Fish and birds!

When we look at students academically there are a lot of factors that play into how we operate in our classrooms and how we teach the knowledge they so need to learn. No child is the same in regards to how they learn. There are 9 learning profiles that I like to consider when creating lesson plans for my classes. All of my students have taken the CAPSOL Style of Learning Assessment and we as teachers are encouraged to review their score at the beginning of the year. I have grown to really rely on this assessment. The 9 learning profiles are Visual, Auditory, Bodily-Kinetic, Individual, Group, Oral Expressive, Written Expressive, Sequential and Global. In the interest of writing space I will not go into the definitions or descriptions of each. In my classes this information is invaluable to know how to write my lessons and what techniques I should use to convey the information they need to know.

In order to characterize my point I would like to offer an example. This year in my Anatomy/Physiology class I had a large percentage of written expressive students. When studying the topic of AIDS/HIV, I let them choose an issue relative to that topic. Then, I organized a contest where the best article got front page placement in our A/P Chronicle for the whole school to read. I also put a grade component behind it and they all received a test grade for their submissions. I observed that this really sparked the interest of all the students and gave students that are not traditional “note and test” students the opportunity to learn in a different fashion and practice another skill. Ignacio Estrada, author and educator recently wrote…… “If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” This summarizes my approach to the responsibility as a teacher. This approach also gives me great assurance that I can teach a vast array of students not just those that excel at learning but those that are at risk and have educational difficulties.