Just as many students have a preferred learning style, many teachers have a preferred teaching style. If a teacher uses one preferred teaching style almost exclusively and does not adjust to the learning styles of some students, the students suffer. A teacher needs to be aware of his or her preferred teaching style and the preferred learning styles of each of his or her students. Only then can a teacher design learning experiences that accommodate the needs of all students. In the United States, we admire verbal and mathematical reasoning skills more than many of the other multiple intelligences identified by Howard Gardner. Many believe that, by recognizing the other intelligences in students, a teacher can take advantage of these abilities. If several students have a strong musical intelligence, for example, a teacher can create activities that use music as a bridge to a mathematical concept, such as using octaves to introduce fractions.
Gardner's eight intelligences
