First Day
A good way for me to learn about my students' learning styles is to play games with them on the first day of class.
For example, I have students listen to my background information (education, likes, and dislikes) and "quiz" them on the information. I also write this information on the board and show pictures of things. This helps me identify how the students remembered the information.
Even though this is a college class, I like to play BINGO with the students on the first day. Don't you remember those days when you would have to get a classmate to sign a box of one thing that applies to him/her such as "Born in Texas" or "Has gone Scuba diving." This not only gets the students up and moving around, but also helps me identify who remembers meeting whom while getting up and meeting eachother.
Chris, I understand I too have a lot of the same students over again, it is very helpful to understand learning styles. I have even asked the students to help each other, once the learning style has been determined. for an example some of the hands on students may be ablw to assist their classmates when it comes to the hand on part of the class.
Hi Laura,
The BINGO idea is great! Do you have a template or know of a website we can go to to create a new game?
I teach the last class in a series of 4 or 5 classes and so my students have usually bonded well by then and know a lot about each other. I typically give them a list of interview questions and have them partner up. The questions are not the usual questions, they are more along the lines of "what is your least favorite drink?" or "how many speeding tickets have you received?".
Hi Laura,
I too love interactive games with students.
I like to use the Jeopardy game, which I have on Power Point for exam reviews. Students have a visual of a game board via Power Point and projector. Also, I am the host so students learn by audio and visually, each student searches for answers through notes and books.
In addition, I do like to mix up learning styles by incorporating creative hands-on activities, Power Point lectures, and showing educational dvds that pertain to the subject matter.
I often get the same students from session to session. I get to know their learning styles based on my experience with them. The down side is that it takes a while to properly identify the learning style. I like the idea of playing a game that utilized the various styles in order to accommodate students much sooner. Because of this, I plan to implement a process of my own.
Hi Rosemary- I thought this was excellent as well. Glad you found some ideas that you could use! Best wishes - Susan
This first day strategy is a wonderful idea. I hadn't even thought about how making slight modifications to the information that I already present about myself could be used so effectively in gleaning insight into student learning styles. Thank you.
AFTER READING YOUR POST THIS WILL AID ME IN FINDING OUT MORE INFORMATIOM ABOUT THE STUDENTS WITHOUT ADRRESSING THEM ONE ON ONE THANKS DAVID
Hi Laura- Thanks for your post to the forum. You are using a great ice-breaker that gets your students participating. Best wishes- Susan
