• List a question, confusion, or something that surprised you about the Creativity/Gifted chapter.
One thing that particularly surprised me and that I found very interesting was that according to Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, all individuals have strengths and weaknesses in eight separate intelligences (linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalistic). Individuals who have the ability to balance their strengths and weaknesses in order to succeed in a selected environment are intelligent.
• How is creativity a form of higher order thinking? What would creativity look like in your content area? Think about how you might encourage or assess creativity....
The reason that creativity is a form of higher order thinking is because one has to go above and beyond their normal intelligence to come up with a new idea or strategy. My content area is ballet and creativity can look like many things in this art form. One way I would encourage creativity would be to have an “improve class” which is a dance class where the students come up with their own movements and steps. This class is not only great for students to become more comfortable and confident with themselves but they can also discover their strengths and weaknesses in their dancing. In ballet creativity can be putting your own personality in your dancing, interpreting the music you are dancing to a certain way or choreographing a piece for your or others to perform.
I like Gardner's theory, but I find it hard to believe that all individuals who balance their strengths and weaknesses in order to succeed are intelligent. Just because someone balances the two, how does that automatically make them intelligent? It means they are good at finding that balance, but I don't understand how that makes them intelligent.
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