Learning is Not Only for the Student by Brianna

Learning is Not Only for the Student by Brianna - January 2015 Scholarship Essay

When a person decides they want to become a teacher, they must have the understanding that every student is different and learns in different manners. Some students are visual learners while others may be auditory or kinesthetic learners. Many students will possess more than one learning style. With this in mind, my advice to my high school teachers would be for them to simply take the time to learn their student’s learning style(s) and to introduce those styles in activities during the educational lessons.

Being a kinesthetic learner, I find it challenging yet more intriguing to learn using my hands. I find it rather difficult to sit and listen to lectures on topics like science and some forms of art without my attention slightly shifting. I tend to escape to that place in my mind where I am able to experiment with the things that I have learned and challenge myself to try something new. In the same breath, I have friends that are auditory and visual learners. Where I thrive with experiments, they struggle with their confidence in completing the task efficiently. They would much rather submit a paper or a collage that would explain the concepts that they are learning. Although we learn differently and our applications may vary, it is in my opinion, in the teacher’s best interest to learn how we learn and incorporate each style into the lessons.

By actively incorporating each learning style in the classroom, the atmosphere for learning will shift towards being fun, interesting, energetic and educational. No matter which learning style the student embodies, they will always have something in the lesson to look forward to. Students will always have fun learning and that is the key. A teacher that takes my advice and utilizes it successfully will have a class filled with accomplished students with a passion for learning; and it was simply because they took the time to learn their student’s learning style(s) and applied those styles to the activities in the classroom.