2 learning styles

Editor's Notes

• #4: How does this Einstein quote relate to learning styles? Encourage students to discuss that a person’s ability/inability to understand something may have nothing to do with their intelligence but more to do with the way they learn.
• #5: There are 7 main learning styles: 1. Visual (spatial): You prefer using pictures, images, and spatial understanding to organize information and communicate with others. You can easily visualize objects, plans, and outcomes in your mind's eye. You also have a good spatial sense, which gives you a good sense of direction. 2. Aural (auditory-musical): You prefer using sound and music. You have a good sense of pitch and rhythm. You typically can sing, play a musical instrument, or identify the sounds of different instruments. Certain music invokes strong emotions. You notice the music playing in the background of movies, TV shows and other media. 3. Verbal (linguistic): You prefer using words, both in speech and writing. You learn best through reading, writing, listening, and speaking. You absorb information by engaging with reading materials and by discussing and debating ideas. 4. Physical (kinesthetic): You prefer using your body, hands and sense of touch. to learn about the world around you. You are more sensitive to the physical world around you. You notice and appreciate textures, for example in clothes or furniture. You like 'getting your hands dirty,' or making models, or working out jigsaws. You typically use larger hand gestures and other body language to communicate. 5. Logical (mathematical): You prefer using logic, reasoning and systems. You can recognize patterns easily, as well as connections between seemingly meaningless content. This also leads you to classify and group information to help you learn or understand it. You work well with numbers and you can perform complex calculations. You typically work through problems and issues in a systematic way, and you like to create procedures for future use. 6. Social (interpersonal): You prefer to learn in groups or with other people. You communicate well with people, both verbally and non-verbally. You typically prefer learning in groups or classes. You prefer social activities, rather than doing your own thing. 7. Solitary (intrapersonal): You prefer to work alone and use self-study. You are more private, introspective and independent. You spend time on self-analysis, and often reflect on past events and the way you approached them. You take time to ponder and assess your own accomplishments or challenges. You may keep a journal, diary or personal log to record your personal thoughts and events. You think independently, and you know your mind. You prefer to work on problems by retreating to somewhere quiet and working through possible solutions. No one person fits perfectly within each category. This is why these 7 styles are sometimes also called multiple intelligences. Often, the ways we learn overlap these seven distinctions, depending on a number of factors: content, environment, and age are just three examples. For example, you may find that while you were once a primarily verbal-linguistic learner, you now excel in group (social-interpersonal) learning spaces.
• #6: Ask: What kind of learners might respond more strongly to seeing information displayed like this?
• #7: As important as it is to understand your learning style, it is also important to understand the ways others around you learn. Take this image as an example. This is a common saying (do you need me to draw you picture?) when expressing frustration to someone who is “not getting it.” But what if you are working with a visual learner? Might you ned Transition to Discussion Discussion (20 minutes): Have students consider their scores from the learning styles assessment. With a partner, have students discuss these results in light of these seven styles. Ask them to discuss the following questions with their partner: · What have you learned about yourself from this process? · How can you apply these lessons learned? Once students have had time to go through these questions, have them share their lessons learned with the larger group. As the facilitator of this discussion, highlight patterns of student responses. For example, have a large group of students learned that they should seek out group learning environments? Or do a majority excel in kinesthetic learning experiences?
• #8: Group Work- Learning Styles and Communication Strategies (30 minutes): To activate prior knowledge, highlight the content of the previous lesson on effective communication and teamwork. In small groups, have students consider the following: · Imagine you have a group project to complete. You are expected to research a particular topic and give a presentation on it within a week. There are 5 group members. Two of you are visual learners, while two are kinesthetic learners and one is a solitary learner. Devise tips for communicating effectively amongst all team members and dividing responsibilities so that the strengths of all team members are maximized. Each group will present their communication strategies and division of responsibilities, along with rationale behind those decisions, to the class. Provide feedback to all groups throughout these presentations. Also, encourage students to ask questions of their classmates.
• #9: Regardless of how you learn, managing time is always an important element to professional success. [The following is adapted from 7 Habits of Highly Effective People] We spend time in one of four ways: As you see, the two factors that define an activity are urgent and important. Urgent means it requires immediate attention. Urgent things act on us. A ringing phone is urgent. Most people can't stand the thought of just allowing the phone to ring. You could spend hours preparing materials, you could get all dressed up and travel to a person's office to discuss a particular issue, but if the phone were to ring while you were there, it would generally take precedence over your personal visit. If you were to phone someone, there aren't many people who would say, "I'll get to you in 15 minutes; just hold." But those same people would probably let you wait in an office for at least that long while they completed a telephone conversation with someone else. Urgent matters are usually visible. They press on us; they insist on action. They're often popular with others. They're usually right in front of us. But so often they are unimportant! Importance, on the other hand, has to do with results. If something is important, it contributes to your mission, your values, and your high priority goals. We react to urgent matters. Important matters that are not urgent require more initiative, more proactivity. We must act to seize opportunity, to make things happen. If we don't practice time management, if we don't have a clear idea of what is important, of the results we desire in our lives, we are easily diverted into responding to the urgent. · Quadrant I is for the immediate and important deadlines. · Quadrant II is for long-term strategizing and development. · Quadrant III is for time-pressured distractions. They are not really impor­tant, but someone wants it now. · Quadrant IV is for those activities that yield little is any value. These are activities that are often used for taking a break from time pressured and important activities. Many people find that most of their activities fall into quadrant I and III. Quadrant II is often under used. Yet, Quadrant II is important because one must work both tactically and strategically at the same time. Finding ways to expand Quadrant II activities is a common outcome from using this grid. Applying the Time Management Grid: Have students review their weekly schedules. This can be done via Outlook, their phones, or wherever their weekly schedules are kept. Have students categorize each upcoming task for the next 7 days. Ask the class to share responses to these questions: Which quadrant(s) are you living in predominantly now? Where do you find yourself not managing time effectively? How can you effectively reorganize your tasks and responsibilities to ensure that your time is used in the most effective way possible?
• #10: It’s not enough to organize our time. We also need to organize our “gathering points.” These are places where we keep “unprocessed” items, tasks/emails/ideas/etc. that that we have not yet dealt with for a variety of reasons (don’t know what/when to do; don’t know where to store, etc Danger of these spots: When you start doing one thing from there, you see something else that you need to do, so you start doing that, without finishing the first (ex. Take out tech homework from backpack, see parking ticket, pay that online, while online, check email, Facebook and Twitter, respond to Facebook message, and so on. The next thing you know, an hour has has passed, your homework still isn’t done, and you don’t have much to show for that past hour. Ask: How do gathering spaces relate to both time management and individual learning styles? Gathering points worksheet: Explain the worksheet and give students 5 minutes to fill out Ask: How many gathering points do people have? The average person has 30 – 40. If the goal is to get the number of gathering spaces down to 6, ask students to identify gathering spaces that could be eliminated?
• #11: Today’s wordle