Blog Posts
Podcast: The Minimalist Educator
February 25, 2025
Listen to Tom on The Minimalist Educator Podcast, a podcast about paring down to focus on the purpose and priorities in our roles.
Multiple Intelligences Newsletter, Vol 34, No 3
February 14, 2025
Hello to MI Fans, Really, the salutation should be “Hello to people who see student potential.” After all, the basic premise of MI is that there are many different intelligences so educators should seek to recognize children’s strengths and use them in teaching. That is common sense that isn’t all that common as the next paragraphs indicate. Still and again? Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over […]
The Worthy Educator: Connecting with Students’ Parents
January 7, 2025
This month, Tom contributed an article to Legacy, the official journal of The Worthy Educator. Read the introduction below and then click through to the full article. While time brings change, there are still some constants: educators are passionate people and education is always rife with conflicts. Today there are rancorous discussions about phonics and how to teach reading, questions about grading policies and the fairness of giving students a […]
Multiple Intelligences Newsletter, Vol 34, No 2
October 28, 2024
Hello to friends of learning, This issue of the MI Newsletter contains a special treat, an article by Howard Gardner and two of his associates, Shinri Furuzawa and Annie Stachura, about the various locations in which intelligences exist. If you have a pet, I’m sure you’d thought “My dog is really smart” or “If my cat was smarter, she would…” Yes, we readily conceive of intelligence in other mammals, but […]
Multiple Intelligences Newsletter, Vol 34, No 1
August 10, 2024
Hello to MI Friends, As we embark on another school year, I offer some sound advice to everyone who deals with children. Regardless of your role – educator, parent, family member, neighbor, or friend – please make a point of asking children, “How do you have fun?” and “What are your talents?” It is important to recognize and validate children’s strengths. Sadly, that’s not the usual approach to asking children […]
Multiple Intelligences Newsletter, Vol 33, No 5
May 24, 2024
MI is about human potential. MI is recognizes that we are all smart in different ways. Dear MI Readers (or “Student Advocates”), Happy spring! I write as most of the educators and parents I know are preparing for summer. The relatively less challenging pace of summer should be a time for relaxing and recreation. But summer should also be a time for reflection and rejuvenation. What have we learned and […]
Podcast: Out of the Trenches
May 15, 2024
Listen to Tom on The Out of the Trenches Podcast, where conversations are had with those who have been in the trenches as educators and managed to come out in tact.
Multiple Intelligences Newsletter, Vol 33, No 4
March 4, 2024
Greetings MI Fans, For years (since 1989!) this newsletter has featured the ideas of educators. Understanding that MI is a tool that can help students and teachers grow, I have cited the experts, including Howard Gardner, as well as others who have written about student success and intelligence. Of course, I often added the perspectives that I held from leading an MI school. I saw first-hand how using MI helped […]
Multiple Intelligences Newsletter, Vol 33, No 3
November 27, 2023
Dear MI Friends, This issue of Intelligence Connections offers thoughts from two teachers who used MI while working at New City School. No surprise, their testimony and enthusiasm speaks volumes! After all, who can speak better to the power of MI than those who taught with and through various intelligences and saw their students grow? Thanks to Eileen Griffiths and Joy Poole for sharing their experiences. First, though, while noting […]
National Public Radio
November 13, 2023
Check out Tom’s conversation about multiple intelligences with Heather Rose of Roanoke’s National Public Radio station.