Story Time

There once was a student named Edgar who strolled casually past the wrought iron gates of his new high school. Coming from a school where he was unsuccessful as an athlete because teachers and coaches told him that his "psychomotor domain is really lacking development"(TS, 5/15/2009), Edgar set out on a quest to prove to his classmates and superiors that, although he was not the athlete he wanted to be, he could prove himself in the classroom.

Troy, a renowned football standout and classmate, made a promise to Edgar that he would work with him on skills that would enable him to become a successful student. When asked about his athletic background, Troy was often quick to say, "My bodily-kinesthetic intelligence has shaped my life because I have always been around sports and athletic competition" (MM, 5/18/09). Shocked at how intelligent Troy sounded, Edgar heavily anticipated learning from such an outstanding student-athlete.

As a tutor, Troy introduced Edgar to the idea of Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences, which allowed Edgar to realize "that not all people learn the same ways, but may be just as intelligent as another person" (EE, 5/17/09). Edgar responded by saying, "I generally learn information better if I am working in a group of people or talking with another person" (EE, 5/17/09). Since it enabled his interpersonal intelligence to stand out, tutoring quickly lifted Edgar's grades. After seeing the results of his tutoring, Troy, in his usual quick-response fashion, simply told Edgar that if all teachers recognized that "everyone learns differently and that the teaching style used for them should be individually catered to meet their learning needs" (TL, 5/18/09), then tutors like him would most likely be out of business.