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Are you attempting to unleash creativity through familiar, comfortable pathways?

If so youre only human but remember that creativity thrives on novelty. The eight multiple intelligences described by Howard Gardner offer plenty of options for the novelty-seeker. Though each of us is endowed with all eight of the multiple intelligences, generally we rely on the same few. We tend to choose the ones that work best for us or that draw our interest. If you stay within intelligence comfort zones, you fall into familiar ruts. So heres a rich menu of suggestions for experimenting with your eight types of creative intelligence. Choose an activity or two to try thats out of your comfort zone to stretch learning and build new dendrites, as Dr. Ellen Weber puts it. Image by Dierk Schaefer 1. Social or Interpersonal Discuss, exchange ideas, and build relationships David Rock suggests creating your own dopamine-rich salons, events you create to connect socially and have complex, rich positive conversations with a mix of people you know and some you dont. Try collaborating by working with someone who has complementary skills: if youre a big picture person, find someone detailoriented; if youre spatially oriented, find someone lyrical. New insights will catch jet-streams. Invite someone from another culture to your home. When you invite someone into your home, you open your heart as well and you open new understandings together. 2. Musical Attend concerts, play an instrument, hum melodies, sing with others, enjoy rhythms I used to play trombone in high school. Wonder what would happen if I bought another and played trombone second time around? Maybe you have played an instrument in the past that is now dusty. Try it and see what it might do to rejuvenate improvisation in other areas! Those who play musical instruments are better at associative thinking, according to Carla Florin in Psychology Today. So dust off your old guitar. Why not move your body to music since music moves your brain waves. Karaoke a simple mike and background music can stir your sense of melody and lift your heart in joy. Meanwhile your brain anticipates songs on the CD and as you prepare to sing, excitatory signals passed from the prefrontal cortex to the premotor cortex, preparing the body to act perhaps to move or to sing. What difference might this make to you? We have a lot of sequences that we need to store in order to predict what we should do. And thats why playing an instrument, singing, dancing or even listening to music can help the brain transfer ideas in new ways. Have you ever used music at work to jack up productivity or change your mood? Interestingly some rhythms induce enzymes in the brain and add amazing well being. Other tunes leave you punchy and unable to focus. Has it happened to you? 3. Spatial Paint, draw, design web pages, design rooms, make cards, create logos, map out routes, mind mapping Why not participate in Pecha Kucha? Use Pecha Kucha presentations to stimulate your mind and challenge yourself. Few things except, perhaps, Apple computer products and Moleskine notebooks have been embraced by designers of all stripes so quickly and universally as Pecha Kucha Night has. Architect Magazine (US). Want to try novel entries to spatial intelligence? See what works for you y y The Secret Life of Cones UNG7

