When I reflect on my teaching methods, I wonder whether I have given much importance to the learning styles of my learners. Or have I all along taught them according to my own style or rather according to what would ease my life in class? Teaching is not an easy task. But if I plan my work correctly according to the type of learners I have in class, if I get the expected response from the learners, how rewarding it will be!
We encounter and we will encounter all types of learners: those who talk a lot and those who don't, those who share ideas and those who prefer more personal work, those learn by doing first and those who learn after reading it first. The class is like a market place where you are going to find fruits and vegetables of all kinds, of different colors and taste. Technology is fortunately at our disposal to bring all of these together and cater to the needs of everyone in class. We can make use of online forums for discussions, emails, printouts, flashcards, online exercises blogs and so many more. The possibilities are numerous.
As mentioned in the different readings for the week, many among us have carried on with the class taking into account our own learning style. Drop outs, poor attendance, students not responding to the class are the immediate results of this. We take the learners for granted too often. Technology provides us with the means to change and the right time to change is NOW!
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteTeaching is selfless job, lots of sacrifice has to be made and when we find our students responding to our call that’s it! What reward we can expect more as you say. Your first and second paragraph really moved me. What an inspiring lines to read…so, somewhere I feel teachers has to be motivated as well. In my country very less priority is given to teachers, the social outlook of teachers is not good, yet we try our best to live with expectation only to be smiled by our students in future.
Your example of classroom compared to the marketplace is too mesmerizing, true that we have to consider to kinds, colors and taste. Sometimes we are more than a simple teacher, we are doctor, we are nurse, we are technician and of course a second parents. The very simple concept of parting or transferring knowledge like in past, the teaching has become more dynamic and challenging. Education and learning hardly match this 21st century. What today children learn will not suffice their need in future or in their job. Therefore what we need to impart in the life skills, prepare children for lifelong learning where they can adapt to this current changing world. Thanks to technology, it has really paved teachers’ way, it has provided a great aid to this 21st teaching and learning.
I really like your post, great job!
Best,
Sanjiv
Hi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI agree with this completely. The more I read about Dr. Gardner's theory of "multiple intelligence", the more I learn to apply it in my own classroom. Test scores alone do not tell the whole story on how we learn. Dr. Gardner's theory has taught me to rethink my philosophy of education. I have realized that teaching with Dr. Gardner's theory of "multiple intelligence" in mind, is a more humanistic way of teaching and learning.