Week 1

OMG I made it to the end of Week 1 :)

I feel like I've had a crash course into my own personality.

I really enjoyed doing the questionnaires. And I must say that my results were not a surprise to what I already knew about myself but I was surprised by the unevenness of my characteristics...

 

 (source: http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html)

 

 

 (source: http://www.gp-training.net/training/educational_theory/multint/multint.htm)

It would appear that I need the global perspective but I do like to do things in order, otherwise, I'm very one sided in learning styles towards the sensory/active/visual side for the spectrum.

My Multiple Intelligence was also very unevenly distributed - again leaning towards the physical characteristics (nature/body/picture). I am not good at music or individual reflections - so you can imagine how hard it is for me to be reflecting and self-analysing in this course :)

How will this help me associate with the vast number and unique combinations of learning styles that I will encounter in my students??? Mmmm, good question.

I think that the awareness of this diversity is a great start! My strength in recognising patterns and observing nature (if we can call students an element of the natural world) will help me to look at the students collectively and individually, and plan lessons that will cater to the strengths of various cohorts. I will need to spend time connecting with the musical and introverted learners as this is not an area I feel confident - not a personal strength of mine.

Finally (how long should a blog be???....), I really enjoyed the perspective of Sir Ken Robinson. I always try to relate my lessons to my own children and my own experiences and I found this speech very thought provoking. How do you teach our next generations "it all"?? When do you steer a child towards a life-time path - do you take a student with musical talents out of the conventional classroom and foster their natural talents??

How do you know if a learner has an exceptional talent or just a passing passion for a subject area??

My personal experience with managing this balance just creates more questions than answers. With the expansive opportunities that children have today it's mind blowing - my kids play soccer and AFL, do swimming and athletics, when they come home with a flyer and want to play tennis, how do you know where to draw the line in the sand?? What if we had the next Roger Federer but didn't give them the opportunity??? What if they are already doing too much extracurricular and their core studies suffer and they never become that brilliant brain surgeon or that revolutionary artist??

Being a teacher/parent/guardian of the future generations, how do you find the balance between language, science, art, sport, etc., etc., etc.... Sir Robinson also alluded to physical and physiological differences - with the differences in brain functions between genders. And there are many more differences between people (and hence learners) that are at the DNA level... How does this affect the learners in your charge and your own skills and techniques to facilitate learning?

Is, what someone is good at doing, necessarily what they enjoy?

Likewise, if someone enjoys something, will they ever excel in that field? (My children who suffer my singing in the car, will disagree...)

 

 (source: I * love science's face book page)

I think that the learners will be forever evolving and as such we, as 'teachers', will need to evolve as well and in doing so, we will always be a learner as well...

Week 1 - done...