Conceptual Understandings and the Multiple Intelligences
Participants began the day in classrooms to experience the beginning of the day. The primary students entered by giving their teacher a hug, handshake, or high five. They then participated in a Town Hall Meeting and discussed how to give people compliments and appreciations. Students were encouraged to share appreciations with one another.
The intermediate students began their day in a Town Hall Meeting, and then read a book
by Carol McCloud titled Have You filled a Bucket Today. They learned about the difference between "bucket fillers" and "bucket dippers" and were given a secret person to watch so that they could offer an appreciation and fill that person's bucket by the end of the day.
After the opening of the day, students began to work on projects that reflected many of the multiple intelligences. Intermediate students applied their knowledge of solar voltaics and began to build solar boats. They then took the boats outside to determine whether the motors would run or if they needed 
to problem solve and reconfigure the solar mechanisms.
Primary students were given a great visual to understand how much water the average person uses in a day. The average American uses about 100 gallons of water each day. Students carried in 100 gallon containers to the classroom, and were amazed at the magnitude of 100 gallons!
Teacher participants left the observations in model classrooms to learn how to begin to write conceptual curriculum and to incorporate the multiple intelligences into teaching. We were fortunate to have Amy Krause, Director of Curriculum and Instruction and JoAnn Wood, Social Studies Supervisor to help answer questions as teachers began to write conceptual curriculum.
Teachers spent some time cutting up standards and rearranging them so that they could help students make connections between the big ideas in each curriculum area. This was just a start to looking at curriculum...and much beyond stage one of implementation of the HET Model.
