810 Learning Styles

My Edutopia Learning Styles results focused most on Naturalistic (92%), Intrapersonal (88%), Linguistic (83%) and Interpersonal (75%). After reading the details for each learning style, I can honestly say that I'm not surprised. I do tend to look toward scientific data to reinforce ideas (especially when it comes to my personal life and eating habits). It's also interesting, because "data" plays a significant role in the category, and this also coincides with my math teaching side. Also, I would agree that I have a very reflective personality, yet also work well (and do my best to understand) others. Additionally (and to no surprise to an English teacher), verbalizing my ideas and communicating openly with others greatly benefits my learning.

When I reflect on my college, high school, and even elementary school experiences, I see many of these same styles emerge; however, none were particularly distinctive. When I first mentioned that I wasn't surprised by my results, I do think that's in part due to the fact that as we grow older, we tend to gain a better understanding of who we are, which includes how we obtain and retain knowledge. As a student, I classified myself as a visual learner and did well when I could "see" what we were working on. Auditory tasks (especially in a foreign language) were challenging for me. Additionally, I did well working in groups, though often found myself in a leadership role. Lastly, the reflective aspect of my learning style was expressed through my writing. Writing provided an opportunity for me to "see" the thoughts that were going through my mind and helped me regain focus when I got off track (either professionally or personally).

When I consider what teaching styles were least effective for me, there isn't anything that stands out. I'm not sure if this is due to me being a type A personality (and the fact that I will do my best to succeed in most to all situations), or if it's because I had acquired valuable skills in adapting. What I do remember though is that I didn't always like doing "physical" activities that were outside of my interests. I enjoyed playing volleyball, soccer, and track, but wasn't always fond of other kinesthetic learning experiences.

After reflecting on my own learning styles, and after spending countless hours working with kids of varying levels, I acknowledge that it isn't feasible to focus on the learning styles of each individual student for each lesson. However, as educators it is our responsibility to help students first understand how they learn best and then learn how to adapt accordingly. With technology becoming increasingly more prominent in the classroom each and every day, teachers now have more opportunities than ever to help students become more independent learners. Granted, it's important for educators to diversify lessons to capitalize on all learning styles; however, I believe it's more important that teachers teach students how to find resources (especially online) that align with their own learning styles.

When I reflect on my own educational history, I realize that much of what I was taught was content driven. Not to say that content isn't important (who knows if I would have ever picked up Faulkner if it wasn't for my college professor), but it's more important to help students develop skills that will be useful to them as they progress in their educations (and personal lives). For instance, a student may struggle with reading, which obviously restricts many learning experiences across content areas. With that being said, it's more beneficial to help that student learn to cope with those difficulties (i.e. utilizing audio while following along) instead of being focused on them understanding a specific text for a specific class. Overall, our focus should remain on addressing students' needs (and their unique learning styles), but also helping them develop skills that will help them capitalize on those learning styles. Fortunately, we are living in a time where technology will play a significant role in that process.