Collaborating to Differentiate Instruction

1. Collaborating to Differentiate Instruction Week Three Learning Styles

2. “Effective teaching usually combines several approaches, or multi-sensory instruction, so the child uses more than one sense at a time while learning. Multi-sensory approaches work well because of the way our brain is organized. When we learn, information takes one path into our brain when we use our eyes, another when we use our ears and a yet a third when we use our hands. By using more than one sense we bombard our brain with the new information in multiple ways. As a result we learn better. Students retain: • 10% of what they read • 20% of what they hear • 30% of what they see • 50% of what they see and hear • 70% of what they say • 90% of what they say and do.” -Rief, 1993

3. Learning Styles • This approach to learning emphasizes the fact that individuals perceive and process information in very different ways. The learning styles theory implies that how much individuals learn has more to do with whether the educational experience is geared toward their particular style of learning than whether or not they are "smart." In fact, educators should not ask, "Is this student smart?" but rather "How is this student smart?" www.funderstanding.com/learning_styles

4. How the Learning Styles Theory Impacts Education • Curriculum--Educators must place emphasis on intuition, feeling, sensing, and imagination, in addition to the traditional skills of analysis, reason, and sequential problem solving. www.funderstanding.com/learning_styles

5. How the Learning Styles Theory Impacts Education • Instruction--Teachers should design their instruction methods to connect with all four learning styles, using various combinations of experience, reflection, conceptualization, and experimentation. Instructors can introduce a wide variety of experiential elements into the classroom, such as sound, music, visuals, movement, experience, and even talking. www.funderstanding.com/learning_styles

6. How the Learning Styles Theory Impacts Education • Assessment--Teachers should employ a variety of assessment techniques, focusing on the development of "whole brain" capacity and each of the different learning styles. www.funderstanding.com/learning_styles

7. What are Learning Styles? • Learning styles are simply different approaches or ways of learning. www.ldpride.net/learningstyles

8. What are Learning Styles? Visual Learners….learn through seeing...       • These learners need to see the teacher's body language and facial expression to fully understand the content of a lesson. They tend to prefer sitting at the front of the classroom to avoid visual obstructions (e.g. people's heads). They may think in pictures and learn best from visual displays including: diagrams, illustrated text books, overhead transparencies, videos, flipcharts and hand-outs.  During a lecture or classroom discussion, visual learners often prefer to take detailed notes to absorb the information. www.ldpride.net/learningstyles

9. What are Learning Styles? Auditory Learners….learn through listening...       • They learn best through verbal lectures, discussions, talking things through and listening to what others have to say. Auditory learners interpret the underlying meanings of speech through listening to tone of voice, pitch, speed and other nuances. Written information may have little meaning until it is heard. These learners often benefit from reading text aloud and using a tape recorder. www.ldpride.net/learningstyles

10. What are Learning Styles? Kinesthetic Learners….learn through moving, doing, and touching...       • Tactile/Kinesthetic persons learn best through a hands-on approach, actively exploring the physical world around them. They may find it hard to sit still for long periods and may become distracted by their need for activity and exploration. www.ldpride.net/learningstyles

11. What are Learning Styles? Kinesthetic Learners….learn through moving, doing, and touching...       • Tactile/Kinesthetic persons learn best through a hands-on approach, actively exploring the physical world around them. They may find it hard to sit still for long periods and may become distracted by their need for activity and exploration. www.ldpride.net/learningstyles

12. Recognizing Learning Styles A teacher who possesses an understanding of his/her student's preferred learning styles can present lessons in a variety of ways and offer each student the opportunity to find the mode that works best for him or her. (See How to Create a Multisensory Classroom.) The goal is to initiate learning through the strongest modality while strengthening the weaker ones. www.teachnet.org/ntol/howto/adjust/c13473,.htm

13. Recognizing Learning Styles Tactual / Kinesthetic • Age Range: Strongest in Primary students, Pre K - 2. • Descriptions: Kinesthetic learners think using both feelings and texture, pressure, temperature, movement, shape, and intensity. • How they Learn: Students learn through their senses. They want to touch, taste, smell, hear and see. They learn by experiencing. Muscle memory is important. They build and take apart. They can learn while pacing or on a treadmill. Their muscles can remember as well as their brains. These learners also respond well to interpersonal relationships and remember stories and metaphors. They learn to read using whole words and context clues. • Classroom Implications: They often need to get up and move during class, even to throw a paper away. A frequent change of activity is essential. www.teachnet.org/ntol/howto/adjust/c13473,.htm

