Margaret- Deliberate Acts of Teaching - Writing

Writing in Room 4

Link to Standards

Design for Learning 

Design learning based on curriculum and pedagogical knowledge,
assessment information and an understanding of each learner’s strengths,
interests, needs, identities, languages and cultures.

Elaboration

• Select teaching approaches, resources, and learning and assessment activities based on a thorough knowledge of curriculum content, pedagogy, progressions in learning and the learners. 

Harness the rich capital that learners bring by providing culturally responsive and engaging contexts for learners.

One of our targets is to lift the achievement in Year 8 Writing.  As part of our strategy to do this, we are again running the ALL program with a small number of students in Room 4.  Alongside this, we also aim for daily journal writing where students choose to write about whatever they are interested in without worrying about spelling, punctuations, etc.  The aim is to have students choose at least 2 pieces of writing from their journal each term to edit and publish with support from the teacher.

The context for learning: Learning how to summarise using newspaper articles in preparation for writing our own articles related to our Japan topic.

Wednesday 12 February 2020
Mel/ALL group:  Mel took a group of 4 out including our Year 8 student to discuss the activity of reading the news article/highlighting main words in each paragraph and then summarising orally.
Back as a whole class we then read through the article altogether.  We highlighted the main words in the first two paragraphs together as a class.  The class was then asked to read through the next paragraphs in their groups and record the words. Mel worked with the ALL group for 10 minutes while I worked with others needing support.  When Mel left we moved that needed support together and read through paragraphs one at a time.  Students had to come up with 20 words to summarise the article. We finished by going around the groups sharing what we thought the article was about.

What worked well?  The ALL students showed a good understanding of what was expected with some needing support to stay on task. 2 manages to do this independently 3 still needing support.

Next Steps:  We will do another article next time again scaffolded before letting students complete independently.  More time to discuss unknown words to develop comprehension.  Review who needs to be in the group as 2  seemed very capable but will try them out on a few different activities first.

Wednesday 26 February 2020
After looking at who actually needs to go out with Mel we chose our 4 who need that extra support.  Today we began our Get NZ writing topic which was writing a poem of our naughtiest moment.  The discussion time with Mel beforehand meant that the group came in ready to start immediately after our introduction.  They had their idea.  I did get them to write out the questions to answer which took a lot longer than I had hoped so perhaps for this group have the questions printed up to simply answer.  Some had lots to say verbally but did not get much written down.  Could we record their ideas for some of them and they write out the final copy just to get ideas started.

Links to Standards

• How am I planning my learning programmes and selecting appropriate teaching strategies to best meet the needs of my ākonga?  I think about what skills are needed for the end product eg a newspaper report advertisiing Japan and structure each lesson around this skill unitl they can do this independently
• How can I improve my pedagogical content knowledge in areas where my ākonga struggle to master new skills or knowledge?
• How can my knowledge of human development, especially cognitive and social development, inform my planning and teaching?
• Do I effectively analyse and use assessment data to inform my teaching and planning?
• Do my own and the school’s systems generate the formal and informal assessment information that I need to plan for and effectively support my ākonga? 
• How can I use the schoolwide assessment data effectively to inform my practice?
• What other formal and informal sources of data could I be using?
• How do I know that my ākonga are progressing?

Margaret - Maori Language Program 2020- Deliberate Acts of Teaching

2020 Maori Language Program

Links to Standards

Te Tiriti o Waitangi Partnership 

Demonstrate commitment to tangata whenuatanga and
Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Elaboration

• Practise and develop the use of te reo and tikanga Māori.

