Module 2: Everyone's Unique

The reading for this week consisted of several chapters dealing with student's development and the struggles they face.  Chapter 4 was about the different needs of individual students.  Chapter 5 dealt with the development of language and the difficulties various students face using it.  Chapter 6 dealt with the differences in language development and with diversity in schools.

Chapter 4 was of the greatest interest for me because I have often wanted to help my students when they struggle, but sometimes I have been unable to do so.  When this happens, I've felt very frustrated and helpless with no clear idea how I can help them.  This chapter in particular gave me some insight into possible reasons why these struggles may be occurring, as well as offering ideas for how to aid students who are struggling.

One part which fascinated me was Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences.  Gardner believe that there were eight separate groups of mental abilities which could be identified, but he did not believe that this number was a fixed amount.  Instead, he felt that this was a working theory which would adapt to new evidence and was open to their being more than eight specific intelligences.  Gardners's theory has been widely accepted within the education community and I think there are some very good points which teachers can take from this theory.  Specifically, that teachers should modify instruction based on each student's needs, and any lesson should be taught in several different ways (p. 122).  I think that these two ideas should be central to any teacher's philosophy, because they will help teachers become better instructor's and educators and will ensure that students' needs will always remain the highest priority.

A second point which caught my interest was mention of the Flynn Effect (p. 126).  First documented by James Flynn, the documented trend shows that from the 1900s, since IQ tests have been used, the average IQ score has gone up nearly 20 points with each successive generation.  This interested me because although IQ scores have risen, students seem less capable of critical, logical thinking and of intelligent discourse on serious issues.  Perhaps this is because there is little formal training in logic anymore.  This then makes me wonder if  though each successive generation may be more intelligent, they are becoming less educated.

My third and final point of interest was the dispelled myth that girls are inferior to boys in mathematics (p. 127).  In fact, research shows that girls are actually on the same level as boys in math.  This caught my eye because at my last teaching position, I actually had two students (a boy and girl) who I tutored in mathematics.  The young girl actually showed more interest and skill in mathematics then the young boy did.  She was able to make the necessary leaps to move from lesson to lesson with more speed and displayed a rapid absorption of the material.  This example from my own experience just buoys the research done to combat this myth which has done a great deal of harm to our youth: that a student's sex plays a major role in their success or failure in any given subject.

These topics were just a few which I came across in my readings.  There were many more points of interest which cannot be mentioned here, all of which had the same effect: to make me want to be a better teacher.