National+Gallery+of+Art,+Washington

Integration of the intelligences

 July 16 2010

 Yesterday we had a discussion about the multiple intelligences, students’ diversities and learning styles. We came to the conclusion that the intelligences need to be integrated and the class needs to have the balance methodology and the multiple modes of presentation. Mr. Brown showed us two videos demonstrating how intelligences can be integrated. One of the video was about the dream, the freedom. Mr. Brown’s student wrote a poem related to this video. The poem brought many different elements, like music, images, shapes, colors, ethics, value and text together. I think that was a very good example of the integration of the different intelligences. I learned that there are many interesting teaching resources around us and if we can use them properly, that will help the teaching and learning more lively.  Today, to practice what we had learned the previous days, Mr. Brown took us to the National Gallery of Art, Washington and guided us how to bring art into language education.

 Example 1:

 He gathered us in front of a picture and he indicated us to stare at the picture for 5 seconds, then closed the eyes for 3 seconds, and then opened our eyes and jotted down the 2 words that came to our mind. We shared our 2 words in turn, listened and wrote down others’ words. Then, Mr. Brown asked us to make a poem with those words (new words can be added). This activity amazed me. I had visited museums with school trips many times, but never got the chance to know that learning and teaching could be that interesting and authentic, creative.

 Example 2: Integrate the value or virtue in the language education:

|| ||  Leonardo da Vinci, // Ginevra de' Benci, // c. 1474/1478, oil on panel  This is the only portrait by Leonardo in the Western Hemisphere . He painted this portrait of Ginevra de' Benci, a young Florentine noble woman who, at the age of sixteen, married Luigi Niccolini in 1474. On the reverse side of the painting, a wreath of laurel and palm encircles a sprig of juniper and a scroll bears the Latin inscription, "Beauty Adorns Virtue." It is a picture about a bride to be and the Latin inscription, “Beauty Adorns Virtue.” perfectly suits her condition. Assignment from this trip: After Mr. Brown demonstrated how to bring art into language learning, he gave us some free time to pick two pictures and asked us to write 2 poems responding to them. While doing this, first we needed to describe the picture, we described what did we see, like colors, shapes, light, scenery, etc. Second, what did we think? And what did we wonder? After giving the explicit description, we started to write the poem. By doing this activity, my imagination and creativity started to function and I learned to be more aware of things. Today, I got a new idea of teaching and learning and that was “Learning and teaching can occur everywhere.” :)

語言學習有固定模式，固定地點，固定的方法嗎?出了教室，是否意味語言學習就此停止? 顯然地，這答案是否定的. George Mason University 的 Mr. Brown 帶我們到博物館( Gallery of Art, Washington)上了“藝術融入語言教育”一課. 從他的帶領和示範中，我才明白原來博物館的功能不止是看展覽，了解歷史，欣賞名人畫作，還能與語言教育結合，培養學生文學創作能力.  首先Mr. Brown帶我們到一張畫前，要我們盯著畫5秒，然後闔眼3秒，張開眼睛，說出閃入腦中的兩個詞，待大家都說完後，他請我們用剛才所提到的詞即時創作一首詩，除了剛才所提到的詞外，依創作需求可添加別的詞彙. 數分鐘後，大家分享作品. 相信一聽到寫詩，大家肯定露出質疑的表情. 但，在Mr. Brown的引導下我們做到了. Mr. Brown要我們相信我能，我可以，他不要求詩要講求格律，押韻，短短兩三句的詩也可以很觸及人心. 我想Mr. Brown做了一個對”學生能力信賴”很好的示範. 接著，Mr. Brown 給我們一個半小時時間，讓我們找兩張畫，先描述畫的顏色，光影，人物，場景等細節(What do I see?)，然後寫出對畫的想法(What do I think?)，再提出對畫的疑問(What do I wonder?)，最後為畫作寫出一首詩. 這個活動對我有幾個很大的啟發，第一，教學不一定只能侷限在教室裡，任何地方，任何場所都能是學習產生的地方. 第二，透過適當的方法，讓語言學習變得有趣，有創意. 第三，老師要對學生抱著正面的態度，引導學生，鼓勵學生，相信學生.