This activity allows students to consider how their own strengths and interests can influence their future career choices.
First, read about the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Then read each statement in the boxes below. Think about whether or not each statement sounds like you—how you think or feel about things or what things come easily to you. If the statement is true, write “T” on the line next to it. If the statement is false, write “F” on the line. If the statement is sometimes true and sometimes false, leave the line blank. At the bottom of each box, write down how many T’s you have.
Remember that this is not a test. There are no right or wrong answers. This is just a tool to help you think about your innate skills and “smarts.” After you have completed the questionnaire, your teacher will give you a sheet to help you interpret your results.
After completing the How Am I Smart? survey, use this guide to help you interpret your results.
Remember that everybody has every type of intelligence. For right now, just focus on the one or two types of intelligence that you scored highest on. You can read about the other types of intelligence later on.
Use this reading to help you think of ways to use your strengths to help you in school.
Begin class by asking: how do you know if a person is smart? Take a few suggestions. Students are likely to say “because somebody does well in school” or “by what kind of job they have.” Acknowledge that doing well in school or having a specific type of job can be one way to tell if a person is intelligent. But there are lots of very smart people who didn’t do well in school.
Ask students: could you build a computer from scratch? Could you fix your mom’s car if it broke down? Could you play basketball in the NBA? Could you play in the band for Beyonce or be a back-up dancer on Lady Gaga’s latest tour? It takes a certain kind of intelligence to do those things well, too—not necessarily “school” intelligence, but intelligence all the same.
Explain that the psychologist Dr. Howard Gardner came up with the Theory of Multiple Intelligences because he felt that the common ways we assess how smart someone is, like an IQ test, are not always very accurate. He felt that there were other types of intelligence that those tests didn’t capture or pay attention to.
Ask students to complete the assessment to evaluate the ways in which they are smart. Reassure them that everyone is smart in some way.
Completion of worksheet
This activity allows students to evaluate their preferences and values as they begin to consider how "who they are" can and should affect their future career paths.
This activity allows students to interpret the questionnaires they’ve completed and introduces them to new vocabulary that describes values.
This activity introduces students to a range of occupations that are slightly unconventional and allows them to be aware of their own personalities and talents in exploring satisfying work.
This activity allows students to reflect on how their beliefs can influence career choice and where they choose to work.
This activity asks students to reflect upon their values and to draft a written reflection describing how understanding those values can help them consider possible career options.