Questions I might ask myself?/Next Steps

• Have I actively sought support and guidance to expand and build on my understanding?
• Have seeked support from our Maori Resource Teacher at Parklands - Tania Corbett and Sean Delany (Kapa Haka Teacher and Parent within the school)
• Do I practise and develop my use of te reo Māori, and incorporate this into my teaching?
• I am taking an online course in the evenings to develop my own language skills - Te Kakano
• What are the educational aspirations of my Māori ākonga?
• Will be meeting with families to discuss this in Term 1
• How do I plan to further develop these aspirations?
• From meeting put into place actions discussed where practical and continue to feedback to families.
• What efforts have I made to engage with the local iwi and members of the local Maori community, and involve myself in community events?
• Discussions/conversations with parents, resource teachers, attending local marae events - Kapa Haka, Mau rakau where students are involved.

I have consulted with Sean Delany and Tania Corbett about the most suitable language programs
available.  We have decided on Ka Mau te Wehi which is available in the school and has a structure that is easy to follow and meets the curriculum requirements.

The plan is to try this out for term 1 then review.  I also plan to meet up with families to get there ideas.  Tania Corbett is coming in for 4 weeks to offer support as I begin teaching language.
See Plan below.

Term 1 2020

Integrated Maori Language Program

Room 1and 3 - Year 0-5

Frequency:   Room 1 :1 full day a fortnight

        Room 3 : 15 minutes once a week plus 1 full day a fortnight.

Marae visit as whole school

Tiriti o Waitangi - The Treehouse Treaty

Waiata - Tena Koutou/Greeting song. Revisit known Kapa Haka, Christian Waiata

Nga ra o te wiki/Days of the week

Pepeha - from junior journal.  What is a pepeha. Learning our pepeha.

Stories in Maori along with translations - from resource room

Weekly bible verse - translating using the Maori Bible main words from our verse related to our character trait - courage

Our Amazing Bodies Unit

Waiata around our body from Hei Waiata

Vocabulary related to our bodies 

Developing Resiliency Unit

Use Ka Mau Te Wehi - to ask how you are and respond using different emotions.

Room 4 - Years 6/7/8

Frequency:  Two days a week

 -Marae visit as whole school

- Waiata - Tena Koutou/Greeting song.  Revisit known Kapa Haka, Christian waiata, karakia, whakatauki, preparing waiata for Woodlands visits. 

- Weekly memory verse - translating from the Maori Bible the main words to share with the school - related to our character trait courage.

- Devotions - carving a courage rod

Language

Unit plans from Ka Mau Te Wehi.

If students are progressing well in term 2 begin Toku Reo program

Health/Art

Model of Hauora/Health - Whare

Class activity making our own whare 

- design a class/individual kowhaiwhai for each physical, spiritual, emotional, mental health using patterns in nature.

- research our pepeha and practice speaking

- All About Me interview from class buddy

- What are my beliefs/foundation

Science

Researching Matariki - making links to similarities/differences to Japanese New Year

Cooking - Japanese/Maori foods

Olympics - Japan

Looking at similarities to NZ European/Maori culture and Japan

NZ Olympians

Possible plans for the rest of 2020

Linked to Abel Tasman Tramp in November

History of the local area - Motueka/Abel Tasman - Who can help with this?

Maori Fishing Technology - amazing looking program run through NZ Marine Studies.  Survival game at Marahau Outdoor Education Camp - firelighting, net and hook making etc.  There is a cost involved??

Kapa Haka Term 3 and 4

(AREAS NEEDING SUPPORT IN)

Resources

TKI - Hei Waiata

https://tereomaori.tki.org.nz/Reo-Maori-resources/Hei-Waiata

Toku Reo program for seniors

https://resources.tewhanake.maori.nz/te-kakano.html

Ka Mau te Wehi - videos and unit plans

https://tereomaori.tki.org.nz/Reo-Maori-resources/Ka-Mau-te-Wehi/Introduction-to-the-units


Links to Standards

Deliberate Acts of Teaching
12/2/20
First Ka Mau Te Wehi with Room 4
Discussed with the class why we are learning Te Reo Maori - It is part of our culture and part of our agreement in The Tiriti O Waitangi to keep the language alive.
Began learning what macrons were and how to use them.
Watched video with today's phrases - Ata Marie, Haere Mai kei te kai.
Students wrote these  down to help them remember - seeing, hearing, doing, writing
Students each had a go at welcoming their classmates to breakfast before sitting down to a breakfast of pancakes.  I said a karakia which I am hoping the students will learn and be able to say also.

