Hi everybody,
Here are the links for an activity Martha asked me to post for you. Deadline for this one is December 15th. I wish you the best!
Read the articles and post a comment answering the following questions:
1.
Are you prepared to try matching your teaching style with the learning
styles of your students? Explain your answer.
2.
Do you always cater to your students different learning styles? Give
examples.
Teaching for Multiple Intelligences
The importance of learning styles in ESL/EFL
Hi everyone, here are my answers, please feel free to comment.
ReplyDelete1. Are you prepared to try matching your teaching style with the learning styles of your students?
Definitely! My teaching style is, in essence, the kind that is always changing; I am open to try new ways of teaching to approach different ways of learning. I use learning activities that appeal students based on their particular strengths.
I usually find myself observing my students' behavior and aptitude in order to figure out a better way to help them enhance their learning process by paying attention to their types of intelligence.
Working together, especially by grouping students of the same learning style, opens up even more avenues of possibility for taking advantage of different learning activities.
Analyzing learning styles and different intelligences in the classroom might take some time, but at the end of the day, it is completely worthy.
2. Do you always cater to your students’ different learning styles?
I understand and value my students’ style of learning .To benefit all their different learning styles; I use several activities such as videos and flash cards or images to introduce new vocabulary and grammar. Often, when doing reading comprehension exercises, I let students read freely and then I read the text out loud. Sometime, I ask students to read tasks and instructions out loud so they can listen to themselves and by doing that I can also check pronunciation. Role playing is one of my favorite wrap up activities. That way, students can physically sense what is being studied. By doing so, students could experience abstract ideas brought to life through examples and applications and interact with others in the process.
When you come to understand how your students work, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
Hi Maria!
DeleteI really liked when you mentioned that you usually find yourself observing your students behaviour. That also happens to me. It is very helpful because you can get a lot of feedback from their reactions.
Hello Maria!
DeleteI totally agree with Meliza. Observing your students is key because that will help you understand students better and gives you hints on what to do to help students achieve their goals. I am glad you are doing it! On the other hand, the ideas you provided on how to benefit students with different styles and intelligences are great! thanks for sharing them. Martha O.
In my opinion, trying to match our teaching styles with the learning styles of our students is not an easy task. It requires a lot of planning, thinking and having the time to get to know our students styles or at least asking them about their preferences when learning. A good way to make this easy is by following the pieces of advice found on the last section of the article entitled Integrating Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences by Harvey Silver, Richard Strong and Matthew Perini which is called How to Use the Integrated Intelligence Menus. Among the suggestions they gave us there was one I found very helpful which is keeping a record of the styles we use regularly so that we may vary our activities and help students feel interested and motivated. This record can be easily kept with our lesson plans, that is why having a lesson plan is very useful.
ReplyDeleteIn my classes, I usually try to cater to my student different learning styles by working with a variety of exercises. Sometimes we listen to dialogs, stories or songs, on other occasions we have discussions in class about controversial topics, at times they move around the classroom looking for different kind of information, they also have the opportunity to work individually, in pairs or groups, they need to find patterns to understand grammar and so many other tasks that may look like little things but if they are used in a varied way students will feel included because their learning styles are being taken into account.
Melissa, I second your statement about how challenging it is to try to match our teaching style with the way our students learn and I also think that this great variety of learning styles gives us, teachers, a wide range of possibilities to present the same topic through multiple activities. It is our job to carefully decide when and how to bring activities for each kind of learner. Another way to keep record of the learning style of our students and the activities we can implement in class is to share with our colleagues. They might have ideas we have never thought of or we can adapt them according to our students´ needs.
DeleteDear Meliza,
DeleteI loved the idea of learning in groups, pairs, and what have you. This type of learning reminds me of kids learning from other children when they are at home. Not only do they learn from parents, but also from their brothers, their neighbors, their friends. This concept was borrowed by literacy experts from the field of cognitive psychology in the 1990s. There are many ways to learn and many ways to teach. These strategies may instill our spirit of working together to influence the way we teach (Hiebert & Papierz, 1990; Mason & Allen, 1986; McGee & Lomax, 1990; Sulzby & Teale, 1991).