Capture an idea by creating a video. Camcorders are smaller and lighter and your video is easily edited and enhanced with user friendly software. Take a course in architecture at a local college and see how hidden design skills begin to surface. What about new colors in your surroundings. Color your surroundings blue whether cubicle or office since blues a color that boosts creativity. See what difference it makes. Interestingly, theres a switchboard in the brain that helps us learn and remember simultaneously. 4. Bodily-Kinesthetic Play sports, enjoy movement, walk on tours, notice body language I enjoy golf, brisk walks and hiking as a way to get daily exercise. But these can get to be routine so Id like to punctuate these with something new and fresh, like Wii MotionPlus Grand Slam Tennis, or Tiger Woods PGA Tour. Or swim regularly, play basketball in the gym, surf to ride the waves, or do pilates to get your heart beating fast. A new study confirms that exercise can reverse the age-related decline in the production of neural stem cells in the hippocampus of the mouse brain, and suggests that this happens because exercise restores a brain chemical which promotes the production and maturation of new stem cells. 5. Logical-Mathematical Solve problems, balance checkbooks, create schedules, budget money Ever try using numbers as a way to look at another topic? Joanna Young tried using the number 9 as the number of writing strategies she shared with readers to show how different ways of writing change things. Using numbers actually changed the way Joanna wrote. Using number 9 as a goal to write to can shift things for us, inside, according to Joanna, by opening up a sense of creativity, playfulness, the freedom to dream dreams and explore whats possible. Earlier, Joanna wrote, 7 Ways to Write With Numbered Lists. Music is actually based on number patterns. How many friends have you made through social media connections? The more genuine connections you have, the more social capital you have. You begin to see ways the brain on numbers helps us understand other topics. Analysis, predictions and real-world manipulation of models helps foster creative problem solving. 6. Intrapersonal Keep a personal journal, read alone, meditate, study to answer personal questions Some call Intrapersonal intelligence learned common sense, Dr. Ellen Weber finds, because you intuitively cultivate values and learn from teachable moments. Whatever its named, do you intrapersonally inspire others to renew ethically with the brain in mind? To stimulate Intrapersonal intelligence creatively, write a letter to an expert on something you wonder about. Or challenge yourself to develop and present strategies to accomplish a learning task for an audience you would not ordinarily consider working with. Help yourself conquer a problem by reading a self-help book and keeping a diary of your accomplishment in that area. Reward yourself when you feel you have accomplished your goal. As you do these activities, you build more dendrite brain cells for intrapersonal intelligence. Your brain literally rewires at night as you sleep based on what you do in the day. 7. Naturalistic Collect specimens, garden, follow animal footprints, photograph landscapes Have you ever been stuck for new ideas as you sit at your desk? The familiarity of your office or cubicle might stifle creative thinking. How so? The basal ganglia, the part of the brain that stores routines and patterns based on daily activities, is not the best well-spring of creativity.

Even though your imagination can take flight as you sit at that desk, unfortunately familiarity can slow you down. What can you do then when youre at your desk and no new ideas come your way? Heres a suggestion tap into your naturalistic intelligence. As I garden, I find a peace and a closeness to the earth. It releases tensions new ideas pop into my mind. In what ways does nature make a difference to you? Listening to my grandsons as we walk in the woods shows me new perspectives as I see the natural world through their eyes. Bring the natural world into your workspace since nature nurtures the mind. Nature helps stir insights and connections, too. Take off your shoes and go barefoot to waken sensory awareness! 8. Verbal-Linguistic Tell stories, write essays, participate in interviews, converse easily with peers If you edit as you write, you can stop the flow of ideas. To enhance flow, avoid editing as you write. Reading helps you think of new possibilities. I find this to be true as I read others blogs. How about you? Unleash your brains thinking box by reading. Just by thinking of a metaphor, ideas stir new ideas in my mind. Metaphors can make the strange familiar and the familiar strange.

Let's look at each of the eight intelligences, according to descriptions by Gardner (1999), Checkley (1997), and Armstrong (2000). At the same time, teaching strategies that promote learning in each intelligence will be discussed. Linguistic intelligence, the use of language, is seen in the ability to read, write, or talk to others. This intelligence is highly valued in schools. A primary focus in the early years of elementary school is literacy development, which demonstrates linguistic intelligence. Storytelling is a teaching strategy that allows the caregiver or teacher to weave in concepts, details, or goals that are appropriate to the children. Storytelling has been used for centuries and in many cultures as a medium to share knowledge. Logical-mathematical intelligence refers to logic and mathematical ability. The ability to use numbers, understand patterns, and exhibit reason are the key characteristics of logical-mathematical intelligence. Certainly, mathematical learning is valued, as evidenced in school curriculum. Categorization, for instance, is a teaching strategy that is developmentally appropriate for young children and supports logical learning. Children as young as 3 and 4 years old enjoy sorting materials according to categories, some that they create and others created by those around them. A 4-year-old might sort items by color, then by size, and then according to use. Older children could also record their findings, creating charts and displays of their categorization findings. Spatial intelligence is the ability to create a visual image of a potential project or idea and then act on this visualization. Think of bridge engineers or interior decorators who must be able to "see" their ideas before creating them. Visualization is a powerful teaching strategy in spatial intelligence. A kindergarten teacher might ask a young child to close her eyes and see a gingerbread man running from the fox before she begins to draw a picture to represent the scene. Visualization can also be used to rehearse the steps or sequence of a task before starting the activity. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence refers to the ability to use one's own body or parts of the body as a medium of expression or to solve a problem. A ballet dancer and an Olympic athlete are examples of people who have refined their bodily-kinesthetic skills or intelligence. The use of manipulatives in teaching math is an excellent example of the combination of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence with other intelligences. Many young children touch their fingers as they count, using their own teaching strategy for learning the sequence of numbers. Musical intelligence is the ability to perform musically or to produce written music. People who are highly skilled in musical intelligence think in music patterns or see and hear patterns and are able to manipulate these patterns. Do you remember singing your ABCs? This is an example of a teaching strategy that helped you learn the alphabet. Songs for counting, colors, names, and other familiar objects promote learning through musical intelligence.

