I am also and instructor at LE Cordon Bleu and agree that the demo aspect of instruction can clarify the method for the student. a precise, well thought out demo is very efficent
Hi Gary - As you mention,sometimes connecting to all the learning styles does take more time/planning. The payoff makes it all worthwhile! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I've heard the examples of having kids clap their hands or stop their feet as the learn the alphabet. These kinds of activites seem juvenile, and tend to take a lot more time than other (often more direct) delivery techniques.
I do think that asking students to imagine themselves in a situation can help them relate to a problem in a more kinesthetic way. Some of the classes that I teach involve a little trigonometry that this kind of strategy can be particularly helpful with.
HI Laura- What you describe is a very comprehensive approach to teaching a technique. As you proceed in such a step-by-step method your students will not be overwhelmed by the task, but rather will be able to master the task having learned the incremental steps . Excellent!
Best wishes - Susan
As an instructor at an institution (Le Cordon Bleu) that focuses primarily on the "tactile/kinesthetic learner" I must be particularly aware of how new material is presented. I always make sure to have my demonstrations done in such a way, that every step is presented in a visual way by myself, and that they complete those steps themselves, to further solidify the new information presented. Some students need the demonstration of each particular step- not just reading the information from their textbook and looking at pictures of the "end result." As an example, when introducing Apple Pie, I always start with the crust, then the filling, followed by the top crust, then of course a finished product that is presented "tv time" style. Just showing the beginning or the end result, making the students rely only on their text for the other information, will just lead to many, many questions about the in-between steps. I found that being more thorough in the demo saves me the time of answering the same questions over and over again, and enables the students to be confident in their own production for the day.
