My definition of intelligence

My definition of intelligence is more than just what a person knows. It has to do with how they learn and how they are able to apply what they know. A person can learn things, but if they don't know how to use them correctly or be able to even recall them later, they don't really know anything.

My definition of intelligence hasn't really changed after learning about it in class. I do not believe that people are either smart or they're not. Intelligence is something that can be gained, improved on, worked on, etc. Each person's intelligence is defined in a different way based on how they learn things and how they are able to apply what they have learned to new situations.

I can help students develop each aspect of emotional intelligence in these ways:

1. Recognizing one's own emotions--I can help them identify what they are feeling when interacting with them--"So you're feeling frustrated" or something along those lines.

2. Regulating one's own emotions--I can give them suggestions for how to handle their emotion that they are feeling at the time, how to redirect it or express it appropriately.

3. Recognizing other's emotions--I can give them many opportunities to work cooperatively with different types of people. This helps to teach them how to interact with others successfully, and in the case where there is a problem, I can help them identify what is going on, who is feeling what, and give them suggestions as to how to handle it.

4. Handling interpersonal relationships--I teach this best by modeling how I interact with different people and different situations--how I handle it when a student is being belligerent or when two students are fighting, for example.

5. Motivating oneself--I can help them to motivate themselves by breaking big projects and assignments down into smaller, "doable" parts, giving them reasonable deadlines for each part, and helping them evaluate their progress along the way.