Assessing Your Students Learning Style

BLA MI test

My most memorable group of students was 2nd period 8th Grade US History, 2004. There were thirty-two students in the class. Of the thirty-two, thirteen were identified as IEP or 504 students. An additional seven were ESL students, only two of which spoke the same native language. That left twelve students who were "regular ed" kids; but of course some of them were on the cusp of gifted. With such a varied group of students, you'd think it would be a planning nightmare. It wasn't. I actually taught the same lesson, did the same activity, and spent very little time modifying. How is such a thing possible? Easy, teach to the multiple intelligences in every lesson.

Howard Gardner's groundbreaking research back in the early 80's gave voice to what good teachers have known since the beginning of education. Students have different learning styles. When a class is full of kids that may have different learning styles, good teaching means that you plan for more than just one. Teachers who spend their planning honing the perfect lecture, the perfect worksheet, and the perfect paper/pen test are always finding frustration compared to a teacher who plans varied activities around linguistic, visual, body, and other "intelligences."

Let's say I'm going to teach the 19th Century women's rights movement.  I introduce the lesson by having the students listen to the song, "Let Us Speak Our Minds" while analyzing the lyrics that I print off.  After a brief discussion, I show the students a primary source visual of signage for the Seneca Falls Convention.  As a class we look at the image for visual metaphors and intent.  To drive home the importance of this movement, we then break the class into small groups.  Each group is given a discussion point comparing the 19th Century to today. Each group is equiped with current statistics on women that include labor, education, and representation in government. Small groups discuss and try to build a consensus opinion before reporting out to the rest of the class how far or how little we've come.  After two or three rounds of discussion points, individual students are challenged to write a short news article pretending to be the anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention.  A lesson like that hits musical, visual, interpersonal, intrapersonal, logical, and linguistic intelligences.  I'll get to all of my students this way.

At our TCI trainings, we've used a multiple intelligence assessment with participants as a way to coax teachers to try hands-on pedagogy. We embed our test into our methods book and encourage teachers to use the first days of school to find out about their students. Regardless of the age or subject, finding out this information can make your planning fun. As you begin to engage in activities that include varied responses, your students attention improve and kids will WANT to be in your class. If you've never taken a multiple intelligence test yourself, here's a link to a quick on-line assessment http://literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html.  You will get quick feedback.  Check it out and think of the implications it has for what you learn.  Then think about next year's batch of kids.  What will it mean to them when you start teaching to their intelligences?

*I've included an embeded scribd doc of our middle/high school multiple intelligence test.

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Video Blogging with Camtasia & Flip

I've been enjoying doing video blog posts on web tool tips and such with Alive in Five.  What was really driving me nuts is the limitations I was finding.  Now bear with me, because I am not an expert in this...I'm just now dipping my fat toes in the water; but I loved the ease of using my Flip Camera but it's limitations were that the video of my screen was too small.

Our company uses Adobe Connect and GoTo Meeting to conduct webinars.  Both are excellent products but I've found they have limitations when you try to upload them to YouTube.  YouTube would always have an audio delay when I tried uploading these as wmv files.  Try as I might, I was unable to find a way to get my voice, and the videos to line up the way they were when I recorded them.

To the rescue comes "Flash!"  That's what we affectionately call him in TCI.  Jimmy Tran is our goto guy in finding resources for the company.  I emailed Jimmy my issues, and he came back with,  "try out Camtasia."  I downloaded the 30-day trial.  It's a winner.  I love how easy it is to capture what's going on on the screen.  The features are great...allowing you to create call outs, transitions, and custom zooms.  The web cam PIP feature is a nice add in too.

Today I filmed a new Alive in Five on twitter and using the search tool as a source for finding personal PD.  The results have thus far been incredible.  Over 112 clicks in a couple of hours.  Now, I know most of that is due to the subject being in-demand, which is good to remember when blogging edtech issues; but I also like the fact that the video that went viral looks so much better than me with a Flip only.  I still used the flip, but only to film my intro.  I then mixed that video along with Camtasia captured stuff.

So my shout outs before the weekend go to all the wonderful educators on Twitter that have inspired me to blog and stretch myself professionally as an educator.  A HUUUUUUUGE shout out to Flash! "You Da Man!"  Make sure to buy your school's IT people their beverage of choice this weekend in honor of one of their own making a difference.  Lastly, thanks to Camtasia and my trusty Flip cam.  Two great tools for educators and students alike to communicate with.

Alive in Five: Tweeting Your Way to PD