Dear Meliza,
DeleteI loved the idea of learning in groups, pairs, and what have you. This type of learning reminds me of kids learning from other children when they are at home. Not only do they learn from parents, but also from their brothers, their neighbors, their friends. This concept was borrowed by literacy experts from the field of cognitive psychology in the 1990s. There are many ways to learn and many ways to teach. These strategies may instill our spirit of working together to influence the way we teach (Hiebert & Papierz, 1990; Mason & Allen, 1986; McGee & Lomax, 1990; Sulzby & Teale, 1991).
Very interesting comments Meliza, Jose and Edward. Besides the activities you bring to class you can also do little things to deal with styles and intelligences such as using color markers, bringing realia to the classroom, taking students to different settings, etc. I know matching our styles and students' is not an easy task. It requires observation, planning, willigness and having an open mind. Well done guys!
DeleteAfter reading all the information about the theory related to multiple intelligences as well as learning styles I have to admit that I was not aware of many important aspects when delivering my classes. To answer your first question I would say that even though I am not quite prepared to try to match my teaching style with the learning style of my students, I am more than willing to go for it. This task is extremely challenging and daunting at the same time. The teaching practice is not only about explaining a topic, checking exercises and giving quizzes. It takes a lot for teachers to tailor, design, modify and re-engineer their work. Since our job is with and for human beings, it is not feasible to have a homogeneous class which forces us, as teachers, to be open-minded and to make changes on the run. So, as the famous expression from the movie 007 agent says, our mission teachers, should we choose/decide to accept it is to be on the lookout for ways in which we reach objectives, cover syllabus, develop skills and take into account how each of our students acquire knowledge.
ReplyDeleteRegarding your second question, I would change the frequency adverb for “almost always”. If we have classes where we find students with different learning styles, it becomes really ambitious to aim at all those styles. What I think works better is to implement activities which foster 2 or 3 learning styles in one class and then vary the approach of the others activities for the next classes. Doing this serves three purposes. First, we provide our students the feeling that we are customizing the lessons for them in specific days. Second, we are making our students get out of their comfort zone by asking them to do something that they might not be that interested in because it is not appealing but it might be of great benefit for their learning process. Finally, it gives us, teachers, a great array of options to play with during all the classes we need to cover instead of using all the resources and ideas in one class.
Hi Edward,
DeleteReading your comments I can tell how reflective you are! And, I am glad because that will help you improve your teaching practices everyday. It is true that we don't cater to every single student's styles or intelligences every class. But the idea is to be aware of how students learn and plan activities throughout the course period to help them learn better and easier but at the same time to challenge them. That will help them too. Great job!
It was good to read information about Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences because that made me think about the procedures I’m using in class and the things that I can take into account for the future. At the Colombo Barranquilla we have basically two months to get to know a group of students so it can be a bit difficult to have complete results in terms of full analysis or research, but there are classes like English on Saturdays or Technical Programs where I consider we have more time to explore the style of learning and the type of intelligences reflected on the group. I think I’m not 100% prepared to match my teaching style with the students’, but I’m in that process. I usually pay attention to my students’ reaction to each activity, how they like to work, individually or in groups, the way students understand information, the convenient way to evaluate them. This process of knowing more about students to give the appropriate tools for their learning process is encouraging and motivating.
ReplyDeleteIn my teaching, I use different strategies to have students involved in the learning process as well as make them feel responsible for it and their results. In my classes I always try to give a space to negotiation, students can give their opinions about a date to deliver a project and the way they would like to present it. I also use visual aids such as documentaries, diagrams and pictures to complement the classes an encourage them to use them when they give presentations. When it comes to have a class debate, students always have the opportunity to give their personal opinion and start big discussions. I try to cater my students with many other meaningful activities by addressing various learning styles so they can learn more effectively and in that way, achieve their goals.
Hello Lilibeth,
DeleteI am glad you are in the process of matching your teaching style with the learning style of your students. Based on what you described you do, you are on the right path! keep it up!.
Hello everybody!!
ReplyDeleteWOw! after reading these two articles about multiple intelligences and Learning styles, I discovered that even though I use them( well, some of the styles when preparing my classes)I was not completely aware of how they work or how to discover them in my students. It was really useful to have in words what we observed everyday in our classes. Most of the time, when you are applying an activity or trying a new approach, you notice student`s eagerness or boredom. It is there when you have to take mental notes about the things or conditions that make students feel more comfortable with one activity or another. I have to confess that I do not feel fully prepare to match my teaching style with my students but there is something I am absolutely sure about: I am definitely going to try!!