Next steps: Review what we have learned today - saying aloud by memory, working on pronunciation and being able to write fluently -  print self and peer assessment sheets for students at the end of each unit so they can see their progress.

26 February 2020
Our final lesson in unit 1 today.  We first reviewed all the phrases we had learned using our books and our memory.  The task was to create a play using all the phrases.  Our group of year 6 boys needed a little more support with this.  Students were made aware of the peer assessment looking at our memory, pronunciation and writing of the phrases learned. Students were very enthusiastic and most were able to say their plays by memory.  Most of the peer assessment showed memory and writing were areas they would like to improve on.  They all now have their indivual goals to work on from this activity.

Next Step:  Continue to unit 2.  Continue use of waiata to learn phrases.  Have paper copies for individuals when copying phrases as some seem to struggle copying from the board.

16 March 2020
Room 3
Taught new songs with actions related to the body as this is what Craigs topic currently is.  Studewnts glued new phrases into their books focusing on asking where we come from.  Role modelling and asking whole class this question to show pronunciation.  Using the language repetively worked well with this group as some do not read so beginng to say from memory.

Next steps:  Continue practising songs - the students responded well to these.  More role plays to reinforce langauge - videoing also so students can hear themselves.

TBCS - Deliberate Acts of Teaching - Writing - Margaret

Inquiry - Does allowing students to choose according to their interests what they wish to write about improve motivation to write and overall writing levels?

6 students have been identified as achieving below their expected level in writing.  This has been determined from asttle writing tests, observations of students in class, daily writing samples.  Their overall motivation to write is low and writing that is done uses improper sentence structure, lack of detail and ideas expected at a year 6/7/8 level.

Strategies used:

Splitting class into groups of boys/girls to brainstorm together possible persuasive writing topics in practice for assessment based on interest.

Brainstorming together a list of possible interests to write to our focus on persuasive writing.  Teacher chooses 1 to write together as shared writing.

Shared writing

Read together an article related to chosen topic - use this to help brainstorm.

Brain storm as a  class ideas that we can use to persuade.  Benefits, experiences.  Questioning to draw out ideas.  What are the benefits of havng a pet?  How would this benefit the teacher?  How can pets help us?

Model how to write an introduction with student suggestions
Model how to write our first paragraph using one of our ideas, using persuasive language - write a list of persuasive language that students can select from.
Independent - students to write their second and third paragraph independently.
Model how to write a conclusion.
Independent - students write their own conclusion.

During next session students choose which topic they would like to write about using the model as a guide.


Reading together a variety of persuasive writing from Mainsails then having students select which topic they want to write about

Class is given a selection of persuasive texts from Mainsails.  In pairs they choose which ones they would like to read.  Students read together and note down 3 main ideas from their favourites.

Select one that has had the most interest to break down together

Questioning
Look at the intro, body and conclusion
What persuasive language was used?  What are the main ideas for each paragraph?  Has the author used examples to back up their ideas?  Who are they trying to convince?
Model a plan on the board.

Students choose which persuasive topic either from the book or their own to write.

Journals/Free writing/competitions

Students given free writing journals - not to be marked
Brainstorm as a class ideas we may like to write about in our jounals - students to write all this up in their books to prompt ideas.  Use questioning to draw out ideas - What are your interests, what styles of writing do we like to use?  What do we like to read/do?

20 mins of free writing daily with 5 mins to check over what they have written

Feedback

Students share their daily writing with the class if they choose.  Use our feedback guide that was taught at the start of the year - a compliment, a suggestion, editing.

Students to select 1 piece of writing each week/fortnight to publish.  Use the writing process/ peer editing process taught at the start of the year to improve it.  Conference with me or feedback using google docs before final copy is published.

