TEFL Kermit West Virginia

A learning style is a technique that people use to learn and obtain information. Everyone has a learning style. Most people can only learn a specific way and find trouble learning in other ways. Learning styles can affect how well students do in your class and how good of a teacher the students view you. Although there may be many more, three learning styles that people are often grouped into are visual, kinesthetic, or auditory learning styles. People's learning styles has to do with the way that people receive information. It is believed that most people that fit into one of the three learning styles tend to ignore information that is presented in one of the other two forms that is not their learning style. Visual learners tend to best retain information that is given to them visually, such as charts, films, pictures, diagrams, etc. They typically do not remember information that is presented auditory or kinesthetically. Auditory learners tend to remember what they hear. They also tend to remember better if they hear and repeat out loud the information that is given to them. They prefer to be taught through lecture than to be shown how to do something and usually do not remember information presented kinesthetically or visually. Kinesthetic learners learn best when they are actually involved and physically moving or touching the information being presented. They tend to be unable to recall information given visually or auditory. I consider myself to use visual and kinesthetic learning styles when obtaining information but the most effective way for me to retain information would be kinesthetically. I learn best when I can physically do the task myself, move items, or physically get up and move as a way of learning. From my experience as a student, I believe that many teachers do not teach in a way that kinesthetic learners can obtain information comfortably. Most teachers teach in lectures or show films, charts, and other visual aid. Many teachers, especially teachers of adult classes, don't teach in ways that get the students moving physically. I think that this causes kinesthetic learners to pick up information at a slower rate than visual and auditory learners because most classes are not catering to their learning style. In my opinion, this is a key reason why teachers should change up their lesson plans and teaching styles. For example, teachers who only teach in lecture would only be benefiting auditory learners. Students with other learning styles may find trouble obtaining the information and may see the class as boring and the teacher as a bad teacher. When I begin teaching, I plan on switching up my lessons so that I am a teacher who can fit everyone's learning styles. I will teach every piece of materials in ways that all students of different learning types can find useful. I think that being a good teacher means being flexible and having the ability to get information in to the student's memories. In order to do this successfully, I will have to teach so that visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners can all feel comfortable learning in my classroom. Teaching this way will make my classroom more interesting and unpredictable, while also making it fun and much easier for students of all learning styles to learn. Sources: http://www.mindtools.com/mnemlsty.html http://ie.sdsmt.edu/FirstYear/Kolb/lrn2.pdf