When I say That I do not feel fully prepare I mean that after reading these articles, I think I need to read more to try to understand my students better, be more aware of the activities they enjoy the most ( which I do, but I need to expand my horizons)when preparing my classes, I need to add suitable activities so everybody feels I care about. Now I feel more motivated than before to know more my students, to try to integrate their interests, strenghts, likes to my teaching style so they can benefit from it.
Regarding the second question, well, despite the fact that I was not quite aware of these theories; making an account of my classes and the way I prepare them I can say that yes; when designing my activities I try to use different kinds of strategies in order to make the topic appealing to everyone and of course, to reach the goal I set previuosly. for instance, I am fond of using visuals (flashcards, pictures, videos, ads)I like to ask the students how they want to be evaluated (oral presentations, written quizzes, role plays and so on) It is not easy to try to match all of their learning styles in one class but we can try at least to diversify the taks, drills we bring to class in order to help them become more pleased with their learning process, to let them know we care about all of them and that the learning process can be a fun one if we, as teachers, know how to approach them.
Hey Brenda, you are right. These readings open our eyes to multiple possibilities we had not thought about, combinations we would not dear to try and new ways of understanding things going on within our classes. Many of the things we do come from trial and error, but when we are exposed to alternative points of view we can reflect more on what we do and the results we get, so I have the feeling that there is much more we can do.
DeleteHi ladies,
DeleteI am happy to read you've found the articles interesting and enriching. I am sure you are doing a great job with your classes and the activities you are implementing. I invite you Brenda, to put those mental notes on paper. Having notes of your reflections on what works and what doesn't work with students helps you a lot when planning your classes. Good job!!
I guess that with experience comes wisdom and the ability to reflecto n the way we teach and how our teaching can affect our students’ learning process. Based on my own experience, I can attest to the fact that my classes were planned taking into consideration my personality, the styles I felt comfortable with and the activities I would personally enjoy doing. Did I do this consciously? Not really. I just planned my classes keeping in mind that I did not want to lose my students’ attention, that I needed to keep them motivated and challenged.
ReplyDeleteAs a visual learner myself, I included several activities in my classes that gave my students the opportunity to actually see and feel what was being presented. Classes were very organized, the teaching was done in a systematic way with one activity coonected to the next one. My personality and style did influence my teaching style and affected, hopefully in a positive way, my students’ learning style.
After many years of experience and reflection on my own performance as a teacher, I have consciously tried to combine the way I teach with the different learning styles that my students and peers may have. Most of us do not fall under one category or learning preference and while it is impossible to cater to each and every one of our students’ needs and preferences, we can do our best to help all of our students reach their learning goals by teaching them how to learn, by guiding them and have them reflect on their own learning and analyze what works for them and it if works just encourage them to use the same strategies over and over again.
By implementing different activities that target different styles and intelligences, such as group activities, individual work, oral tasks, written assignments, creative projects, we give all our students a plethora of opportunities to become successful learners and to enjoy the learning process.
I remember using songs to teach students grammar patterns and always made sure the activities were not too long that would bore those students who did not really care for singing as a learning strategy and always included effective management strategies to avoid disruption. When picking the right song or movie, I would keep in mind the different ages in my classes so that they would not complain that it was too old, too boring, too fast, too slow.
Planning a successful class with students of different ages, personalities, goals, interests is no easy task, but I am sure most teachers care enough and do their best to help their students, whatever their learning styles may be, succeed.
Hi Lidia!
Deleteyour words just prove how important it is to reflect and to plan classes based on the considerations of several aspects such as age of students, how to keep their interest, behavior, students' personalities and needs, and your own styles, among others. Great work!
I am responding to the questions:
ReplyDelete1. Are you prepared to try matching your teaching style with the learning styles of your students? Explain your answer.
2. Do you always cater to your students different learning styles? Give examples.
The above are two very interesting questions. Indeed, I try to match my teaching style with my students learning strategies by having them work in stations. This is very challenging in the sense I have to prepare three to four classes in one.
For example, I prepare a short reading comprehension exercise for Station A, a vocabulary exercise for Station B, a listening comprehension exercise for station C, and a speaking presentation exercise for Station D. All students need to rotate from groups A to D. Rotation will give them to chance to see, hear, think, create, discuss, and manipulate information.
