Intelligent behavior should be modeled and taught in the classrooms. The goal is to see students develop these skills. In the following pages, there will be examples of these behaviors and a classroom implementation.

1. Intelligent Behavior
Karin Bomar
MED/560
March 31, 2014
Scott Brewer

2. Introduction
• Intelligent behavior should be modelled and taught in the
classrooms. The goal is to see students develop these skills. In
the following pages, there will be examples of these behaviors and
a classroom implementation.

3. 1. Drawing on Knowledge and Applying to
New Situations
• School teachers teach students content and skills. The ultimate
objective is that the students be able to use what they have
learned in other content areas and eventually in real life.

4. Examples and Classroom Support
• Examples: problem recognition, problem solving, and project-
based learning.
• You can support this as a teacher if you meet with your grade level
colleagues. You should make a point of using the same
information or skills that the students have learned in Social
Studies, for example, and use it in your content area. You will
have an idea of the extent to which students are able to use this
type of Intelligent Behavior.

5. 2. Listening with Understanding and
Empathy
• This is often considered the highest form of intelligent behavior.
It is the ability which will enable a person to work collaboratively.
It is important to understand someone else’s perspective and be
able to value the point of view of other people.

6. Examples and Classroom Support
• Examples: collaborative work, problem-solving and discussion.
• This can be supported in the classroom by having the students
work on a project together. I think the best project would be a
problem-solving activity. There is no right or wrong answer. By
listening to each other and building on each other’s thinking, the
students will be able to come up with their own solution to the
problem before them.

7. 3. Persisting
• It is important to teach students perseverance. Today, students
are accustomed to instant gratification. It is therefore essential
to teach them how to keep on working on a task or project until
they complete it. In order to do so, students need to be able to
accept constructive feedback, so that they will obtain a better
result.

8. Examples and Classroom Support
• Examples: project-based learning, investigation, research.
• You could teach this skill while working on a long project.
Usually, students want to be quickly finished with their work. The
teacher can use a formative assessment approach. He would look
at the work and then, give it back to the students with guidelines
on how to improve their project. The students would likely turn
in their work several times and take into account the feedback
from the teacher each time, to finally be able to consider the
project completed.

9. 4. Metacognition
• Metacognition is thinking about your own thought process.

10. Examples and Classroom Support
• Examples: self-assessment, thinking aloud, journals, reflection.
• This skill can be used as a self-assessment exercise. For example,
in a Foreign Language class, [the] students can evaluate their own
work. Is it grammatically correct? The students could make their
own checklists.

11. 5. Thinking Flexibly
• Thinking flexibly is the ability to see an issue from another point
of view. It is the capacity to have multiple perspectives on a
problem.

12. Examples and Classroom Support
• Examples: discussion, research, writing exercises.
• Writing journals as if you were this or that person might help the
students understand a problem from another point of view. For
example, if you are talking about immigration, students usually
have their own set ideas. But if you have them write journals as if
they were an immigrant, they will be able to see the other side of
the subject matter.

13. 6. Questioning and Posing Problems
• Questioning is an important Intelligent Behavior. Usually, teachers
ask the questions, but progressively, students should be
encouraged to ask questions and answer them.

14. Examples and Classroom Support
• Examples: brainstorming, problem solving, and investigations.
• One way you can implement this skill is to have the students
prepare a Socratic Seminar. The students prepare the questions
and the answers, using documents to prove their points.

15. References
• Kellough, R. D., & Kellough, N. G. (2011). Secondary School
Teaching: A Guide to Methods and Resources, Fourth Edition .
Pearson Education, Inc.