Prompt: What can a teacher do to address the many different needs of her students? Why would learners need to be assessed in a variety of ways? Won’t that spoil them for the “real world” where people are not going to always allow them to work to their strengths?
Just as there needs to be a balance between eating the appetizer and main course and dessert of a meal, I think there should be a balance of how the teacher presents content throughout the day. You wouldn’t want too many appetizers at a meal or you wouldn’t eat the main course. You also don’t want an overload of kinesthetic activities in a day. Within one day, I try to teach to all of the learning styles (visual, kinesthetic, auditory, logical, social, verbal, et cetera). To learn students’ learning styles, both last year and this year I have done a learning survey and it’s been great! It is an awesome activity for them to start thinking more metacognitively. Once I know their strengths, I can make sure that the input & output for lessons are a mix of their strengths & weaknesses so that they can have a time to shine, but have a time to grow and to learn how to learn differently. This is very much the real world; they will have to solve problems and do things that they have never done before and if they can learn to take on those learning experiences positively & to use their strengths & skills, they will be empowered and will have a high level of self-efficacy.
Teaching a variety of learners is difficult because it requires us as teachers to adjust the way that we feel most comfortable teaching, too. It means that instead of teaching from a PowerPoint presentation all the time because that is what I know the best, that I am willing to teach using songs and dances and movements to accommodate my kinesthetic learners even though I don’t feel as comfortable teaching that way (Let’s be honest, it makes me completely nervous!). By keeping the needs of my students always at the forefront of my mind when planning a lesson, I can hope to give all of them multiple opportunities to grow in their strengths and their weaknesses in my classroom.
I’ll admit that it seems difficult to connect all that I am teaching to the students lives. Sometimes it is hard to see the importance of some topics that we have to teach. It’s hard to think of things that second graders are experiencing in Buffalo and then to relate that to math and ELA and social studies. While I do my best to make these connections as best as I can, I think I focus more on making learning a positive experience so that when they are learning new things in the future, in the “real world”, they can feel empowered and excited. I also try to give them opportunties to teach each other (to shine) and to listen and learn from each other (to grow).
Lia Thomassian's Student Teaching Blog 
I think that you are correct in saying that it is very important that we meet the needs of our students by finding a way to reach all the learning styles. I think its also important to remember that you don’t have to do a powerpoint for the visual learner and a song and dance for the kinesthetic learner- there are many ways to incorporate multiple learning styles into one lesson! 🙂
I also think that its important to remember that as teachers, our own learning style is naturally going to come out in how we teach, and there’s nothing wrong with that 🙂 I am a kinesthetic learner, so naturally I am going to be looking for how to actively engage my students in material because that is how I understand learning. But you are right in saying that we need to make sure to actively include other modes of “input and output” as Deidre described it.
Great thoughts Lia!
Lia, I love your analogy at the beginning of your post! Its so true that we need that correct balance of different ways we meet students needs in our classrooms! It is important for us to teach in a variety of ways throughout the entire day so that we can do this. I really like how you thought about teaching our students and meeting their individual needs as difficult, because it surely is! You’re exactly right when you said that it causes us to step out of a world that we are most comfortable in and take a risk to teach something or some way that we are not familiar with. As novice teachers, we have the comfort that, in time, hopefully some of this difficulty will turn into some of our strengths. I know for me, sometimes it is even fear that creaps in my mind. It is so important, to make learnign a positive experience, like you are doing for your students. Without that, there is no relevance or point to any of this. I always think to myself, “There are some students that when they come to school, it is an escape, and I want to provide a balance og positive reinforcement and skills they need to become successful out there in the “real world.” Great thinking Lia! I really enjoy reading your thoughts each week! 🙂
Lia!
Wow, I absolutely love the idea of having students learn about their own learning styles! What an incredible way to not only get to know the students better, but also empower them to “own” their learning more an dbe personally invested in learning. Where is this learning survey?-what a great resource.
I really appreciate that you pointed out how enabling students to learn through these different styles, not only makes key connections between education and their daily lives, but also makes learning a positive experience. It is so easy to loose sight that although content and connections are vital to every lesson, non of it will stick if learning is not made to be a positive learning experience.
It’s kind of like acting in a play where you’re an antihero and the audience never really knows whether you’re “good” or “bad.” It is trying to make the audience not want you to kill yourself. As educators, we try to get students to want to learn. With out that drive, learning will definitely be hindered.