Friday, March 27, 2009

Learning Styles and the Magic of Group Profiles

Learning Styles and the Magic of Group Profiles

 

Why Learning Style Group Profiles Are Better Than Lesson Planning

 

What are Learning Style Group Profiles?

Learning Style Group Profiles are a free tool available from Creative Learning. When your class has completed their Learning Style Analysis (LSA) profiles and you’re faced with reading 16 pages of results for every student, you can create a group profile for your class instead.

 

A group profile is a summary of all the learning strengths and flexibilities in your class. It will empower you as the teacher to get to know what makes your pupils tick when it comes to:

a.       Behavioural problems

b.      Learning challenges

c.       Attention span

d.      Motivation

e.       Conforming

f.        Reliability

g.       Finishing tasks

h.       Making deadlines

i.         Dealing with tests.

 

Common Lesson Planning Mistakes

As a teacher, you will be expected to create lesson plans. However, it’s all too easy to get so caught up in the admin process that you lose the sight of the true purpose of lesson planning. Here are the most common ways of lesson planning going wrong:

·        The objective does not describe what the student will actually do or achieve.

·        The materials specified in the lesson plan are not right for the objective and not right for the student’s way of learning.

·        The teacher’s instruction method is not efficient for the level of intended student learning give the student’s unique Learning Style and needs.

·        The student activities listed in the lesson plan keep the students busy but do not contribute to the lesson’s objective, particularly if they don’t take into account the students’ varying visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic strengths.

 

Lesson Planning In Style

Creative Learning instruments for assessing Learning Styles identify 48 elements to consider when doing lesson planning for your group, while the Group Profile allows you to align your lesson plan with the students’ learning strong points.

 

Do you know what the 10 Most Common False Beliefs About Learning are?

 

 

 

Thursday, March 19, 2009

The Second Secret of Learning Styles - Why Your Desk Matters

The Second Secret of Learning Styles - Why Your Desk Matters

 

The Second Secret

As we’ve already learnt, the secret of Learning Styles extends beyond the visual / auditory / kinaesthetic manner in which you like to learn. While the LSA tool offered by us on this website does explore sensory modalities at length, we also look at many other elements that determine learning and working success. 

 

My Desk and I

·        Do you like working at a desk or would you prefer sitting somewhere less informal and more comfortable if given the choice?

·        Do you like putting your papers in folders and filing cabinets or have them stacked all over your room?

·        Do you want your desk (or equivalent) to be right by the window?

·        Are you happy in an office with no window?

·        Would you prefer to learn a new skill in a room that’s too cold or too hot?

·        How about the room itself: how quiet is too quiet for you?

           

“But wait, there’s more...”

Q: So is Creative Learning’s LSA tool VAK plus the desk?

A: No way! We consider 49 elements to determine your or your child’s unique Learning Style.

 

How can you be better at your job? How can your child do better at school? Find out.

Friday, March 13, 2009

The Secret of Learning Styles - More than VAK

Many websites have a very limited definition of Learning Styles. They narrowly define a Learning Style according to whether you are a Visual Learner, an Auditory Learner, or a Tactile/Kinesthetic Learner.

 

Visual Learners

A Visual Learner learns information best by seeing it. The eyes of a visual learner are the most important sense for learning new information.

 

Auditory Learners

An Auditory Learner learns information best by hearing it. An auditory learner relies on the ears for learning new or difficult concepts.

 

Tactile Learners

A Tactile Learner learns information best by touching it. Such learners rely on their hands to help internalise a new idea.

 

Kinesthetic Learners

A kinesthetic learner learns information best by experiencing it. Such learners love to do things and they use their bodies in the learning process.

 

While in itself a powerful beginning, the sensory modalities are only the very tip of the iceberg. A Learning Style comprises things like physical needs of the learner, their optimal learning environment, their attitude towards education, and much more.

 

Can your child do better at school? Find out.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

The Secret of Stress-Free Homework with Learning Styles

You can't do it? We're here to help!

 

Would You Buy Your Homework Online?

It’s not a joke! The French are doing it already: for just a few EURO their kids can download answers to their maths homework problems. "It is shocking. It defeats the purpose of education,” said a secondary school teacher in Paris. 

 

Of Course You Wouldn’t

The point of maths homework (and indeed, of most homework) is that you learn by repetition. The human brain evolved to notice patterns, and we are biologically programmed to derive enormous intellectual satisfaction from recognising the rules that govern a certain type of problem. For example:

·        210+30=240

·        310+30=340

·        410+30=440

·        510+30=540

·        ... oh, you mean when you add 30, you just change the middle column? COOL!!!

 

Homework In Style

Creative Learning instruments for assessing Learning Styles identify 48 elements that you need to consider when doing homework:

  • light
  • temperature
  • time of day
  • need for variety
  • need for a formal setup
  • need for parental supervision
  • etc.

 

What is a parent to do?

 

The Secret

The secret is our unique Learning Style Analysis. Let your child fill in our easy online questionnaire to access the full report of their learning needs and things that make learning harder for them.