Interpersonal intelligence is the sensitivity one has toward others, along with the ability to work well with other people, understand others, and assume leadership roles. Sharing is a way for young children to learn from each other and use their interpersonal intelligence. All ages benefit from sharing and interactingchildren can share with peers as well as with children older or younger than them. Depending on the age of the child, caregivers or teachers should adjust their amount of involvement in the directions and guidance of the sharing situation. Intrapersonal intelligence is the accurate understanding of one's self (who one is, what one wants, and a realistic sense of what one can do) and the ability to act according to this knowledge. Modeling true-felt emotions with young children provides an avenue for children to observe the range of emotions of others. Once a child reaches school age, curriculum is often presented in a neutral format, with little emotion shown by the teacher. Expressing joy, passion, disappointment, or other emotions sends a message that emotions are part of learning and are welcome in this setting. Naturalist intelligence is used to discriminate among living things, such as plants or animals, as well as an understanding of other features of the natural world, such as weather or geology. Farmers, botanists, and hunters are examples of roles where this intelligence is used. Spending time outside on a regular basis facilitates naturalistic intelligence. Touching, seeing, and smelling plants outdoors is far different from looking at pictures of the same plants. Asking questions about the differences and similarities between the plants is appropriate for children as young as age 3 or 4. Young children are very observant and can use their categorization or classification abilities with the abundance of natural materials outside their setting. Armstrong (2000) outlines four key points in MI theory: (1) People possess all of these intelligences, (2) most people have the potential to develop further in each of the intelligences, (3) the intelligences work together, and (4) there are numerous ways intelligence can be interpreted within each category. Gardner's work with multiple intelligences led educators to a new way of looking at intelligence and learning.

The theory of multiple intelligences was proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983 as a model of intelligence that differentiates intelligence into various specific (primarily sensory) modalities[disambiguation needed ], rather than seeing it as dominated by a single general ability. Gardner argues that there is a wide range of cognitive abilities, and that there are only very weak correlations between these. For example, the theory predicts that a child who learns to multiply easily is not necessarily generally more intelligent than a child who has more difficulty on this task. The child who takes more time to master simple multiplication 1) may best learn to multiply through a different approach, 2) may excel in a field outside of mathematics, or 3) may even be looking at and understanding the multiplication process at a fundamentally deeper level, or perhaps as an entirely different process. Such a fundamentally deeper understanding can result in what looks like slowness and can hide a mathematical intelligence potentially higher than that of a child who quickly memorizes the multiplication table despite a less detailed understanding of the process of multiplication. The theory has been met with mixed responses. Traditional intelligence tests and psychometrics have generally found high correlations between different tasks and aspects of intelligence, rather than the low correlations which Gardner's theory predicts. Nevertheless many educationalists support the practical value of the approaches suggested by the theory. Logical-mathematical This area has to do with logic, abstractions, reasoning and numbers. While it is often assumed that those with this intelligence naturally excel in mathematics, chess, computer programming and other logical or numerical activities, a more accurate definition places less emphasis on traditional mathematical ability and more on reasoning capabilities, recognizing abstract patterns, scientific thinking and investigation and the ability to perform complex calculations.[citation needed] Logical reasoning is closely linked to fluid intelligence and to general ability.[6] Spatial Main article: Spatial intelligence This area deals with spatial judgement and the ability to visualize with the mind's eye. Careers which suit those with this type of intelligence include artists, designers and architects. A spatial person is also good with puzzles.[citation needed] Spatial ability is one of the three factors beneath g in the hierarchical model of intelligence. Linguistic

