an in depth math lesson. An entire lesson often sprung from a simple problem. I've learned to seize and build on have to strive to seize that teachable moments.

I’ve learned to constantly stimulate children’s interest with novel ideas and lesson openings that pull them into the lesson. I like to open my lessons with one line that catches their attention. For example, “I’m going to challenge you with one of the most difficult riddles of 4th grade,” or ”I’m going to show you the secret of good writing”. When transitioning students from activity to activity, I will occasionally add new transitions and routines to stimulate interest and decrease boredom.

When working with English language learners in my second stage, I was able to provide SDAIE support. I utilized the following SDAIE strategies: partner work, predictable routines and signals, visual scaffolding, realia, interactive read-alouds, text organizers, vocabulary and English structure support, academic language scaffolding, skill grouping, kinesthetics, Shared Reading, manipulatives, communication games involving barriers, information sharing, inquiry and elimination, and rank ordering, bilingual books, cooperative learning, culture studies, learning centers, imaging, word sorts, multimedia presentations, reciprocal teaching, drama and fine arts integration, peer tutoring, CLOZE paragraphs, and many other strategies. My curriculum was enhanced for not only my ELD students but for my entire class as well.

On top of this, I have developed fluency in Spanish and Mandarin, Chinese. Having lived in Taiwan for a year and a half and in Spain for several months, I can understand the culture and language of much of the world. I've have already used both languages when working with parents. it has built bridges in areas where there would otherwise be confusion. My students with various cultural backgrounds feel more understood and part of the class because I am familiar with their cultural heritage.