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Learning Styles
by Joy Jones
In our society, someone who is fluent and articulate or
who writes well is regarded as intelligent. However,
the student who is a skilled athlete may be termed a
dumb jock, the child who works well with his hands may
be discounted as not college material, the girl who gets
along with everyone is regarded as an air head and
although the math whiz is acknowledged as smart, we may
assume she has a dull personality. Each of these
students is intelligent, but in different ways.
Author
and psychologist Howard Gardner says there are many
human intelligences: verbal/linguistic intelligence,
logical/mathematical intelligence, musical/rhythmic
intelligence, visual/spatial intelligence,
bodily/kinesthetic intelligence, intrapersonal
intelligence, interpersonal intelligence and natural
intelligence. Wise teachers build on the multiple
intelligences displayed by their students and instruct
in a way that acknowledges that there are a variety of
learning styles present in the classroom.
Although there are a variety of learning styles, too
often teachers have only one teaching style. Teaching
to multiple learning styles may require more effort on
your part, but it’s more fun - not just for students,
but for you, too. Reading and writing to share
information and to show mastery of said information is
important, but it’s far more interesting to have a
lesson that involves making a project, leading a
demonstration, conducting an experiment, being dramatic
or playing a game.
What can you do for tomorrow's class to tap the
intelligence of every student?
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