 |
Home Contact Learning Styles Behavior Management |
|
“Disability is not a ‘brave
struggle’ or ‘courage in the face of adversity’... disability is an art.
It’s an ingenious way to live.” - Neil Marcus To recognize a difference is to allow a person the ability to succeed for who they are, not for who they are expected to be. “With our hearts let us see, with
your hands let us break every chain. Then, indeed, shall we know a better
and nobler humanity.” - |
Learning Styles
Different folks, need different strokes for learning....
It is no accident my daughter knows more phone numbers than I do, all the songs on the rock radio station word-for-word, and could recite sixty breeds of dogs at age 3. She has had a very difficult time in school and still has great difficulty reading. If asked to remember something, probably would not, could not, and thinks she should not. And so her schooling experience has produced results less than adequate for a child who is capable of learning, but not in the usual way. Ask her to look at a pile of thirty items for 30 seconds and then tell you what she saw, she will remember very few, get frustrated, and be reduced to less than her capabilities. Give her control of the pile of “stuff” let her handle it, talk about it, smell it. She will ace all items almost every time. Ask her to feel and differentiate between a variety of coins with her eyes closed, she is frustrated. Let her spend 30 seconds with them, doing her own thing....she’s got them covered and knows each one. Every new experience, every new concept is a challenge, and we’ve spent many hours playing with learning to discover how a new concept can be grasped at home prior to presentation in school, so she is not so frustrated. How we teach her may be helpful to other providers living with complex learners.
Utilize the seven intelligence to reach the gifts of the learner and enhance growth in weaker areas. These seven intelligences are:
My Philosophy: Different folks, need different strokes in learning, in discipline and in living life in general. I happen to be one of those people who enjoy the different folks. Living with them, however, may be a roller coaster ride depending on the day. I recommend two great books for deeper insight into this approach to learning: The Way They Learn by Cynthia Tobias and Unlocking Your Child’s Learning Potential by Cheri Fuller. Another incredible resource is the video “How Difficult Can This Be” by Richard D. Lavoie – The F.A.T. City Workshop. Mr. Lavoie takes a group of professionals on a simulation and lets them experience the frustration, anxiety and tension learning disabled children experience everyday. Anyone who sees this video will be enlightened! Recommended highly and available through the public library system. Our daughter has made great strides this past month, she is choosing to cuddle. Perhaps removing her learning barriers and opening her learning opportunities gained her the space she needed to believe in herself to increase her learning.
Unleashing
Learning Potential Your son could take apart and reassemble his bike at age 3, but now, as a third-grader, this apparently bright boy is continuing to slide below grade level in reading and other subjects. Your daughter has an uncanny ability to reenact movie scenes or concoct extravagant backyard plays, but at school her imagination and energy have earned her the label "hyperactive." You see this on your child's progress report "Marty/Martha is not working up to his/her potential." Frustrating? Yes, for your child and you. Hopeless? Not at all. Parents can play a key role in unleashing a child's potential by understanding—as many experts believe—that children learn in many different ways. But in the average classroom of 30-some students, some children may not be taught in the way that makes the most of their types of smarts. By discovering how your child learns best, you can help him or her succeed in school and—perhaps more importantly— develop a true love of learning. "We tend to teach linguistically—writing, listening, reading," says Ruth Johnson, a resource teacher who trains teachers in the new math curriculum in the Cuppertino (California) Unified School District. "Some kids learn better moving around, or working in a group, or working alone. If you know how your child learns best, you can communicate that to the teacher." "The first step," says Chris Carter "is knowing that there are different types of intelligence." Here's a crash course in learning styles and types of intelligence: The three learning styles are:
The seven types of intelligence, identified by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner more than a decade ago, are:
Number eight has been added