TBCS - Deliberate Acts of Teaching - Reading - Margaret

Inquiry - Will deliberate instruction in areas where my low reading group is struggling, improve their comprehension?

4 students have been identified as achieving below their expected level in reading.  This is determined from asttle reading tests, observations of students working through the reading program  and during silent reading by their choice of books and their levels of motivation to read.

They have been put on our Power Up Program for Year 7 and 8s.  I monitor this to check on areas where they may be struggling.  Once an area has been identified, I get the students in a group to specifically teach around that identified area.  They are then given time to work independently with myself monitoring their progress.  If no improvement is made the next day I will gather them again to give further instructions in this area until they understand it fully.

Mel also works with 1 student doing a phonics program to enhance what is being learnt in Power Up and in groups.

Effective Literacy Practice Years 5-8

From Effective Literacy Practice Years 5-8 "To be successfully literate, students need to master three key areas of reading and writing: learning the code, making meaning, and thinking critically.

Making meaning: This involves developing and using knowledge, strategies, and awareness in order to get and convey meaning when reading or writing. It also involves understanding the forms and purposes of different texts and becoming aware that texts are intended for an audience.

Thinking critically: Becoming literate involves reading and writing beyond a literal, factual level. It involves analysing meanings, responding critically to text when reading, and being critically aware when composing texts. It also involves responding to texts at a personal level, reflecting on them, and finding reward in being a reader and a writer."

Teaching Comprehension - Making Connections

Helping students to make connections between what they know and what they are reading improves their comprehension. Teachers can model making such connections, and prompt students to make links with their own knowledge and experience, when they are introducing and discussing texts for reading and in writing and oral-language activities. When activating students’ prior knowledge for a particular purpose, teachers can help the students to hypothesise, infer, and build their own interpretations as they read.



Area:  Deliberate instruction in Comparing and Contrasting - Student N

Define the terms compare and contrast.  Use two similar objects.
Shared:  List together things that are similar/different.  Model how to put these into the graphic organiser.

Independent:  Get students to compare and contrast the picture given using the graphic organiser. Support where needed.

Encourage words such as but, whereas, similarly when comparing.  Write these on cards as prompts for students.

Share how this will improve our reading
Helps us focus on whats important when reading
Remember key ideas and details
Think about what you read in a different way
Discuss and write about what you have read

Shared:  Work through sample sentences together choosing correct comparing/contrasting word.  Note who is doing this independently.  These students can go back onto Power Up to give lesson a go.  Continue working with those needing support.

Reflection:
31/10/19
Worked with N on comparing and contrast which showed up as an area she was struggling with.  Once she understood the difference between these words she could easily complete the activity.  I had her use the venn diagram to record compare and contrast between a phone and a laptop.  She had lots of ideas but needed help recording these down so we sounded out each letter or I helped her with some so it didnt become frustrating. N seems to have a good grasp of blends when she stops to think but struggles with middle and end sounds (computer, glass, batteries, keyboard)  We may need to go back to basics (Lexia) though as she is a Year 7 I will keep monitoring to see if she can catchup to where she should be.  With Mels phonics program targeting this area it may be enough.
Went through comparing sentence together which she did easily though some help reading the sentences needed.
N began the lessons in Power Up after this and seemed to have a better grasp of the concept.  She has not completed it yet so will check to see how she went independently.

1/11/19
N worked through the comparing and contrast section in Power Up.. I helped her with the first few questions then after seeing she had a pretty good idea I left her to complete independently.  When she had completed these she came to tell me she had passed them all and was ready to move onto the next section.  She told me she got it now.

7/11/19
Worked with n and M today on their individual lesson.  They both were very unfocused today so had them sitting beside me while I helped them work through questions. M was working on finding the pace to put a pause in a sentence using commas which she had trouble with so I had her say the sentences out loud so she could hear that natural pause.

