As you can see from this diagram, my primary style is interpersonal, with naturalistic, intrapersonal, and linguistic also being strong. When I took the multiple intelligences assessement from http://literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html, my results came back as kinesthetic being my primary style, with intrapersonal and interpersonal as second and third.
Understanding learning styles and incorporating them into our teaching is important for many reasons. To begin with, the students we teach are very diverse. They come to us with a variety of learning styles, which means that teachers need to incorporate a variety of activities and techniques to truly engage all students. Realistically, teachers cannot develop different ways of teaching for each individual student. They can, however, utilize many different strategies in their lessons. Some examples would be including discussions and problem-solving activities for active learners, and using pictures, charts, and diagrams whenever possible for visual learners. Students should be expected to solve both rote problems and more open-ended problems, as this challenges the sensing and intuitive learners. Including a combination of individual and group work will gratify both the extroverts and the introverts. Having an awareness of these styles can help teachers to enhance their methods of instruction.
I think you are on the right track, when you mentioned that it is best to teach to all learning styles. If a teacher provides a variety of activities in different learning styles throughout the year. Students are exposed activities that both complement and stretch their styles. Right now, I'm working on an RTI model for my district that involves both learning styles and Multiple Intelligences, Harvey Silver style. So far this has been an interesting learning adventure for me.
ReplyDelete