Learning Styles I Incorporate in my Teaching

Learning
Style/
Approach
Visual

Specific Example

Auditory

Grade 11- Canadian Criminal Law

& Grade 12 Canadian &
International Law: In order to appeal
to students who are visual learners, I
utilize a variety of visual aids embedded
throughout my lessons and unit plans.
For the grade 11, and grade 12 students,
Power points were an excellent source
that I utilized to assist students who learn
visually. The power points were often
supplemented by notes pages as well as
fill in the blanks to help students stay on
track. In addition, I utilized a variety of
media clips including you tube clips as
well as films to help students understand
the curriculum content that was used. For
instance, the grade 11s benefited from
the Jury Duty Video available on the
Ontario Attorney General Website which
helped them to understand the Jury
selection process and participate in their
own jury selection process. The grade 12s
watched a variety of contemporary films
during their International Law unit such
as Argo, and Beyond Borders to get a
better understanding of modern
international issues that the world is
facing.
Grade 7/8 : The full grade 8 and grade
7/8 split class also benefitted from visual
aids including the use of their I pads as
well as White Boards to help them explore
curriculum content and stay focused on a
task. The students used their White
Boards in their groups to brainstorm
ideas which provided them a way to
organize their ideas in a visual manner. In
addition, they used their I pads to
research topics in their groups and create
presentations when they participated in
Jigsaw learning activities wherein they
would become experts on a topic and
teach that topic to their peers.
Grade 11- Canadian Criminal Law
& Grade 12 Canadian &
International Law. Students in both
the grade 11 and grade 12 classes learned
through a variety of auditory means. For
instance, lectures, guided discussions,

Reflection Statement(s) on how this

experience enhanced your
practice/awareness/ overall
development
I felt that the students benefitted from the
visual supplements I used as they enjoyed
the films and often asked questions about
some of the content if they needed more
information or found something
interesting in the videos. Students were
always excited at the prospect of engaging
with media clips and films. When they
watched films they were required to fill
out assignments related to the film and so
they were encouraged to complete their
work while they watched the films. I
thought that this allowed students to
reflect on what they were learning as well
as learn the material in an interactive
way. I found that not only students who
were visual learners, did well on these
assignments, but so did the other
students as well. Consequently, I feel that
providing a variety of visual aids help all
students to be more successful when it
comes to their learning.

I feel that by utilizing a variety of auditory

methods throughout my lessons
benefitted students who learn better by
processing information through listening.
This is because I varied my instruction by
incorporating peer teaching, and video

Type of
Grouping

debates, presentations, and guided

discussions were utilized. The students
who learn better by listening were also
supported through lessons with the help
of visual aids to supplement the
information that was being taught. The
grade 11`s had opportunities to work
together in their groups to work in groups
and present their findings in group
presentations. This allowed students to
learn in auditory was as they first had to
participate in their small group
discussions then orally communicate
their findings to the other students. This
provided an opportunity for the student
teachers as well as the audience to learn
by communicating verbally with each
other. The grade 12`s also had
opportunities to learn in auditory ways as
they often participated in class
discussions wherein the discussions
focused on a variety of curriculum content
and students were encouraged to learn
from one another. They looked at current
cases such as the Christopher Husbands
Murder Trial (2014) and discussed the
various elements involved that were tied
to the curriculum.
Grade 7/8: These classes were taught
using a variety of auditory teaching aids.
This included Power-points, short clips,
and class discussions. Students were
given the opportunity to participate in
debates where they worked in small
groups to formulate their arguments and
come up with rebuttals. The students
were encouraged to communicate with
each other in their small groups and
present their arguments in a structured
format. This helped students who learn
better through verbal means because they
learned how to formulate their ideas into
structured arguments and present it to
their peers in a constructive way. This
allowed them to communicate what they
learned to their peers effectively as well as
learn from their peers by actively listening
to their peers` opposing arguments.
Grade 11- Canadian Criminal Law
& Grade 12 Canadian &
International Law: The grade 11 and
grade 12 students were given an
opportunity to develop their learning
through a variety of groupings. At times
the students worked individually, in small
groups, in large groups and as a class as a

clips which gave students an opportunity

to learn the curriculum material from a
variety of sources. I think that students
need variety when it comes to auditory
teaching because lectures can be
overwhelming for students at times.
Therefore, it is imperative that lectures
include the Socratic method where
students are encouraged to answer
questions throughout the lesson to ensure
that they understand the information that
is being presented. In addition,
encouraging discussions about issues is
also an important component for the
auditory learner because it provides a
platform for them to get involved and
reflect on their thoughts. Moreover, I felt
that the variety of auditory options that
were presented to students allowed all
students to actively participate in classes
and get a better understanding of the
course themes and content that was being
taught.