This area has to do with words, spoken or written. People with high verbal-linguistic intelligence display a facility with words and languages. They are typically good at reading, writing, telling stories and memorizing words along with dates. They tend to learn best by reading, taking notes, listening to lectures, and by discussing and debating about what they have learned.[citation needed] Those with verbal-linguistic intelligence learn foreign languages very easily as they have high verbal memory and recall, and an ability to understand and manipulate syntax and structure.[citation needed] Verbal ability is one of the most g-loaded abilities.[7] Bodily-kinesthetic The core elements of the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence are control of one's bodily motions and the capacity to handle objects skilfully (206). Gardner elaborates to say that this intelligence also includes a sense of timing, a clear sense of the goal of a physical action, along with the ability to train responses so they become like reflexes. In theory, people who have bodily-kinesthetic intelligence should learn better by involving muscular movement (e.g. getting up and moving around into the learning experience), and are generally good at physical activities such as sports or dance. They may enjoy acting or performing, and in general they are good at building and making things. They often learn best by doing something physically, rather than by reading or hearing about it. Those with strong bodily-kinesthetic intelligence seem to use what might be termed "muscle memory," drawing on it to supplement or in extreme cases even substitute for other skills such as verbal memory. Careers that suit those with this intelligence include: athletes, pilots, dancers, musicians, actors, surgeons, builders, police officers, and soldiers. Although these careers can be duplicated through virtual simulation, they will not produce the actual physical learning that is needed in this intelligence.[8] Musical This area has to do with sensitivity to sounds, rhythms, tones, and music. People with a high musical intelligence normally have good pitch and may even have absolute pitch, and are able to sing, play musical instruments, and compose music. Since there is a strong auditory component to this intelligence, those who are strongest in it may learn best via lecture. Language skills are typically highly developed in those whose base intelligence is musical. In addition, they will sometimes use songs or rhythms to learn. They have sensitivity to rhythm, pitch, meter, tone, melody or timbre. Careers that suit those with this intelligence include instrumentalists, singers, conductors, disc jockeys, orators, writers and composers. Research measuring the effects of music on second language acquisition is supportive of this music-language connection. In an investigation conducted on a group of elementary-aged English language learners, music facilitated their language learning. [9] Gardner's theory may help to explain why music and its sub-componenets (i.e., stress, pitch, rhythm) may be viable vehicles for second language learning. Interpersonal This area has to do with interaction with others. In theory, people who have a high interpersonal intelligence tend to be extroverts, characterized by their sensitivity to others' moods, feelings, temperaments and motivations, and their ability to cooperate in order to work as part of a group. They communicate effectively and empathize easily with others, and may be either leaders or followers. They typically learn best by working with others and often enjoy discussion and debate. Careers that suit those with this intelligence include sales, politicians, managers, teachers and social workers.[10] Intrapersonal This area has to do with introspective and self-reflective capacities. This refers to having a deep understanding of the self; what your strengths/ weaknesses are, what makes you unique, being able to predict your own reactions/emotions. Philosophical and critical thinking is common with this intelligence. Many people with this intelligence are authors, psychologists, counselors, philosophers, and members of the clergy.

