Learning Styles

I believe there are two learning styles that fit me the best.  I am a visual learner, as well as a tactile/kinesthetic learner.  I learn best by seeing and doing.  Once I actually partake in a particular activity, I will feel more confident in my ability to learn and teach any subject.  For instance, even as a teacher I have to learn new curriculum to teach my students.  In science, I am currently teaching about matter and molecules.  Because this concept is difficult to grasp, I complete each experiment myself before I teach my students.  That way I feel more confident in my teaching.

I also enjoy visual learning such as through the use of maps, pictures, flip charts, and diagrams.  These resources help me visualize what I am supposed to learn.  For instance, in social studies I am teaching about different Native American regions in the United States.  If I just put a map up and pointed to each location that would make the information more difficult to learn.  Instead, I gave each child a map to color code and label themselves.  This way they got to experience both a visual and kinesthetic learning style. 

I struggle with being an auditory learner.  I can concentrate for a short period of time, but I have difficulty grasping a lot of information over a long period of time.  Just as kids in my classroom, I get distracted by my surroundings.