With this type of teaching style, I try to integrate what Silver and Perini call: integrating learning styles and multiple intelligences (1997).
Students for instance work on agreeing or disagreeing about what is good or bad about supermarket commercials. Students in station A work on a short reading about strategies on how supermarkets persuade us to buy more and more. They then answer five questions than range from fact oriented to critical thinking questions.
Students in Station B work on 10 word crossword puzzle about supermarkets. Students in station C, listen to a supermarket commercial and they need to discover what the supermarket wants from them. Also they need to discover what hidden agendas the supermarket wedges under their language.
Group D, needs to prepare a presentation putting together facts from groups A, B, and C. Finally, they need to create a slogan to sell a product that will help raise funds for homeless children and women who are working class breadwinners.
In conclusion, with the above activity, I try to match students multiple intelligences with their individual learning strategies. For example, I try to link the linguistic intelligence with the mastery style of several students by having them read a brief article, develop a plan, and create a commercial slogan. I also try to foster the style of understanding a linguistic message by having them make and defend a decision and by interpreting a text (Silver and Perini, 1997).
My concluding words are that matching my teaching style with multiple intelligences and learning styles is not an easy thing to do, because brain research has a long way to go in regards to how intelligence works. Yet, many a student would benefit when we try to innovate in foreign language classes.
Wow!!! that description of your stations activity makes me want to do it in my classes! Great Job Jose! This is a perfect example of how we can implement activities that benefit students with different styles and intelligences and also challenge those who don't feel identified with the activities.
DeleteI think that we as teachers specialized or have a certain teaching style and based on that we choose the kind of activities we include in our classes, as a result, the content presented will end up being easy or difficult to teach. Sometimes the same learning style the teacher had, is the same teaching style he/she brings to class. Moreover; our students have a similar level of intelligence, some of them learn fast some others slow. I think it all depends on their learning style and the methodology the teacher uses to deliver a class.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, we need to find out what our teaching style is. Depending on what we like, it could be lecturing our students, or working on role plays, or including games, the idea is that by figuring out our own style we can supplement it to fit our students' learning styles. We obviously need to be flexible and add some fun.
I personally believe that we have to adapt our teaching style to our students needs and not all the way around. We are the ones deciding what works perfectly for them in terms of practice and that’s why we need to look for strategies to include most of our students in class.
I really like to include different activities in my classes and vary the pace of it to increase student’s motivation. I try to be aware of all the different learning styles and incorporate most of the learning styles in my lessons, some of the things I include are: Flash cards, posters, videos, listening and speaking activities, drawing, playing board games, games, movement activities, puzzles etc. I think we do not have to include all learning styles in a single lesson but try to include a variety of styles throughout the lesson so all of your students get catered for at some point. The idea is to reach out to all students and provide a stimulating educational experience.
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DeleteYou are right, Gisela! we do not need to include activities to cater all the styles and intelligences in one class. But, as you said, it is important to have a variety of activities in all our classes to address to all different styles at certain points throughout the course period. Besides, it is not only about the activities but also the little things we do in class such as usign color paper, makers with different colors, pieces of paper to organize sentences, using flash cards, and so.
DeleteDelete
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Delete1. Are you prepared to try matching your teaching style with the learning styles of your students?
ReplyDeleteWe need to bear in mind that not all people learn in the same way. So, as teachers we have to be open to try new ways and adopt and adjust our styles of teaching toward students’ learning needs and interests in order to make them reach their goals.
There is no doubt that it is hard for me to find a style that addresses the needs and interests of diverse students at different learning because it is necessary to be aware of the differences in learning styles of the students so that we as teachers can incorporate all of these learning styles into our lessons. So, I think that being able to identify which types of learners our students are, will help us to make sure they don’t get left out of learning effectively.
2. Do you always cater to your students’ different learning styles? Give examples
Students are all different in personality, cognitive and affective development, motivation, ability, learning styles, aspirations, needs and interest; so, it is of paramount importance to identify in the students all these aspects in order to select the strategies that benefit all of them effectively.
When delivering my classes, I always try to cater to my students’ different learning styles by putting into practice different activities that enhance their skills. For instance, I use flashcards, role-plays, games, group-activities, and listen to conversations, stories and songs; I also give them the chance to work in pairs or in groups so that they can interact one another by discussing and expressing their opinions, perspectives and points of view.
