Learning Styles - the Debate

I got into a little debate on one of the discussion boards this past week.  The debate revolved around whether or not there was evidence to support the notion of learning styles.  I fall onto the side that believes everyone has a particular learning style that they are partial too.  I am not of the belief however that we have to cater to just that learning style for that student (this is where I part ways with those who believe in complete learner centred schooling).  I think that can be dangerous and promote the glorified sense of entitlement that has become a prevalent issue amongst today's youth and young adults.  That aside, I found it interesting that shortly after engaging in this debate, this topic came up in our readings.  Chapter 11 of the Oliva and Gordon text discuss Styles of Learning on pp. 275-277.  They recognise that some students are more audiory, others are visual, some are kinethetic.  It is important for teachers to recognise that these differences exist and that our students need to have information presented to them in a variety of ways and teaching styles.

How I have seen this in practice has been pretty remarkable.  There is one boy I am thinking of in particular who is 'full of beans'.  He has so much energy.  Traditional school is not made for him.  He is constantly moving.  He has a lot of difficulty focussing in, he is easily distracted.  Then one day our activity involved cutting different describing words out and matching them to different characters of a story.  I had never seen this child so engaged!  He was so completely focussed it blew me away.  How could this be the same boy?  And it dawned on me.  He's kinesthetic.  He soaks up these experiences and learns this way.  Visual and auditory just didn't work for him.  While I can't make every lesson kinestheic, I certainly made sure that I had more of them as the year progressed.

Now, I know that one example does not make up a study.  I used this example as a recent example of how I have seen evidence of learning styles mattering in the education of a child.  There have been many, many other students that I have taught that I could have used as an example too.  It just hits home to me how important it is that we know our students and find out what is going to engage them, and how going about engaging them is going to work best.  

It's not Curriculum but...

Sometimes (many times) things come up in a classroom that aren't clear curriculum, but they need to be addressed.  This past week had one of these events.  Last Thursday as Moncton was in lockdown mode, I had 9 and 10 year olds to teach 2 hours away who were scared.  They had questions.  I was in a lot of ways very proud of how thoughtful and mature my students were.  As their teacher I couldn't ignore the questions.  At the same time I wondered how much do I say?  What would their parents want them to know?  I thought about my own children and what I would want their teachers to say to them that day.  So I went with facts and empathy.  Whether or not their parents had told them what was going on, the kids knew.  They heard the news on the radio, or, overheard a dramatic student making statements on the recess yard.  While there is no curriculum outcome for dealing with news and tragedy, there are times when news and tragedy are a reality that we face in schools.  It's heartbreaking.  

How we as teachers interact with our students is so important.  We have a responsibilty to be honest and model appropriate response to tragedy.  This aspect of curriculum isn't written down.  It is part of the classroom culture that our students will carry with them.  I know that my students will remember this terrible event.  How they remember it matters.  I feel confident that I handled their fears and questions well.

Curriculum and Lesson Planning

Reading Chapter 10 of Oliva and Gordon's Developing the Curriculum felt like a refresher from my teacher training in the 90's.  It's amazing when I think about it how much time and energy I put into lesson planning back then.  My lesson plans on a day to day basis are not nearly so detailed.  My actual lesson plans today are pretty brief.  As I have gained confidence and fluidity in teaching the details have dropped out of the picture.  I know that this is an area that I could spend more time on and focus.  I fit my entire teaching day's plan on a double sided sheet of paper.  I usually list the focus, the name of the activities, a brief description, and an curriculum link letter or number that corresponds. Sometimes (depending on what it is) I may list on the sidebar any differentiation that I need to provide for a particular student.  When I write my lesson plans, I know what they mean.  I wonder if someone else coming in would?  Would my admin know what I'm teaching?  Would a parent be able to come in and flip through my daybook and find evidence that I have in fact taught the grade 4 curriculum to their child?

I become very aware of my own deficiencies (laziness?  efficiency?) when I have to write out a day plan for a supply teacher.  It takes so long!  I write out everything.  Reading this chapter made me wonder if there was a better way that I could be lesson planning?  I don't want lesson planning to take hours upon hours for everything I do.  But it really shouldn't be so brief that no one else knows what I'm doing either.  I think this would be a good goal for me next year.  Maybe even to practice writing out a full lesson plan once in a while (that could be publishable) would help to re-focus and find a better lesson planning system for myself.  

Philosophy Theory Vs. Practice

I have done a lot of reflecting during this course about my philosophy of education that I wrote a few weeks back.  The philospophy comes to mind sometimes as I am teaching, or, as my students are working and I'm monitoring the room.  I wonder how close are my beliefs aligned with my actual day to day practice of teaching. I know that a philosophy is an ideal.  No one lives out their philosophy every moment of every day.  We try to live it out as best as we can, reflecting and refining as we go.  My philosophy was written with a number of I Believe statements.  I would like to take a moment to reflect on my current practice for each of those statements.

I believe in building a community of learners in my classroom.

This is an area that I can honestly say I have done with a purpose.  I can tell that it is working and has impacted my students from observing their interactions with each other.  I have one boy in my room who belongs to the school choir.  At the beginning of the year he was very conflicted about this.  He loves singing, but some of the other boys made fun of him for going and he was going to drop it.  With encouragement from his parents and myself he stuck with it.  A couple of weeks ago it was announced that the choir placed second in the provincial music competition.  The whole class cheered and congratulated him.  It made me feel proud the way that they speak to each other now.  Another example of this has to do with a boy in my class who has a lot of trouble relating in a socially appropriate manner (due to his personal background).  He has had trouble fitting in, but it has been getting better.  This past week our class went on a field trip and they were allowed to explore the science centre in pairs and small groups.  Another boy went right up to this boy and said, "Let's go together okay buddy?"  To watch this boy's face light up that someone would want to spend time with him just made my day.  I was so proud of the boy who asked him to spend time together.  This is such a change from the beginning of the year when kids would ostricize him because they didn't know how to relate to him and just found him annoying.  We have worked so hard to help him with social skills and with the class to be an inclusive safe community.  