14. Recognizing Learning Styles Auditory • Age Range: Begins in Grades 3-5 and lasts through adolescence. • Descriptions: The auditory processors think in rhythm, volume, tone, and pitch. • How they Learn: These students learn by listening and recall information by hearing it. Like a cassette recorder, they often must go through a tape from the beginning until they locate the information they need. They learn to read phonetically. However, comprehension skills may not be as strong as decoding skills. They pick up languages and accents. • Classroom Implications: To review information, it is useful for them to talk it out with someone else or into a tape recorder. Students may keep their heads down on the desk, appearing not to listen, when, in fact, they are focusing their attention on listening. When taking notes, they often miss chunks of new information because they are concentrating on what they are writing. www.teachnet.org/ntol/howto/adjust/c13473,.htm

15. Recognizing Learning Styles Visual • Age Range: Middle School and Beyond • Descriptions: For people who receive information through visual pictures, factors such as size, color, brightness, distance, and location are important. • How they Learn: Students learn by graphic representation and symbolic abstractions. They learn by taking notes and reading them back. They can picture where information appeared in their texts and go back to it. Successful learners can visualize concepts in their heads. • Classroom Implications: Because most traditional schooling uses the lecture and note-taking method in the later grades, these students usually have the highest grades. www.teachnet.org/ntol/howto/adjust/c13473,.htm

16. Recognizing Learning Styles Students who don't fit into the common patterns are in danger of having school difficulties unless the classroom environment is Multisensory. The goal is to start from the strong skills with each student, and develop the weak. www.teachnet.org/ntol/howto/adjust/c13473,.htm

17. Recognizing Students at Risk “I have a dream ....... that all my students are self-motivated, quick to learn, and adaptable to any activity I may give them. But I also have a reality ........ that some students, for a variety of reasons, do not find school a rewarding experience. These students may be considered at risk; they are students who do not adapt well to the traditional school culture. This may be due to outside distractions, emotional difficulties, or learning disabilities. Although it is difficult to generalize, I will attempt to identify some of the behaviors which make school difficult for some youngsters and may put them at risk for dropping out of school before they have completed their education.” www.teachnet.org/ntol/howto/adjust/c13085,.htm

18. Recognizing Students at Risk • Have low motivation • Possess short attention spans • Are easily frustrated • Are highly distractable • Need more time on task because they process information more slowly • May miss chunks of information because they are concentrating very hard on other things • Lack organizational skills • Learn best from stories and metaphors • Are inconsistent in their academic achievement • Like to learn by doing (kinesthetic) • Respond best to personal relationships • Need concrete, hands on learning opportunities • May have skills and talents that are not recognized or developed in school (athletic ability, artistic ability, social skills) www.teachnet.org/ntol/howto/adjust/c13085,.htm

19. Recognizing Students at Risk • The vast majority of at risk students have a kinesthetic or auditory learning preference. If we look at these students as those whose learning styles are incompatible with teaching and testing styles, we open up a wide range of possible solutions. These students often are not "learning disabled," but "learning different." For more information on learning styles, check out this web site:http://www.geocities.com/~educationplace/lstylstd.htm • The goal of teachers is to take at risk students and bring them back into the educational mainstream, even as the educational mainstream itself is adjusting to higher standards. The challenge is to create lifelong learners, regardless of learning style, so that all students can reach their maximum potential. www.teachnet.org/ntol/howto/adjust/c13085,.htm

20. Learning Styles: A Rationale • Recognizing our own learning style – as a teacher and as a learner - will help you in your students learning styles. • Be aware of learning styles and the collaborative teaching models will help you as you critically evaluate research-based instructional strategies that you could use in your classroom.

21. References Consulted • Benjamin, A. (2002) Differentiated Instruction A Guide for Middle and High School Teachers. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education • Educational Leadership, (2000). How to Differentiate Instruction, Vol. 58, Issue No. 1: ASCD • Gregory, G.H. (2003) Differentiated Instructional Strategies in Practice Training, Implementation, and Supervision. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press • Tomlinson, C.A. (1999) The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD • http://www.weac.org/kids/1998-99/march99/differ.htm • http://www.ascd.org/pdi/demo/diffinstr/differentiated1.html • http://www.cast.org/ncac/DifferentiatedInstruction2876.cfm • http://www.frsd.k12.nj.us/rfmslibrarylab/di/differentiated_instruction.htm • http://www.cedu.niu.edu/tedu/portfolio/diffclass.htm • http://k12.albemarle.org/Technology/DI/ • http://tst1160-35.k12.fsu.edu/mainpage.html