The key is to include different styles at different points of the class. For example, when I have the opportunity to teach kids (letters at Colombo Americano) some new words or vocabulary, I try to use flashcards and get all the students to listen to me and say the words clearly (for the Visual and Auditory learners), then I have them walk around acting out the words (for the Kinesthetic learners), and finally, I have a worksheet activity where students need to do matching or guessing activities (for the Analytic learners).
Finally, I have to admit that having a wide variety of styles included in our class will really help our students understand, internalize and enjoy the classes.
Nice reflection, Octavio. As you said, We do need to be open-minded and adjust our classes so we help our students succeed. And it seems to me that you are doing it the right way!
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ReplyDeleteHello dear teachers.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the information about Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences I have to say that I could realize that planning, teaching and preparing the activities for each class need to be done very carefully specially on those aspects where we need to keep in mind their different learning styles and how to try to connect them with our teaching styles . It has made me think how important it is to design, create, adapt all the material we bring to a class, not only to cover units by following a syllabus but to try to match with all of them on their learning process. Being a teacher for almost twenty years at the Colombo Americano Barranquilla has been a non-easy task because students ' learning styles are different and two months is not always enough time to know all their preferences and weaknesses and it's even more difficult trying to match this with our teaching styles. To answer the question I have to say that no matter for how long I have been a teacher it is a challenge to be a hundred percent prepared because we never know how students are going to receive what we teach them.
Every time I plan activities for my classes in one way or another, we want to cater all our students' learning styles. After reading the useful and extraordinaries articles about the theories, I realized the importance of making up activities that help them develop appropriately their learning skills and us to create and design more enjoyable activities so we make them feel more comfortable and more interested in what we have prepared in advance for them.
For my classes, I work on different kinds of activities to have them work individually, in pairs and in groups which enhance their skills. In class, it is great to use flashcards, posters, games for those visual and, Auditory learners, mimics, acting for the Kinesthetic ones and completing puzzles, guessing and memory games for the analitic ones. In this way everybody can be involved and motivated even though not all of them feel the same in all the activities.
It's true.. we don't know how students will receive what we teach them, how they'll react to our activities. That's why it is key to observe, take notes, reflect on how activities work. We need to be ready to modify, adjust or drop activities if necessary. Interesting reflection, Gina!
DeleteFirst of all, I want to say that it was really helpful for me to read about multiple intelligences and learning styles because I realized that I haven´t been taking into account all what I need to know in order to help my students to understand and do better in class.
ReplyDeleteI consider that something very important and vital in the teaching-learning process is to know and understand the way my students think, what they like or dislike doing in class, the skills they are good or bad at, and how they can solve problems because in this way I can get them involved and help them be an active part of the class.
To be honest I can say I´m not completely prepared to try matching my teaching style with the learning style of my students, but I’m in the process, I feel I can do a better job from now on. I think all the information I have read in these two articles http://www.slideshare.net/willys007/teaching-for-multiple-intelligences?related=1 http://www.slideshare.net/willys007/the-importance-of-learning-style-in-esl-efl-55788731?related=2 have helped me guide my students more appropriately in the learning process.
Regarding the second question, I always try to have a variety of activities in my classes such as songs, videos, puzzles, flash cards, posters, games, listening, writing and reading activities in order to cater my students’ learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic and analytic) I know that not all the students like the same activities, but they have the chance to work on all their learning skills and somehow they get motivated.
Hi Ruth,
DeleteI am glad you found the topic and readings interesting and useful. I think you have taken important steps towards matching your teaching style to the one of your students. You've started with the reflection and collection of information of your students interests, needs, strengths, etc which is a great help. Besides, you are bringing variety to your class. Way to go!!!
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ReplyDelete1. Are you prepared to try matching your teaching style with the learning styles of your students? Explain your answer.
ReplyDeleteAs teacher, we are never prepared enough for our classes because there would be always situations that could change the process in different ways.
During our studies and the experience we get from our work, I could say that a lesson plan is the guide, the body, the “bible” of the teaching process in a class. It’s not only a list of steps to follow, it’s also the way how, as teachers, we can develop those activities, and how we can immerse our students in the learning process. That’s why the most important thing we need to keep in my is to prepare the activities by taking into account students’ learning styles and needs.
