Pretty, Pretty Picture

Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences claims that all humans learn through nine (he is still discovering some) types of intelligences. If you're an educator, you were probably introduced to this concept in your earliest teacher preparation courses. The nine intelligences and their descriptions can be found here. 

I've discovered that I possess three of these intelligences: Interpersonal, Bodily/Kinesthetic, and Linguistic intelligence.

Interpersonal: I love learning from others, with others, and about others. One of the joys of teaching is learning alongside your students, learning about them, and learning life lessons from them. I think one reason that I enjoy teaching so much is because there is always something new to learn about the people around you.

Bodily/Kinesthetic: Most likely due to my background in theater, I like to associate knowledge with an action or a movement. When learning and teaching Spanish, I often create gestures that represent the word. For a word like, "bigote" (mustache), I place a finger underneath my nose. My students recently commented, "Mr. Oldham- You are awesome at charades.

Linguistic: For some, language just comes naturally and its intricacies make as much sense as 1+1=2. I love dissecting words. In Spanish, "desayunar" means "to eat breakfast. "Des," is a prefix meaning to undo. "Ayunar" means to fast. Undo + fast= breakfast. Call me nerdy, but I get visibly excited when I learn something like that.

One intelligence that I simply do not possess at all is Spacial Intelligence, namely, the ability to visualize space and manipulate objects or imagine their appearance with their mind's eye. I do, however, admire that intelligence greatly and attempt to play to that intelligence with my assignments and vocabulary games.

I heard a profound statement recently:

"All kids are born artists, but most are educated out of it." 

That is so true of me, and I often wish I could draw...

Which is why I asked my students to draw me some pretty, pretty pictures for extra credit. And yes, I used those exact words. I'm quite the linguist. I discovered that some of my students have the same lack of spatial intelligence that I do, and that others are wonderfully gifted.

Below is a sample of the students' work.

She calls this one: Messed up puppy. 

A portrait of a best friend. Charming, right?

Shark and Narwal meet, and compare retro hair styles. 

"Its a taco and burrito band!" he said. 

Cheesy joke. Ha. 

Jose Jalapeño. Pretty darn accurate. If only he looked a little more depressed. 

Clever representation of my last name. I'm so flattered. 

They found out about my slight infatuation with Beyonce... 

Apparently Jay-Z did, too. 

When we showed these in class, I called it The Gallery of Pretty Pretty Pictures. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did, and that your Spatial Intelligence develops much more than mine did.

Peace, Love and Art, ya'll.

Seth