CHARACTERISTICS OF INTELLIGENT BEHAVIOR

MATTHEW WHEELER

MED/560

UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX

DR. RICH MERLO

INTELLIGENT BEHAVIOR

• What is Intelligent Behavior to me?

• Intelligent behavior is the ability to use your knowledge and skills in everyday use in order to achieve optimal outcomes.

• Why Intelligent Behavior matters to teachers?

• Teachers use methods to test students thinking skills by assessing how they apply what they have learned.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INTELLIGENT BEHAVIOR

• Listening with understanding and empathy

• Sense of humor

• Questioning and problem posing

• Drawing on knowledge and applying it to new situations

• Managing impulsivity

LISTENING WITH UNDERSTANDING AND EMPATHY

• Believed by some to be one of the highest forms of intelligent behavior

• The ability to empathize is an important skill for conflict resolution

• Classroom examples: brainstorming sessions, think tanks, sharing thoughts

• Supported in classroom: small group discussion with listening time followed by constructive discussions of ideas and thoughts while ensuring all students know their input is invaluable

SENSE OF HUMOR

• A foundational stone of happiness and fulfillment making it a great tool for building a learning environment for students

• Humor helps the body’s physiological functions: pulse rate, oxygen levels, immune responses

• Humor unshackles creativity and promotes high level thinking skills

• Classroom examples: fictional stories, comics, jokes, riddles, song, dance

• Supported in classroom: use of songs to remember math formulas, encouraging student involvement in above examples

QUESTIONING AND PROBLEM POSING

• By promoting questioning it allows students to develop problem solving strategies to investigate and answer their own questions

• Classroom examples: open question/answer sessions, group discussion, open ended questions

• Supported in classroom: positive reinforcement for engaging discussions, modeling thinking out loud, posing questions that require higher level thinking

DRAWING ON KNOWLEDGE AND APPLYING IT TO NEW SITUATIONS

• The ability of the student to use their learnings to problem solve with new situations

• Utilizing this skill to approach real-world situations

• Classroom examples: problem recognition, problem solving, project based learning

• Supported in classroom: activities that use real-life situations, use of lesson plans that build upon each other, use of projects that require students to problem solve

MANAGING IMPULSIVITY

• Allows students to think before acting

• Impulsive behavior creates conflict and inhibits effective problem solving

• Pausing before answering often times prevents premature conclusions

• Classroom examples: waiting to be called on, raising hands to respond, avoiding interrupting others

• Supported in classroom: clear expectations of learning environment, praise students that take time to process thoughts before replying and disregarding those students that shout out impulsively

REFERENCES

• Kellough, R.D. , & Kellough, N.G. (2011). Secondary School Teaching: A Guide to Methods and Resources (4th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Allyn & Bacon.

• Lemov, D. (2010). Teach Like a Champion. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Teacher.