I have always tried to provide my students different activities and resources to make their learning process easier and meaningful. Sometimes it’s difficult to match all the learning styles in those activities in one class, but it’s not impossible; we need to focus on the way how our students learn and their behavior in each activity to plan and prepare them in the correct way and to offer students a better practice.
2. Do you always cater to your students different learning styles? Give examples.
In each class I teach, the most important thing I’m focused on is the student-student interaction. In this way, they have the opportunity to use the target language in different contexts and situation, even real-life situations that they might experience every day.
Taking into account the learning styles, I always prepare my lesson plan using different activities that match all of them or at least, most of them. Some examples of activities I do are:
- Sentences organization: where students can touch, analyze and organize words to make sentences. This activity is focused on the converging style.
- Find a partner: the idea of this activity is to find a classmate to complete sentences or other kind of situation. It’s focused on converging, assimilating and accommodating styles.
- Flash cards observation: to introduce a topic or to let students see examples of vocabulary and discuss about it. It’s focused on assimilating and diverging styles.
- Pair works: where students use their social and oral skills to express their ideas and opinions. This activity is focused on accommodating and converging styles.
- Exercises in the textbook: to practice grammar, vocabulary or reading. This activities are focused on converging, assimilating and accommodating styles.
- Acting/mimic activities: Students use their body, imagination and creativity to express ideas and let their partners guess. This activity is focused on assimilating, converging and accommodating styles.
I could continue providing different activities that I do according to the students’ learning styles, but as I said, sometimes we don’t have enough time to put all of them into practice. That’s why I could say that this is a process where each stage or class is different and sequential to other ones and as teachers, we need to keep on learning from our students every day to plan, organize and provide them the best activities according to their learning styles and their needs.
Rosana E.
Hi Rosana,
DeleteI liked very much the way you provided the examples of what you do to cater your students styles and how you related that to some of the learning styles. That helps us visualize what kind of students will benefit from the different activities. Well done!
I think that we all recognize the importance of getting to know our students well regarding who they are as learners, their personality traits, and their learning preferences, because all of these aspects of the learning experience clearly have a massive impact on the extent to which they can meet learning objectives. However, the two texts we considered have left me with crucial questions and have shaken my self-regard as an instructor. Before I read these texts, I basically used to answer these two questions for this post affirmatively.
ReplyDeleteIn my classes, I tend to provide a broad range of different activities which vary a lot in terms of language skills, procedures, levels of challenge, resources, patterns of interaction, types of tasks, and so forth. Also, experience has made me feel at ease to shift my teaching style and try new things without hesitation. Well, I used to believe that simply by doing those things, I was honoring the imperative of recognizing who our students are as learners and as people. The questions the texts have triggered for me, have me thinking that answering the two questions to discuss in this post may not be that easy, after all.
First, considering whether I am prepared to try matching my teaching style with the learning styles of my students, I used to think that the interpretation of Gardner’s theory as learning styles, to describe learners as Visual, Auditory, Tactile, and Kinesthetic was more than enough. But then, what about all the other frameworks that exist and approach learning and learning styles from radically different angles? Like the personality-based categories conceived by B. McCarthy and H. Gardner. Or what about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator that accounts for the ways in which people prefer to interact with others and themselves?
I see now that there are quite a few ways to establish a dialogue between my teaching style(s) and learners styles, depending on which framework or theory I decide to adhere to. Nonetheless, since the field of studies that address this problem (cognitive science and psychoanalysis) are still struggling to come to their definitive conclusions, none of these frameworks are actually allowed to claim (I suspect) that they are the frontier of this issue. So, I’m left here with the notion that considering if I’m ready to match my beliefs with my learners needs is like a leap of faith.
Regarding whether I always cater to my students’ different learning styles, I have to be honest and say that I don’t do it as often as I should, but one idea from the texts really made me feel ok with that realization. The idea was that one of the main drawbacks of the theories of multiple intelligences and learning styles is that two people who have the same kind of learning style/intelligence may experience, apply and live their character very differently. I really like it when the author of the paper “Teaching for Multiple Intelligences” questioned: “Are conductors, performers, composers, and musical critics all using the same musical intelligence? What of the differing linguistic intelligences of a master of free verse like William Carlos Williams and a giant of literary criticism like Harold Bloom?” So, what strategies can an instructor implement in order to find out and demonstrate whether a certain activity or class technique is actually fostering learning by dealing with and addressing a particular learning style or kind of intelligence?
