A good teacher comes up with a lesson plan that incorporates a variety of teaching methods that will help get the lesson across to each individual student in her clasroom, no matter what type of learner they are. To do this effectively, you need to know about the different learning methods and be able to identify them in the classroom. So what are the various learning methods? Visual, auditory and kinesthetic.
The visual learner needs to see to believe. You could give a great lecture on the topic and most students would be able to take notes and understand the material, but the visual learner is not going to be able to absorb the information in a lecture as easily. The visual learner typically needs a book or notes of some sort so they can read the information presented at their own pace. Pictures are also easy for the student to absorb into their memory banks and make sense out of. Quickly spoken sentences or multiple spoken directions can confuse the visual learner. To help teach to the visual learner, teachers should try to write down important concepts or directions. Be sure to provide a text or notes to help the visual learners keep up with the discussion.
The auditory learner communicates primarily through sound. A textbook just doesn’t speak to him in the same way that a real, live person does. This makes verbal directions and lessons especially important. You can often recognize the auditory learner because they’re typically talkative themselves and they’re great at remembering the lyrics to songs they’ve heard on the radio. Teaching the auditory learner may seem easy when considering most teaching methods, but using pinpointed auditory lessons to keep the person engaged is key. For instance, learning through the use of song is excellent.
The kinesthetic learner is big on actually doing something to learn. The use of manipulatives to teach a concept will help your kinesthetic learner and still be of interest to everyone else in the room, as well.