Learning Styles

Extra Help:

If you need extra help, you are welcome to stay any day that I am available after school.  All you have to do is ask.

In the Grade 4 program, we spend some time at the beginning of the year finding out about our own way of learning.  Knowing this information means that students can have a better understanding of how they learn best and what kinds of project options will allow them to show their best work.

In our class, we talk about three major types of learners:  Auditory, Visual and Kinesthetic-Tactile (KT).  While all of us have characteristics of all three kinds, most of us have a preferred or dominant learning style.   That learning style has an impact on how we function or sometimes have difficulties in the classroom.  It also can mean that there are some subjects that we find easier or some types of work that are easiest for us.

AUDITORY:  Auditory learners learn best by hearing.  These students are the ones who are typically most successful in school.  They listen well and often can repeat back information without ever taking notes.  They can get started on an assignment as soon as the teacher has told them what to do.  They do particularly well in subjects like English, because the focus is writing and speaking.  They also tend to like to read, play music and act.  These students really like doing projects that let them talk or write.  We usually think of these students as the 'best' students in the class simply because they are the most successful at being traditional students in a traditional classroom.  However, auditory learners are also often distracted by background noise because they pay attention to sounds.  (Of course, sometimes that background noise is from other auditory learners because they are naturally drawn to talking so they can be a bit chatty.)  That means they can have a hard time paying attention or staying on task if the classroom is noisy.  Likewise, they should try to keep background noise to a minimum while doing their work at home.  

VISUAL: Visual learners learn best by using examples.  they like to draw and may have natural artistic ability.  When given a choice, they will always pick an option that involves drawing over writing because they find this easier.  Visual learners tend to do well in subjects like Social Studies because they enjoy tasks like mapping.  Obviously, Art classes are popular with these learners.  Visual learners find work really easy if they have an example to follow.  They may not be able to do Math in their heads but if they have one example problem to guide them, they understand the rest easily.  One difficulty visual learners may have is staying on task in a classroom that is 'over-decorated'.  If there are a lot of posters and pictures on the wall, or there are a lot of colours used in the same room, visual learners will pay more attention to these than the task at hand.

KINESTHETIC-TACTILE: KT learners often have the most difficulty functioning in the regular classroom simply because most sit down type classrooms do not accommodate their needs. KT learners need to move around and be doing something all the time.  We sometimes call these students 'Hands-On' learners.  They need some kind of motor feedback.  As a result, these students do very well in classes where there is something to do with their hands.  Science, Physical Education, Family Studies and Technology Education are great classes for these students.  In the regular classroom, these students will often 'need' to sharpen their pencil frequently, 'need' to go to the washroom a lot, 'need' to chew gum, or 'need' to tap their feet of rap their fingers on the desks.  What they really need is to get up and move around or get some other kind of motion happening.  Teachers and students need to work out a way that allows KT students to get what they need without distracting the Visual students who will watch and Auditory students who will be distracted by the process of someone asking to leave the room.

All of us are all of these.  We need to understand that one style is usually stronger than the others.  However, what we need to understand is how to function at our best without disturbing the others.  Teachers should try to make sure that over the course of a unit of study there are activities for all three types of learners.  Students need to know what their style is and use that information to help them stay on task in the classroom and select project or work choices that suit them best.

MATH

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