25/11/19
Worked with N and M
Identified Area:  Comprehension - Sensory Language
From Effective Literacy Practice Years 5-8

When readers visualise, they connect the ideas in the text with their prior knowledge and experience to create images in their minds. This often means thinking about their senses and using their imagination to see, hear, feel, taste, or smell parts of the text in their minds.

Creating an image can make a text come alive for the reader. The ability to visualise what is being explained or what is happening draws readers into the text. Studies have indicated that creating an image in the memory helps the reader to retain what is read and use it later on.

Readers experiencing difficulties often need help with creating mental images and may not realise how this can help their comprehension. Teachers can support students in visualising by asking questions such as “What image do you see in your head?”, by explicitly drawing attention to descriptive language or a sequence of ideas, and by sharing their own images. Visualising can be supported by creating graphic representations or mind maps of a text.
Lesson
The two girls came to sit with me as I first discussed what our focus was today - using sensory language to help us comprehend and remember what we read.  I started by reading out the restaurant description while they drew what images they had in their heads.  I prompted them to begin with - what else?  what would it look like?  We then looked through the words that helped to create those images and had the girls highlight these.  What do they notice about the words?  M came up with that they are all related to our senses so we discussed what our sense were - seeing, feeling, hearing etc  What mood did these words create?
I then read the next description.  The girls again drew the pictures listening to the sensory words.  They seemed to have a better understanding this time round.  They then highlighted the sensory words and discussed what they had drawn.  They were both able to give detailed descriptions of what they had drawn related to the story.  I then asked them if we took all those words out what kind of impact would that make.  They were not sure so we did one as an example noting that it didn't put any pictures in our head therefore had less impact - was less interesting.  We discussed why using these words was important in our reading and took it back to the learning intention of sensory words help us to remember what we read, create the mood and help us understand what we a reading.

Reflection

Both girls were very engaged in this task and had much to contribute. N needed a little more prompting but by the end of the lesson she had a lot more to say.  The girls went onto their Power Up after this where I monitored what they were doing while I worked with other students.

26/11/19
M has passed all her lessons on Power Up and is no longer 'struggling"  She is currently working independently.  I will continue to monitor to see where the next area she may need help in.  N is still struggling so will work with her next lesson.

27/11/19
Worked with N on her lessons.  I had her read out the text aloud and she had to find the missing word.  I used card to break up the word as she is struggling with some of the blends.  She can manage to sound out difficult words this way.  She has a good understanding as she reads though needs to be encourage to slow down and see if the word makes sense in the sentence.
Reflection
Will continue to work with N next lesson.

28/11/19
Worked with N.
Grammar- Simple Sentences
Nouns / using a/an- Me and Nikita worked through the lesson on nouns placing them into person, place, thing or idea.  She got slightly confused between place and thing.  We then looked at using a/an before a noun using the rule of an before a vowel sound. N then placed words into a sentence making sure they made sense as she wrote.
Reflection
N needed support with this but managed to complete the sentences independently.  She is currently working thorugh the lessons on Power Up independently.  Next session with N will be on verbs.

Also worked with M today as he was showing up he was gwetting below 80% in his reading comprehension.  We worked throught he questions together getting M to focus on reading the passage looking for the key words to help him answer the question.  A bit of inferencing involved and discussing meaning of unfamiliar words - gratifying.  Gave strategies for what to do when coming across these words.  Reading on for sense.  M scored 80% which is an improvement.  Will check how he does by himself tomorrow.

Links to Standard for Teaching

Design for Learning

Deisgn learning based on curriculum and pedagogocal knowledge, assessment information and an understanding of each learners strenghts, interests, needs, identitiies, language and culture.

Gather, analyse and use appropriate assessment information, identifying progress and needs of learners to design clear next steps in learning and to identify addtional supports or adaptations that may be required.

Strategies Used

Employing scaffolding strategies to support ākonga master new skills and knowledge and thus achieve independence.

Effectively using a range of digital technologies to engage ākonga and enhance their learning.  Creating an environment where open, productive dialogue is valued. 

