Learner Variability and Lesson Planning
Learner Variability and Lesson Planning
All learners have methods by which they learn best. Some individuals learn best through testing themselves with flashcards, others through recitation and some through physically performing either the task they are trying to learn or a set of movements related to it. Due to the differences in learning styles not all lessons are going to work well with all students, as their learning style doesn’t work in the same way as the lesson. One of the best ways to combat this difference in learning style and the lesson is to vary the way that different lessons are presented. By doing so learners with different learning styles will all get a chance to learn in the way that best fits them. One effective way to insert lessons using different learning styles is by using E-Moments.
E-Moments are short learning activities that are interactive ways to gauge how well your students are learning. These e-moments can be used as a check for understanding at the end of a lesson, a fun way for students to give brief presentations or as a way to break up long lessons into more manageable sections for both the students and the teacher. They can help the students to refocus on the lesson, as their minds are likely to begin to wander no matter how interesting the lesson topic is to them.
Everyone learns using the three domains of learning which are cognitive, psychomotor and affective behaviors. While everyone can learn by using behaviors from each domain, with a combination of two or all three being more common than just one, but many students have a better time learning with one of the three domains than the other. Similarly, most students fall into one of eight multiple intelligences that also help to determine how they might learn best based on generalizations of people in that group. By taking both of these factors into account I can work to better learn how my students learn and plan as many lessons as possible in a way that benefits the majority of my students. By using the modalities, the sight, hearing, touch, and smell, in addition to these learning styles I could further benefit my students by adding different sensory information that can help to increase their understanding of certain materials.
By taking e-moments, multiple intelligences, domains, and modalities into account I will be able to craft different lessons that cater to the learning styles and needs of my students. This will ensure that they receive the best learning experience that I am able to give them.
To my future students, how would you feel about a learning environment where your learning styles are catered to too the best of my ability? Would this make you more comfortable in my class?
To Dr. McLean, do you use E-Moments at your school, and if so how and when do you implement them?
To my cohort, how do you plan to use differences in student learning styles when creating your lesson plans?
Abbie,
ReplyDeleteI plan to use the differences in student learning styles in my lessons as often as I can. For example, if I am teaching a lesson on soil structure I can show diagrams, have student create the layers with sand or play dough, have them draw it out and so on. To use different preferred learning styles I can emphasis on repetition of the material to not only hit many of the styles but, to help get the material into students long term memory.