Naturalistic

This area has to do with nurturing and relating information to ones natural surroundings. Examples include classifying natural forms such as animal and plant species and rocks and mountain types; and the applied knowledge of nature in farming, mining, etc. Careers which suit those with this intelligence include naturalists, farmers and gardeners. Existential Some proponents of multiple intelligence theory proposed spiritual or religious intelligence as a possible additional type. Gardner did not want to commit to a spiritual intelligence, but suggested that an "existential" intelligence may be a useful construct.[11] The hypothesis of an existential intelligence has been further explored by educational researchers.[12] Ability to contemplate phenomena or questions beyond sensory data, such as the infinite and infinitesimal. Careers or callings which suit those with this intelligence include shamans, priests, mathematicians, physicists, scientists, cosmologists and philosophers. The Eight Intelligences (and how they relate to TPR-Storytelling) By Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D. (and Denise Bertagni) 1.) Linguistic - storytelling (listening), reading, writing, and speaking 2.) Logical - Mathematical - use numbers in stories and grammatical patterns (verb-endings, direct object placement) 3.) Spatial - use visualization to teach vocabulary, all stories told in class have spatial orientation 4.) Bodily-Kinesthetic - TPR involves learning hand motions for each word, the students also act out the stories in plays 5.) Musical - songs are an excellent source of comprehensible input and easily remembered, a good reinforcement for vocab. 6.) Interpersonal - students act out the stories, students tell stories to partners, students retell story to class 7.) Intrapersonal - the stories are etched on the students memories, the stories involve student personalities and current events from their lives 8.) Naturalist - stories are about people and often animals, stories take place in weird places

Factors Affecting Intelligence


1) Heredity and Environment: Heredity provided the physical body to be developed with certain inherent capabilities while environment provides for the maturation and training of the organism. In 1940 Newman concluded that variations in I.Q. were determined about 68% by heredity and 32% by environment. During an individuals life time variation in I.Q. is due to environment, since the heredity cannot change. Improved nutrition health, an stimulus situations would account for this change. Environment of children ages 2 to 4 years appears to be critical since the child normally learns language at this time. Better homes, school, medical facilities, less economic discrimination. Provides a mean for achieving a mentally able population.

2) Age: A person who bright or dull in childhood tends to remain bright or dull throughout his life. Growth I intelligence can continue through the early twenties, person achieves his maximum 10 at about 20 years are and remain stable till 10 years and decreases after that. Some abilities remain constant while others decline rapidly due to decline in physical efficiency. It is observed that the more intelligent person has more rapid of mental growth and continues to develop longer than does the mentally less able. 3) Race and Nationality: There is no prominent evidence to show that race in a factor for determining intellectual level. Difference exist between families are due to environment. The differences in races are also due to opportunity for training in early years. All evidence indicates that there is little or no difference in inherited intellectual capacity due to race. There are differences, mostly due to opportunities for training and learning. The idea of inferior races due to heredity is not true. 4) Culture: Answer in intelligent test question are highly cultural. Cultural will determine the degree of a persons attitude and abilities. 5) Health and Physical Development: Physical and mental health is related to ones ability to gain desired achievement. A mental activity with delicate health, one may not possess enough energy to engage in mental activity to the extent that he achieves success. Physical defects such as in complete maturation of brain cells sensory and physical handicaps many interfere with observable intelligent behavior. Diseases also affect intelligence. Emotional bodies may interferes ones ability. Unfavorable health affects mental status of the individual. 6) Sex: It is a popular belief that boys are suppose to be more intelligent than girls. The research studies have shown that there is no significant differences between the sexes, on the average, girls seems to show slight superiority in language, memory and appreciation. Differences in intelligence are caused partly by environmental conditions 7) Social and Economic Conditions: Home plays a significance role in the early developmental years. Home conditions influence on behaviours attitude. The financial status or the parents, neighborhood and environmental conditions also affect on the intelligence but due to their soci-economic status. Mentally defective, People (Feeble minded): Individuals whose I.Q.s are below 70 they are called as mentally defective or feeble minded people. They suffer from mamentia or luck of mind. Ladiecy-It is lowest grade of

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