This questions made feel fine with what I try to do I’m my classes because I know I’m not the only one who’s struggling with this.
As a conclusion, I think that we teachers should always put a lot of effort into delivering classes that are engaging, varied and appealing to the heterogeneous audiences we usually get; but most importantly for me, we should train ourselves continuously in the fine arts of observing and listening to people, so we can help them by discovering who they are as learners and people.
Congratulations on your awesome post Dr. Mejía.
DeleteThere must be a dialogue between the teacher’s style and the students’ leanrning style, but communication is not always easy. It would be absurd to say we have a perfect recipe to teach a class that involves everyone. As well as we deal with complex human beings, we are even more complex beings who need to constantly review what we are doing.
I really enjoyed your post. It deserves a deeper reflection while having a couple of beers, on me of course.
Thanks Juan for reading my post and commenting on it. I also read yours and it seems to me that approach instruction in a similar way. Analyzing who our students are is definitely what all this blois down too, and the crucial thing here is precisely leraning how to identify learners' differences. Have a nice day!
DeleteHi Miguel,
DeleteCongratulations!!! This is an excellent post! I totally agree with you on the idea of observing students and listening to them. That helps us understand our students, get to know them, know what works and what doesn't work; and help us improve our teaching practices.
P.S I wish I could be there to join you and juan in having a beer and having a deeper reflection on this matter.
Are you prepared to try matching your teaching style with the learning styles of your students?
ReplyDeleteI would say Yes!! When I start a new class with a new group I always have a diagnostic activity to know what they like or dislike to do. Based on the result of that activity, I plan my classes. However, I try to keep my style ( I consider myself as a good performer) and according to the weaknesses of my students, I have a back-up plan. Of course, trying to prepare all my activities as appealing as possible for them to keep interested in learning or being in my class. I usually have a bank of activities and resources to use for specific levels or topics but they are not appropriate for all kind of students. That means, I can use them depending on the learning style the target group has. For instance, some groups love playing or having noisy activities but some others don’t. They prefer to work quietly instead. It is here where teachers have to come up with new activities in order to satisfy the requirements of the learners.
Do you always cater to your students’ different learning styles? Give examples.
I always try to keep my students interested in the class and in their learning process as well. Now that I have read about different learning styles I realized that as teachers we always do cater to our students likes. I prepare a variety of activities: role plays, oral presentations, games, competitions, writing assignments, web-based activities, debates, discussion about trendy topics, etc. I like to have dynamic classes, but I consider that working individually helps to build up a sense of autonomy. For visual learners for example, flashcards are a good resource to learn. For kinesthetic learners, participating actively in a competition is the best way to keep things in mind. So, intrinsically I am always catering to my students’ different learning styles.
Hi Jennifer
DeleteIt's always good to have a back up plan. We never know when we need to change or modify the activities we bring to class. Keep on finding out how your students prefer to learn and what they feel comfortable doing, not only by asking them but also through observing them. Good job!
Dear Martha and colleagues:
ReplyDeleteAlthough I would like to say something different, I have read most of the posts in the forum and I guess it is a must to agree that we, teachers, need to identify what kind of students we have in every one of our classes and do our best to fulfill their learning expectations.
I guess most of the BNC like the Colombo have a similar instruction approach and most of schools nowadays are heading towards communicative environments in which we try to keep students’ motivation to learn English.
I have mostly found that I tend to design verbal – linguistic and bodily activities as well as kinesthetic and interpersonal activities for my classes. The main reason for this is the nature of my teaching approach that emphasizes learning as a process based on verbal – linguistic intelligence. I usually include some other activities that are related with the interpersonal, intrapersonal and kinesthetic intelligence, but I have to recognize that the verbal – linguistic activity prevail in my classes.
Now I am challenged to be humbler and accept that people also change, and my students also do it and not everyone is the same.
Hi Juan,
DeleteAren't the posts great? I am very happy with what you guys posted. And, I am glad that there is some reflection at the end of the readings and activities proposed for the assignment. I liked your challenge!
Hello everyone!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your amazing posts. I am glad you all had your moment for reflection. I had mine too by reading your posts. I learned a lot from you.