Gardner says everyone has some ability in each area, but one or two types of intelligence may be dominant. Learning styles and the multiple intelligence theory are not the same thing, but they work together. For example, a highly auditory learner will rely heavily on hearing to learn reading, mathematics, history, music or anything else she or he is trying to master. At the same time, this child might possess a large degree of musical intelligence, and will benefit from making up songs to learn math facts or listening to music while doing homework. But not all educators are well-versed on the multiple-intelligence theory or the need to offer diverse lessons to reach diverse learners. This fall, the Carnegie Corporation of New York released "Years of Promise," a study that found that dramatic improvements can occur among even low-performing primary students by altering teaching techniques to reflect how children learn. And yet, the report noted, some school district spend less than 1 percent of their budgets on staff development, which educates teachers. And even teachers dedicated to using a variety of teaching styles may be stymied by large classes, so some children fall through the cracks. That's where parents come in. But how do you determine what type of learner your child is? "Observe your child," Johnson says. "Do your kids go into their room and do their homework alone, or do they need to be around others? That might indicate intrapersonal or interpersonal intelligence (respectively). Are they always drawing, doodling? They could be spatial. Do they like problem solving and games? Logical-mathematical. Do they like to read and write? Linguistic. If they need a hands-on approach, that's kinesthetic—they need to move their bodies or manipulate objects. In fact, many people learn by doing, but because highly kinesthetic have a driving need to move or touch, they can drive teachers—and classmates—to distraction. "Those are the pencil-tappers who drive you crazy," says Lorrain Becker of the Educational Development Center at the Santa Clara County (California) Office of Education. "I had a fourth-grade teacher—of course, this was in the old days—who tied a kid to his seat to keep him still! But we should let them pass out papers—they need to be out of their seats." Remember the "hyper" budding actress, and the boy who could build a bike but couldn’t decipher a sentence? They may have lots of bodily-kinesthetic or spatial ability, but nowhere use it in a classroom that values, say, linguistic and logical mathematical skills. Indeed, some educators say that certain children who are labeled learning disabled may actually be students who simply learn in a way that is not valued by their teachers or society at large. Thomas Armstrong, author of In Their Own Way, a parents’ guide to multiple intelligence, wonders whether, as society’s needs evolve and change, new types of "disabilities" will be labeled in the future. So now comes your next challenge: Once you know your child’s dominant types of smarts, how do you use that information? Let’s look at the bike builder. "He can learn to read," says John Erkman, assistant superintendent for instruction at Cupertino Unified School District. "Now, he may need huge, sandpaper letters that he can manipulate to help him break the code of ‘s’ plus ‘h’ equals ‘sh-h-h.’" Besides letters, this child’s parents could let him shape letters in clay or, to use his spatial intelligence, have him draw a picture manual showing how he assembled his bike. Erkman says the best teachers offer such choices, at least sometimes, to allow students to tune into their best channel. Pat Stelwagon, assistant superintendent of educational services for the Berryessa (California) Union School District, says she knew a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher who asked his students how they wanted to learn fractions. Some chose sports scores, others used recipes, and still others practiced algorithms. "Even first-graders can tell you how they like to do things," she says. So try giving your child the option of how they would like to practice spelling words: Do they want to sing them? Write them 10 times each? Shape their bodies into letters? Sign them? But now some words of caution. Educators say that with all the talk about different learning styles and intelligences, children still must learn to learn, write, occasionally do drills, sit still in class and generally function in a linguistic society. Learning styles should not be used as an excuse for misbehavior or failure, or to gloss over the problems of children with actual learning disabilities. The idea is to use your child's learning styles and dominant intelligences to introduce and supplement lessons. The boy who learns the building blocks of reading by illustrating a bike manual may later improve his reading by checking out library books on cars or engineering, Stelwagon says that another consideration when examining learning styles and intelligence is that parents must take care to value each child’s natural abilities. Even if a child is talented in multiple areas—art, music and math for example—a parent might value only the talents they believe will afford the child the best income or the most prestige or the easiest lifestyle. Finally, Johnson notes that parents can better understand their children as people—not just as students—when they understand how their children approach the world.