Ensuring that students have the

opportunity to work in different types of
groups is a component that I incorporate
into my teaching. I do this because
students may learn the information
differently based on the conditions that
they are working in. For instance, some
students prefer to work individually and

Task
Organizatio
n

whole. This was important to incorporate

into the lessons because students learn
material in a variety of ways. Some
students do better when they can work by
themselves while others do better when
they have the support of their peers. Both
the grade 11`s and 12`s had an
opportunity to complete all the different
types of grouping for their Mock Trials.
They were required to research their roles
individually, then work in their small
groups to develop their arguments. They
then conferred with the other groups and
worked as a large group to organize their
mock trial. Finally they worked as a whole
class to present their mock trial from start
to finish.
Grade 7/8: Incorporating different types
of grouping was imperative for the grade
8 and grade 7/8 split class. This is
because students at this stage are still
figuring out how they work best. As a
result, students at times worked
individually on their cereal box projects
where they researched a historical figure
and created a memorabilia box with all
the important aspects of the historical
figure`s life. Students often worked in
small groups on their I pads to share
resources and in large groups when they
participated in team debates. The
students also had class discussions on
various course topics to ensure that
students understood the material.
Grade 11- Canadian Criminal Law
& Grade 12 Canadian &
International Law: In the grade 11
and 12 classes, I found that each class has
its own personality and so depending on
the class, one may need to organize tasks
to fit the needs of the students in the
different classes. The grade 11 class was
an open level course and so I tended to
give them longer time periods to get work
done as some students needed the extra
time. The grade 12 class was very task
focused and so I found that the pace was
quicker as they did not need as much time
to complete tasks.
Grade 7/8: The grade 8 class was a
quick pace class and worked at a steady
pace. The grade 7/8 split class had longer
time periods to work on assignments for a
variety of reasons. For one, one grade

do better when they have an opportunity

to do so. At the same time, other students
may do better when they work in a group
and can share their ideas and thoughts
with others and get feedback. In addition,
it is important to take note of different
personalities and understand that some
students are shy and may not participate
in a large group discussion. Therefore it is
important to give the students as much
chances as possible to work in a variety of
scenarios. I also think that different types
of grouping in an important teaching
strategy this prepares students for the
various roles that they will take on later
on in life. For instance students may have
to give presentations in the future so
giving them a chance to work in different
group setting allows them to learn how to
collaborate with others. I found that
giving students the opportunity to work
in different types of setting allows
students to learn more about themselves
and how they work best. I also found
these different types of groups provide an
opportunity to assess communication
among students who shy away from large
group discussions. While these forms of
groupings are important to a classroom, I
have also learned that it requires close
monitoring to ensure that students are on
task and that students are sharing the
work appropriately. These observations
apply to both sexes as both groups can get
into discussions that vary from the
subject at hand.
I found that task organization is an
important component that I have
incorporated in my teaching for different
learning styles. This is because I have
found that classes have their own
personalities and so at times, the pace has
to be modified for individual students or
entire classes as a whole. As a result,
sometimes the pace of teaching and the
style of teaching have to be modified to
ensure that all the students in the class
are successful. In addition, there are
students who require modification to
lessons due to their IEP`s and so I have
learned that it is imperative to know the
students needs as soon as possible in
order to incorporate these individual
needs to ensure student success.

level would have to be working on a task

individually while the other grade level
was being instructed and vice-versa. Also,
the grade 7/8 split had a high needs ratio
as many students required IEP
accommodations and so extra time had to
be built into the lessons for these
students.