Using assessment data to build my understanding of the relationship between my practice and outcomes of learning, achievement and wellbeing of ākonga.

Evaluating how the achievement data for my class(es) fits with the department/syndicate/school-wide data.

Providing ākonga with opportunities and time to apply feedback and feedforward information to improve their mastery of knowledge and skills.

TBCS -All Strategy - Margaret-Steve - 5 June 2019

Using the ALL strategy in the classroom to improve writing outcomes for struggling writers

 https://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/School/Inclusive-education/SuccessForAllEnglish.pdf


Myself and Steve have begun using this process in class with the support of Mel.  We send the group out for 'pre loading' so when they come back to class they are pre prepared or primed to begin the task.  So far it has been a positive response from the students as they seem very keen to go out with Mel and are excited when they know the 'answers' or can contribute to the discussion.  This is especially important for those who dont listen so well as they get that repetition so they are clear on what the task is.

Reflection
Though positive experience it is very hard to keep this time consistent and we need to make sure we know exactly what Mel is prepping them with before hand.  It is too soon to tell how it is making a difference to their writing - we will know this when we test but the overall attitude and quantity of their writing is definately obvious.

Next Steps:  Get research from Steve and Mel on this as they attended the course.  Continue conferencing with all students one on one to check and help edit.  This has been working well as I can give them immediate feedback from them either sharing their work with me or have them sitting beside me and going through it together.  Brainstorming together - writing those ideas down for some of the students just to get them started.  Finding when they have free choice what to write they are more engaged also like in Room 1 though they still need help structuring and making sense.

Links to Standards

• Strategies used
• Structuring learning tasks so that all ākonga experience a degree of success, but also ensuring that they are required to stretch themselves to fully succeed.
• Providing constructive feedback and useful feedforward information.
• Helping ākonga to effectively set goals and self-assess

TBCS - PRT Programme - Judy-Anne

I finally got around to sorting through the Provisionally Registered teachers paperwork we had at school. Managed to get it down from one box to 2 folders, plus one folder of an outline from the Education Council to check. I discovered that lots of the good stuff which was in the TBCS folder was actually from templates from the Education Council. Good thinking not to reinvent the wheel Lyn! 

It was great being able to throw out lots of bits of paper- including multiple copies of the now out of date registered teacher criteria. It also means I now have manageable amounts of information to follow, access and store. Although the mentoring process is not supposed to be a 'tick the box' process it does give me  some good guidelines. 

Now Margaret and I just need to sort out a process for recording our meetings and communications. 

My plan is to observe her this afternoon with a focus on Behaviour Management. 

It's funny how everyone is concerned about their behaviour management!

Margaret - Problem Solving in real life

Measuring out distance throw for athletics

Digging and weeding out the long jump pit

Measuring out weed mat to place on the garden before covering it with bark.

Activities with real purpose

As a teacher I sometimes get a bit overwhelmed by what needs to be organised for lessons or activities and tend to forget that organising the students to do this gives them a real chance to take responsibility, apply learning, develop leadership and learn some valuable life lessons that are not necessarily academic.  Steve had organised the playground to be re barked so as part of this he arranged for students to go out in small groups to do this along with having some of the more capable maths students work out how to place the weed mat down.  This involved measuring the area and working this out as a group.  Athletics provided another opportunity for students to set up stations for ball throw, sprints and relays which involved maths and team work again.  It was interesting to watch them getting on with the task.  Usually a leader came out, those with more gardening skills taught the others such as how to use a shovel effectively, weeding.