Understanding Processing Differences Processing refers to how the brain takes in, uses, stores, retrieves, and expresses information. There are many, maybe hundreds of ways in which the brain processes different kinds of information. But we will focus on six main types of processing that are believed to be most responsible for learning:
Clarification of the six general processing domains: 1.Visual Processing involves how well a student can use visual information. When they see something, especially something complex, do they understand it quickly and easily. Can they “visualize” things (like pictures, shapes, words, etc.) in their head? Can they remember information that they see? Visual Processing includes:
Students with a general visual processing disability often experience most learning difficulty in the areas of math and spelling because they have trouble “visualizing” words, letters, symbols, etc. Specific visual processing difficulties may include:
2.Auditory Processing involves how well a student can understand auditory information. Can they “keep up” when people talk very fast? Can they tell voices apart easily (even on the phone)? Can they imagine the voices of familiar people in their head? Can they remember information that they hear? Auditory Processing includes:
Students with a general auditory processing disability usually have most difficulty with general reading, general writing, and language (understanding and expressing). Specific auditory difficulties may include:
3.Sequential/Rational processing appears to be the main filing system in the brain. It involves organizing and memorizing specific bits of information including facts, figures and formulas. This is very much like a computer organizes and stores information. How well does a student remember details (like names, addresses, facts, etc.)? How organized are they? Sequential/Rational processing includes:
Students experiencing a general Sequential/Rational processing disability often have most learning difficulties in the areas of basic reading, math computation, expressive language, and writing mechanics. Specific sequential/rational processing difficulties may include:
4.Conceptual/Holistic processing involves looking for “the big picture”, overall patterns and underlying concepts for use in higher-order thinking, creating, and reasoning. Conceptual/holistic filing is like throwing things into boxes with very general labels. Conceptual/Holistic (right-brain) processing includes:
Students experiencing a general conceptual/holistic processing disability often perform quite well during early school years but later experience much difficulty with reading comprehension, math reasoning, and creative writing. Specific conceptual/holistic difficulties may include:
5.Processing Speed refers to how fast information travels through the brain. All LD students experience some processing speed difficulty when required to process information through their weakest processing “channel” or “modality”. But for other LD students, a general weakness in processing speed causes difficulty in all processing areas. It is like having the brain work at 40 miles per hour when the rest of the world (and all the information) is going 55 miles per hour. Such students just can’t keep up. Processing Speed affects:
Students experiencing a general Processing Speed disability often have learning difficulties in all academic areas due to their inability to process all types of information quickly. Specific processing speed difficulties may include:
6.Attentional skills refer to how well a student is able to stay focused on activities, especially in the classroom. A student’s ability to maintain attention to tasks clearly impacts all types of learning and information processing to some extent. However, research and observations have found the highest correlation between attention and sequential/rational information processing. In fact, students with attention deficit disorders frequently demonstrate the same learning difficulties as students with sequential processing weakness. Attentional skills include:
Students experiencing general Attentional difficulties often have most learning problems in the areas of basic reading, math computation, expressive language, and writing mechanics because they aren’t able to attend to the details of these areas. Specific attentional difficulties may include:
Parents often ask, How can I help my student learn? The following activities are outlined to help you help your student. Flash Cards: Make flash cards for vocabulary, terms and math problems. Memory Shortcuts: Create devices such as acronyms (examples: HOMES for the Great Lakes—Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior). Self Quizzing: Make up anticipated test questions on each assignment and answer them. Notes: Pull out key words and phrases from text books and teacher's presentations. Recall Games: Play all kinds—those that focus
on vocabulary, economics, history, geography, spelling, trivia, strategy, and counting. Psychologist Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences identifies seven types of smarts and says children may learn best through their most dominant intelligence:
Lori Eckmann is a staff writer for the San Jose Mercury News in which this article appeared. Reprinted from the National Advocate, Winter 1997, vol. 3, no. 1, published by the National Foster Parent Association. |
|
Foster and Adoptive Care Association
of Minnesota |
|
