Learning Styles

I found the Learning Styles quiz very interesting because it proved some of the things I noticed about myself.  I'm a very logical thinker and I scored highest on that.  Another area I scored high in was the visual-spatial category.  I've noticed this in my past learning experiences because I always did best in math.  Also, the strategy that was most effective for me was basically anything that I could see.  I was more certain and confident to work on my own when I saw something modeled for me or when I could use a map or diagram as a reference.  Being able to see things always helped me grasp a concept.  On the reverse-end, if I was lectured to or given reading assignments, I typically had more difficulty or I would forget what I learned quite easily.  It wasn't as concrete for me.

It would be impossible to teach each lesson focusing on all the different learning styles our students have, but I feel it's still an important concern to keep in mind when planning.  No student learns the same way or fits the same mold, so we must adapt our teaching to reach all our students.  I don't think we should choose just one learning style to focus on.  Instead our focus should be on including a variety of learning styles and teaching methods in our everyday planning.  Therefore, we can give students experiences to learn material with different methods.  In addition, having students choose centers based on their preference would be ideal.  I have tried this many times.  Each center focuses on a different learning strategy and students choose which one interests them.  Even though students chose different centers, the learning objectives remained the same in each of the centers.  This obviously takes more thorough planning, but is a great and successful way to meet the needs of our diverse learners.  I would be interested in giving my students this quiz...