GATEways to learning Styles

Lee-Ann Lippert •

Middle School teacher – 24 years

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Teaching 8th grade honors core at Orchard

Hills /Lead GATE teacher •

Multiple Subjects Credential/Single Subject Credential – English/

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Masters in Education

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Reading Specialist

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Currently working on doctorate in Education

What are different learning styles? How does my child learn best? How can I help my child use his or her learning style to maximize learning potential?

Strength is one-dimensional. If you can lift 100 pounds of wood, you can lift 100 pounds of lead. Weight is weight. But, if you can solve a math problem, can you write an essay? Beat the stock market? Design a dress? Intelligence is NOT one-dimensional!

There are so many ways gifted students can learn and show how they are smart!

Learning Style-

the way in which each learner begins to concentrate on, process, and retain new and difficult information. (Dunn and Dunn)

Four major learning styles according to Hanson, Silver , and Strong. (1998)

Your turn! What’s your learning style? Take the “Student Learning Inventory”.

Sensing Thinking- Mastery The Sensing Thinker likes:  Facts and figures  Precise answers  The “how to” of a process  Memory work  Working alone  T/F or multiple choice tests

Sensing-Thinking This child learns best when faced with tasks that involve direct instruction and details. She/he will often thrive with work that calls for memorization, and may enjoy competitions or other situations that give her the chance to complete a project from a planning phase through completion. She/he usually appreciates activities that require observation, description, and categorizing items and ideas.  To help strengthen this learning style, have your child organize and build things, and place items in order. 

SENSING FEELINGInterpersonal

The sensing feeler likes:  Working with others  Sharing ideas and feelings  Making personal connections  Sharing personal opinions  Cooperative learning  Group work

Sensing-Feeling 

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This child often learns best when within groups of people and when he feels connected to others. She/he loves team games that involve role-playing and sharing personal points of view. You can promote this learning style by giving her/him chances to describe his feelings about people and himself in given situations. Also explore activities that enable her/him to teach others. Peer-tutoring, plays, and group investigations will help this learner soar.

INTUITIVE THINKERUnderstanding The Intuitive Thinker likes: Logical thinking  Evaluating  Debating  “Yes, but why…?”  Comparing and contrasting  Summarizing  Thinking in general 

Intuitive-Thinking 



This child learns best when he studies independently, compares and contrasts ideas, and is engaged in problem-solving activities. She/he might like games that allow him to analyze information and examine possibilities, as well as those that call for questioning, arguing, and debating. Projects that involve inquiry, like essay-writing, will really spark this learner’s interest. It’s important to allow the child with this learning style to research and develop ideas, and have enough time to examine and prove them.

INTUITIVE FEELER- Self-Expressive The Intuitive Feeler likes:  Using imagination  Being creative

 Divergent thinking

 “What if…” questions  Visual meaning

 Making metaphors

Intuitive-Feeling 

This child’s ideal world is a place in which she can predict outcomes, use her imagination, and come up with ideas. She/he will likely enjoy outside-of-the-box thinking and grow from activities that allow her to explore possibilities through speculation. This learner will often thrive during open-ended discussions and in situations where she can develop and articulate original solutions to problems.

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To help develop this learning style, encourage activities that use imagery and metaphor, like poetry and art projects.

Seinfeld Generation Jerry – obsession with analyzing everything –Intuitive Thinker  Kramer’s – off the wall plans and ideas – Intuitive Feeler  George’s – procedural rigidity – Sensing Thinker  Elaine’s – burning need to be loved and appreciated –Sensing Feeler 

Can you guess which is the most dominant learning style seen in gifted students?

• Sensing

Feeling

& • Intuitive Feeling

Can you guess in which learning style many teachers/professors teach?

Sensing Thinking!

How does this affect your gifted student?

Students might feel they are not “smart” when trying to be successful in classes being taught in a style that is not their learning preference.

How You Can Help  Make sure your children are aware of their

learning styles, and why they feel uncomfortable when they are not permitted to learn their way.

 Help your children find

ways to incorporate their learning style into all of their classes/studies. Help them learn to adapt!

 Allow your students to find a

place in their environment, both at home and at school, in which to feel comfortable.  Teachers should be sensitive to student differences, use different modalities, to reach different learners effectively. Talk to them about your child!

 Learning

styles can be found in every person in varying degrees.  Most people tend to prefer one or two over the others.  Strengthening the learning styles in which students are weak will make them better learners in the long run.

How does your student show his/her smart?

Learning styles are concerned with differences in the process of learning.

Multiple intelligences center on the content and products of learning.

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

What can you do at home to help?

 Allow your children

to find a place in their environment, both at home and at school, in which to feel comfortable.  Develop your child’s awareness of sound, light, temperature, and seating preferences and help to identify what is best in different situations.

 After taking learning-style characteristics into

account, determine whether your child learns best alone, in a pair, as part of a team, with adults, or in any combination of these.  Whatever their preference, adopt it for as least a short period of time to determine whether your child actually performs best that way.

 If

your child is experiencing school-related problems, learn as much as you can about learning styles before making any judgments about causes or responses.

Give your child choice in order to utilize and foster their learning strength. -how they study -where they study -projects -chores

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. -Henry David Thoreau

Resources for Parents of Gifted Children

Burns, M. (1976). The Book of Think: Or How to Solve a Problem Twice Your Size. This fun book contains puzzles, riddles, and problems designed to develop critical thinking. I t is written for elementary-aged children and contains numerous inviting and interesting illustrations.

Cline, F. W., & Fay, J. (2006). Parenting with Love and Logic. Colorado Springs, CO: Pinon Press. Love and logic is a parenting method that is used in homes and schools across the nation. I t is well suited for parenting gifted children because of its theory of allowing children to become decision makers and problem solvers.

De Bono, E. (1994). Teach Your Children How to Think. New York: Prufrock Press. Dr. Edward De Bono stresses the importance of creative thinking .This book is a combination of theory and practice. I t covers the philosophy of thinking, as well as provides numerous thinking exercises and activities.

Lewis, B.A., Espeland, P., &Pernu, P. (1998). The Kid’s Guide to Social Action: How to Solve the Social Problems You Choose- and Turn creative Thinking into Positive Action. Minneapolis, MN. : Free Spirit. This book allows children to apply their thinking and dialogue skills in real-world situations. I t provides specific ways for children to participate in social problems at the local, state, and national level.

References    

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Anonymous. “Different Learning Styles”. Scholastic. 5 December. 2013 Scholastic.com. Web. Dunn, Burke, and Whitely. “What do You Know About Learning Style?” Parenting for High Potential. June 2000:8-13. Print. Gardner, Howard. Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice. New York: Basic Books, 1993. Gerber, Rayneri, and Wiley. “ Gifted Achievers and Gifted Underachievers: the Impact in the Classroom.” Journal of Secondary Gifted Education. Summer 2003: 197-209. Print. Todd, Jeffrey. “ Creating a Culture of Thinking and Dialogue at Home”. Gifted Child Today. Fall 2007: 21-27. Print. Silver, Strong, and Perini. “Integrating Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences”. Educational Leadership. September 1997: 22-27. Online.