There are too many factors involved in learning and too many ways of approaching the question of how learning happens to think that any one theory can answer those questions definitively. But one person whose work has proven really fruitful for me is psychologist Howard Gardner, who has distinguished eight or nine distinct types of intelligence (he’s still adding to his list), each of which benefits from different approaches to learning and communication in the classroom. Gardner’s types have proved tremendously helpful to my own work developing teaching strategies for working with the special needs of all children in the classroom (e.g., Special Needs in the General Classroom: Strategies that Make it Work, 2nd edition. 2010).

The two most familiar types of intelligence–the linguistic learner and the logical-mathematical learner–fit in well with our dominant models of teaching and recognizing achievement. The odds are good that many teachers, themselves, are examples of these types of intelligence.

On the other hand, some of the other intelligence types may be familiar primarily as classroom problems. There are the “bodily kinesthetic” learners who are physically hyper-active and potentially disruptive; the spatial thinkers who are likely to sit and daydream; the musical kids who are continually humming or drumming; the interpersonal learners who may be chatterboxes; the introverted intrapersonal ones who keep to themselves; the naturalists who are more tuned into the world outside the classroom than to what’s on the board or in the book; or the existentialist, who is inclined to ask annoyingly fundamental questions that have no place in the world of the three R’s, questions like “For what purpose are we here?” or “How do we fit into the world?”

As long as classroom instruction is primarily geared to reach only one or two of these different intelligences, a lot of kids will struggle to process the information being offered them and experience a serious disadvantage in achieving success.

Fortunately, though each person may have a dominant style, most of us actually possess some combination of these intelligences and the learning preferences that go with them. A lesson or project geared toward one learning style is not going to be inaccessible or unhelpful to the rest of the classroom. In fact, by including different kinds of lessons for different kinds of intelligences, teachers will be helping all students develop their multiple potentials, while making sure that no one falls behind or gets lost because they don’t learn well from one type of teaching.

This offers great opportunities for the development of new and varied teaching techniques. For each type of intelligence and learning, there is a corresponding new type of teaching.

We spent the day discussing teaching strategies and ways to involve all learners in the classroom. At the end of the full day session, Dr. Twomey got up and endorsed the ideas I had spoken about.  He expressed his desire to see the strategies that we covered actually being implemented in the classroom and was so passionate about that desire that he offered an incentive to his staff.  He asked that teachers nominate each other and identify who they saw actually using strategies to differentiate instruction in their classrooms. He promised that he would have periodic drawings  to recognize and reward those teachers for implementing strategies learned in the session.

I  learned late last week that Dr. Twomey had just awarded a FREE day off to each of three outstanding teachers (one from each district campus).  I’m not talking about extra prep time, or a sick day.  This administrator awarded each of these outstanding teachers a day off, with pay, and no strings attached!

So often administrators fail to follow through, or simply don’t know how to support their teachers, or motivate them to be the best teachers that they can be.   I could not pass up the opportunity to recognize Dr. Twomey and the tenacious support he offers his teachers and, in turn, the students of Havana School District 126.

Congratulations to Wendy Saylor, Music Teacher at New Central Elementary, Janet Barker, 5th Grade Teacher at Havana Middle School, and Barb Ramsey, Chemistry Teacher at Havana High School for their hard work and dedication to good teaching!

Too many classrooms still rely solely on verbal linguistic teaching methods — lectures and verbal instructions delivered by one person standing in front of a roomful of more or less attentive children. Many kids can and will learn  in this type of classroom, but too many others will lose their joy of learning and start to dread going to school.

Differentiated instruction involves a flexible, dynamic, and interactive teaching model that doesn’t expect all children to learn the same way, at the same pace, with cookie-cutter results. Students learn the same content and standards based curricula, but the path to learning is much more varied and responsive to the different learning styles and levels of the students in the classroom. Students who learn best through words or who think in more logical-mathematical ways, or those who respond to visual cues as well as the more physically and mechanically gifted students can all be engaged effectively in learning when we differentiate instruction. We reach the listeners, the talkers, and the introspective thinkers.

Once the basic concepts are understood, though, there are many simple and effective techniques for implementing differentiated instruction in the classroom. Introducing pictures and images, movement-based exercises, cooperative projects, and color-coded instruction aids are four teaching strategies that target the special needs of diverse learning styles, while still benefiting all the students in the classroom.

In the weeks to come, I hope to talk some more about the background issues and practical methods I have explored in depth in the second edition of my book, “Special Needs in the General Classroom: Strategies that Make it Work  2nd Edition (2010).”*

Though it may be challenging at first for teachers to learn these new strategies, differentiated instruction has the potential to bring much greater satisfaction, and fun, back into the classroom for the teacher who embraces it as well as the children who will benefit from it.

Jan teaches GED courses for adults at a local community college. In her first class after attending the seminar, she was planning on starting a new unit on Social Studies. “One of the things I’m hoping to start right away is to have the students work together to create some of their own mnemonic techniques,” she told me. Laughing, she commented that “I think [the students] are going to enjoy that more than always listening to me!”

Most of the time, when we consider techniques and strategies for the classroom, we think in terms of elementary, middle, and high school. But these strategies can be used anywhere learning takes place, including at the college level – and even in the corporate world, where “students” go through workplace training and continuing education.

I’m thankful for my family. They are not only all that a mom and wife could hope for, they all get along well. I am so incredibly grateful for that. Mike, Shivahn, and Ian, you are my lifeblood, lifeline and my ever so patient cheering squad and support.

