Learning Styles

I am a visual learner. I thrive when I can create and use graphics, drawings, and other visual clues. I also learn best when I can see examples of what is to be learned. I am also a kinesthetic learner. I enjoy including movement into my learning. I retain info better when I can do something with it.

Looking back on my own learning experiences, I thrived when I could dissect what I was learning into parts. I did well in Math, which explores how things are related and I enjoyed learning about those relationships. When I began learning French, I looked at the language in a mathmatical way, grouping vocabulary and grammar into linguistic parts. A sentence in French became, in a way, a mathmatical equation, for example: Noun + Verb + Prepositional Phrase = Sentence. 


As much as I love technology and how it has made learning more accessible, I do not learn effectively from reading articles and texts online. When I use a computer, I need to interact with what I am learning. If I have to read an article on the internet or as an email attachment, I do best when I print it out and use a highlighter and pen to take notes in the margins. I have found that I retain information better when I write it down with pen and paper: typing does not have the same effect.

I don't retain as much information when I rely on just one method of learning. I benefit most when I incorporate multiple learning methods and styles. My favorite learning styles are visual/spatial, body/movement, and logic/math. However I also enjoy learning through nature, with language, socially, intrapersonally, and with music.



As a teacher, I cannot teach each lesson using every learning style. I need to be self-reflective about my teaching goals and my strengths in teaching. I need to teach to various learning styles, but I also need to remember that learning and teaching styles are not inflexible. It might actually be good to diversify how a student learns and not always teach to what styles they learn best.