Next steps:  Continue using these opportunities of "caretaking" around the school as they come up either as whole class, small groups, energisers for those needing a break from class work

Steve - Student Learning - Art - Stitching - Aug 2018 - rm 4

Our students visited the Suter Art Gallery. The link is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MVBddHYlNZqxd0qwMpYNl4Kivw9YJTEUVm3Yp5nxhkQ/edit
The students wanted to continue this activity of showing art through stitching.
The above show the engagement of the students. I had to stand back and let them work independently bar the time frame I stipulated. This art work is being shared through our Seesaw app.
Standard 5. Design for Learning: We set the scene by exposing them to stitching, then found a place or use for it, as in using this art as a practise and completeing one for 'Fathers Day'. This involves more stitching, different stitches, shared and co-operative work, and the learning is driven by thier found abilities and interest.

• Providing opportunities for co-operative learning, peer tutoring, reciprocal teaching and inquiry learning to occur.
• Providing ākonga with opportunities and time to apply feedback and feedforward information to improve their mastery of knowledge and skills.

Next Steps. Allow time for the students to complete this activity and set them up for completing the next.

Margaret - Ways of Learning - Standard 5 Design for Learning

• 
  
• After identifying the need for students to learn their timetables well to help them as they move onto more challenging maths tasks such as long division, myself and Steve have been testing students daily and giving them time during maths to learn these by rote.  We have emphasised the importance of learning these to help them with maths, become better at maths and to help them in the future.  I tested Aatea, she had good speed and accuracy but when she went to complete her maths she was unable to transfer her knowledge while working out long multiplication.  After a discussion with Steve about this, he pointed out that Aatea and some of the others learn more successfully with audio rather than written, which the multiplication was.  This made me think of how I am assessing and teaching children.  Am I assessing them equally and taking into consideration their styles of learning?  Audio or visual?  When planning activities have I got all the elements in there?  Oral instructions, written on the board or drive, videos, practical tasks.
• When testing timestables at least I will now use a mix of audio and visual (saying it and seeing it written) to help students learn both ways and take note if this helps Aatea and others transfer their skills to the actual problems.
• Links to Standard 5 - Design for Learning
• Developing ākonga metacognitive awareness by examining why particular strategies are effective or less effective in different learning contexts.
• Adapting lessons to ensure they address ākonga needs and interests as they arise.
• Helping ākonga appreciate the value or importance of what they are learning.

From Kidspot

https://kidspot.co.nz/school-age/learning-styles-in-children/

Learning styles explained

Auditory or language learners

These types learn through listening to what others have to say and talking about what they’re learning. They’re also more likely to:

• remember information by talking aloud
• need to have things explained orally
• may have trouble with written instructions
• talk to themselves while learning something new
• enjoy discussion groups over working alone

Worth noting: auditory learners might look like they’re not paying attention when you talk to them but their listening skills are more developed than their visual skills.

Visual learners

As their name suggests, these people learn through watching. It’s believed to be the most dominant learning style and many traditional classrooms are geared towards the visual learner. For their learning to make sense they need to be able to see, visualise and illustrate their knowledge skills and concepts. Visual learning characteristics include:

• remembering visual details
• preferring to see what they are learning
• needing to have paper and pens handy
• doodling while listening
• liking to write down instructions or see them demonstrated

Worth noting: Telling these learners how to do something may not make sense to them at all – they need to see it.

• Find out more about visual learners

Kinaesthetic/tactile learners

These learners like to be actively involved in the learning process, and learn best through hands-on activities and movement. Other kinaesthetic characteristics are they:

• want to actually do whatever is being talked about or learned
• like to move around while listening or talking
• often ‘talk’ with their hands
• like to touch things in order to learn about them
• remember events by recalling who did what rather than who said what

Worth noting: These types of learners can be misdiagnosed as ADHD or troublemakers because the more tradition visual or auditory learning styles just don’t work for them.

• Find out more about kinaesthetic learners

Is there a fourth style?

While the above three are the major styles discussed, some experts talk about logical or ‘analytical’ learners. These learn through exploring patterns and understanding how things relate to each other. These learners also:

• love knowing how things work
• are capable of quite logical thinking at a very young age
• ask a lot of questions so they can understand how things interrelate
• show an early aptitude at solving mathematical problems
• can grasp strategy games at a young age