I am going to be a new teacher. How to recognise students' learning style?

Question

I want to know my students' learning style so I can do best in my teaching. Is there any online references that I can use for recognizing learning style? Is there any free test sample that I can download to determine student's learning style?

Please help me on this.

Answer 1

I am also a teacher. You will face different student with different behavior. Sometimes you will think to suicide also.

Always try to be calm with students and teach with pleasant language dont ever get rude nature with students. And try to make student to do there work nicely and try that with out punishment the students are able to do ur work with interest. Represent a task in front of student as it is very interesting.
Get friendly with them and give them lots of examples so that they are able to understand that topic is related to which thing and it will also help them to remember about that topic.

You cant be a good teacher by giving test. This field needs experience.

Just believe in ur self that u can be a good teacher. Be confident. And go ahead man.

Answer 2

I teach 2nd grade. On back to school night (typically the Thursday the week before the kids come back) the parents visit. In the packet the 2nd grade team hands them a 2 page "Getting to know your child" survey for the parents to fill out. It asks that very question, as well as other questions that can help you understand the personality and learning style of the student.

Answer 3

Try this. Find a task you want the students to perform. It should be neither too complex nor too simple. Just give oral directions. Notice who completed the task with the most ease. These are aural learners, and probably girls. Next, find a similar task and either demonstrate the directions yourself or hand out directions that have about the same amount of written material and pictorial diagrams. Students who do well with this are visual learners and are about 50% male and female. If you give them a task that requires physical activity and just let them figure it out themselves, those that do best and actually like this sort of thing are kinetic/tactile learners and most likely boys.

Answer 4

Here's some free stuff I've found online:

my alma mater : ) and the best online source in my opinion
http://appl003.lsu.edu/cas/learningjourney.nsf/GuestEntrance?OpenForm

http://www.businessballs.com/vaklearningstylestest.htm

http://www.wizardrealm.com/tests/personality.html

http://www.uwsp.edu/education/lwilson/links/learningstyles.htm

I am also a teacher and I've also looked for free online tests with little success. They are hard to find because they are all copyrighted. If you aren't satisfied with the stuff you can find online, I would recommend going to a local book store and buying a test. They aren't too terribly expensive and I'd say it's worth the few dollars you'll pay.

Answer 5

Two books that may be of some help to you are:

7 Kinds of Smart; Identifying and Developing Your many Intelligences -- by Thomas Armstrong.
ISBN -- 0-452-26819-2

The Way They Learn -- by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias.
ISBN -- 1-56179-414-7

I would not recommend any testing for this, since children often exhibit several characteristics of each, but have one, or two dominant learning styles.
The books have quick check/reference list to help you out.

Answer 6

Honestly, don't do that. The best way is just to observe your students.
For instance, the kid who gets out all of their colored markers on the first day, uses them to take notes in different colors, and makes diagrams as you are talking is VISUAL. This is also the kid who is busy writing down EVERYTHING you say.
The kid who does NOT write a lot down, but spends a lot of time with his/her hand in the air, asking questions and answering, is the AURAL learner. Diagrams do not do anything for htem, because they NEED to talk about stuff.
The kid who is very physical, likes to play games, move about, etc., that kid is TACTILE.
Usually what you will see is that these kids will get into their set patterns from the first day. They also might be a combo, for instance they might be visual/tactile, but one learning style will dominate and you'll see that clearly enough.
I once did an experiment with my students (they are fascinated by this). After one week of school, I announced I knew them well enough to know which was their dominant learning style. I got the majority of these students dead on (it was a class of approximately 25 students). Not only was it a great icebreaker but they were intrigued that I'd watched them well enough to know what they were like. I also do this on individual cases, for instance, this year, I todl a girl who was struggling in my class how I pictured she did her homework at home. After freaking out a bit (I was accurate 100%), she asked me how I knew all that about her.
Kids really want to know that you're watching them, paying attention to them. You don't have to let them know you're doing it, but becasue ultimately, they really want you to understnad them, I think a test creates too much distance. It turns them off right away, and this creates problems when you are trying to establish rapport and trust from them. They want ot like you and they want to know you like them too, so if you let them know you're observing them, trying to figure out what makes them tick empirically, they take it as the compliment it is and it actually brings you closer. With very few exceptions, my students are close to me because they recognize that my energies are focused on them.
For that you don't need a fancy test. You need to let them know you care, that you're supportive of them and that you are trying to make it the BEST experience for them that you can.