I’m grateful for the relationship my mom and I have today.

I’m thankful for the mentors; some are friends, some colleagues, some former supervisors, who helped me to grow to who I am today. Some of the hardest truths and difficult lessons in my life brought me to where I am today. I still have a long way to go, and I’m grateful for where I am.

I’m thankful for the teachers who come to my seminars and workshops with a sincere desire to grow. I’m thankful for the teachers who don’t want to be there at 8:00 a.m. and by 3:00 are telling me they are so glad that they came. I’m thankful for the teachers who find typos in my books and are brave enough to tell me so that I know to fix them in the next edition. I’m grateful for the clients that push me to new heights with their requests for customization that force me to research new pedagogy.

I’m thankful for my friends who understand that I travel with work yet manage to remember me in the chance that I might be home and would like to visit.

I’m thankful that I have Wah Lum Kung Fu (and my kung fu family) to keep me limber and mentally challenged and for Dave Mulcahey who challenges me with kettle bells and core exercise to keep my aging body strong. I’m thankful for my health.

I’m thankful for sunshine, lilacs, cheesecake, Jeni’s gelato (Columbus, OH), Kentucky Bourbon Chocolate Cherries (and the work that allows me to find such delicacies), hibiscus, butterfly bushes, belly laughs, my new Indian artist friend salil Raina who not only amazes me with his work but writes things that make me belly laugh almost every day.

I’m thankful for the people and small joys that I know I’m forgetting while I write this and will most likely say, “Crap! I forgot….” when I’m done.

I’m grateful for my professional speaking colleagues who are willing to share insights, suggestions and rare moments to wine and dine when our schedules and locations line up.

I’m so thankful for the people who are willing to work with me to make a difference in my business and the world – Deb Baron, Dawn Sorli, Beth Graf and my right hand man, Jeffery Sullivan my management consulting company.

I am thankful on this Thanksgiving Day.

Here in St. Louis (Clayton, actually). Checked in, shuttle driver took me to Whole foods – did groceries, going to polish my co-teaching presentation before bed. Tomorrow St. Louis, Tuesday: Springfield, MO, Wed: Kansas City, MO, Thurs: Minneapolis, MN, and Friday, FARGO!!!

Co-teaching Coaching Last Week

Last week I was working with Permian High School and Odessa High School in Odessa, TX. I love being in the classroom. Both high schools are making great gains in their co-teaching efforts. Not only did I get to work with some awesome teachers and administrators in Odessa, Texas, I attended a Permian High School Football ‘send-off to the state championships’ bon-fire. I also attended an Odessa High Pep rally. They both made it to this past weekend championships in El Paso and they both won! Experiencing West Texas Football and West Texas friendly hospitality is truly delightful. The week flew by.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 has more than doubled in the past 20 years, from 6.5% in 1980 to 17.0% in 2006. The rate among adolescents aged 12 to 19 more than tripled, increasing from 5% to 17.6%. Helping children understand the importance of diet and exercise now can reduce their risk for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, stroke, cancer, and osteoarthritis as adults.

Some fun ways for teachers to help reinforce good eating habits include:

• Introduce the Food Guide Pyramid, explaining the number of servings suggested for each food group.
• Ask students to record what they eat and drink for a specified amount of time, preferably a week or more.
• After each day, have students place foods they’ve consumed into the proper food groups.
• Have students check their food records for balance. Are their diets out of balance?
• Have students write about what they would do to change their diets to come up with a better balance.

Team Nutrition, at the USDA has a variety of information about the food guide pyramid, including sample lesson plans, available online at MyPyramid.gov.

Kindergarten teacher Marna Ingerson of Lancaster Schools writes, “All of my transitional directions are sung. ‘Line up! Line up! Everybody line up!’ Directions for activities: ‘Turn your eyes up here, up here’. Repeat and point up or down or left or to the chart. Then we begin to read, write, etc. We sing a thank you song for our guest speakers, volunteers, etc. ‘Thank you! Thank you! Thank you very much, Mr/Mrs ___________.’ We deal with respect and consideration of others constantly.”

Singing instructions to children early in their education is a marvelous way to introduce music to learning as well as a unique way to help students transition and to draw attention. Try it and see how it works for you!

For more help with using music in the classroom, visit www.songsforteaching.com for downloads, cds, and other sources to promote learning on any subject with music.

For example, I’m researching tools, techniques and resources to teach vocabulary. I searched the word, “vocabulary” on Teachnology and found a video and several other links to vocabulary teaching tools and ideas. The site encourages membership, however, there are free tips available, also.

All grade levels and subjects are included and there are ideas for a variety of teaching and learning styles. Best of all, much of the available content is offered free of charge. Check out Teachnology today!

Moving beyond the success of his own life, Josh Waitzkin, eight-time national chess champion, world champion martial artist, and subject of the film Searching for Bobby Fischer, has written a book detailing his experiences on the road to mastery.

Part autobiography, part self-help guide, The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance explains Waitzkin’s principles for improving performance in any field. In talking about the book, Waitzkin’s says, “If I have learned anything in a lifetime of world-class competition, it is that learners and performers thrive when their growth process is uniquely tailored to their own personal nuance of character.”Waitzkin hopes to nurture the individualized learning potential of children and young adults by offering the book to schools and other youth programs through his non-profit organization, the JW Foundation. To learn more about the book and how to submit your own book request, visit the JW Foundation.