 

I believe in building relationships with the community that is beyond the walls of my classroom.

One of my professional goals this year was to be more in touch with the parents and families of my students.  I know I have gotten a lot better at making regular phone calls home.  I have also taken advantage of keeping in regular contact with some parents on email.  I have also taken the time to make phone calls home, send emails and have meetings for positive recognition.  This has been huge in building the community ties. You can tell on the phone when you call home that the parent is wary that a teacher is calling.  To hear the change of voice when they realise that it is a positive call is a joy for me.  Last week I met with a parent of a student for a positive meeting and the mother cried.  She said that she has never had a positive meeting at school, ever.  It has always been negative.  That really impacted me.  To think that this child has been in school for 5 years and this is the first pointed out positive, it seems absurd.  But on further reflection I know that in my own practice positive meetings were not a regular occurance.  I always called when it was something negative.  No wonder parents sound wary on the phone.   

 

I believe that all students are capable of learning while recognizing that not all students learn at the same rate, nor, in the same way.

I know this to be true.  I wonder how much of my instruction is geared this way.  It is difficult to differentiate to the extent that is expected.  I spend more time planning for my modified students than I do to differentiate for any one else.  Sometimes I feel stretched so thin trying to meet the needs of all of my students.  They are all just as deserving of my time and attention to their needs.  I think of my reading groups.  I have 17 students this year.  They divide into 7 reading groups.  My 4 lowest students should have meaningful reading instruction every single day.  Another group should be seen 3 times a week.  Three of my students don't exactly fit into any reading group at all, but only 1 has low enough needs to be seen individually.  And then there are my high flyers.  They should be seen at least once a week.  There is not enough time for meaningful reading instruction to take place for all of these students.  This is when I become hardest on myself.  I want to make it work.  I hate that I have to pick and choose.  

 

I believe in providing my students with a purposeful, meaningful education.

There are lessons I teach that I think, "Why am I doing this?"  "They aren't getting it" or, "Does this matter?".  I am my own worst critic.  I would love for every lesson, every activity to be engaging and relatable for my students.  But they aren't.  I know when I've hit a homerun.  I also know when I've struck out.  The great thing with teaching is that when you strike out there is always another opportunity to step to the plate and bat again.  Overall, I would say the work I have done with this class this year has had meaning. I can look back and say they have become more actively engaged in reading for meaning.  They have become more cohearant writers who write with a purpose.  They understand that math is for the real world not just the classrrom.  My hope is that they carry the love of learning with them as they carry on in life.

 

I believe that fair and equal are not the same thing.

I have two modified math students in my room.  Today as we were having math rotation centres I placed these two students in the same group with two other non-modified students.  Two of the centres were multiplication based, but I had an addition alternative for these students.  The other kids in their group didn't complain a bit.  They just accepted that those two had slightly easier (in their mind, not in reality for those students) work.  That was great to see, acceptance of differentiation in action.

I believe in accountability.

 I have had a very challenging student this year.  He has 'explosive behaviour'.  One of the greatest accomplishments that I have had this year is holding him accountable for his actions.  It has made a great difference with the decisions that he is now making at school.  It has curbed his running away from school.  It has stopped his destruction of school property.  No, his behaviour is not 'cured' but he has made some very excellent gains.  Absolutely I believe in the power of accountability.  

I believe in respect.

 

This is a non-negotiable for me.  Just as with accountablilty I expect my students to show respect to each other and others around them.  I reinforce it when I ask someone to not talk while someone else is speaking.  Also, when I hear someone speaking rudely to another person, I wil speak to them and ask them to apologise.  I also model respect for them.  I don't raise my voice in my classroom.  I speak to students quietly in the hall when there is a behavior that needs to be addressed.  I acknowledge to my students that I make mistakes too and that is okay.  I learned this lesson early on in teaching when I met with a family regarding their son's behaviour in my class.  I apologised to that boy at the meeting because I realised that I had had moments of not being respectful to him.  I needed to own that and make amends for it in order to continue being his teacher.  What I witnessed in him at that moment has stuck with me for 15 years now, he became open to learning.  Respect matters.

I believe in responsibility.

I had a struggle today with one of my English classes.  My grade 5's were presenting their year end projects and I had 4 of them come to me at the beginning of class who were not quite finished.  I was so annoyed.  And I gave the class, "the talk".  This was not good enough.  They are finishing elementary school next week.  During my talk I made sure to mention and thank the students by name who were prepared and had their projects done and ready to present on time (repect to them).  As I mentioned before I am not one to raise my voice, but I was firm.  I did have a different tone and they listened.  It is so important to me that students take responsibilty for their actions.  This is a skill that is lacking in so many today, it's bothersome.  It is a skill that can be taught.  

Looking through these I can see that I have my moments.  Sometimes I am much better at meeting my own personal philosophy than others.  I think overall, I am pretty aligned to it.  It is not something that I had thought about in years before this course.  It has been helpful for me to return to it.  I can also see where I have grown and changed as an educator in my career.