Teaching With Style …
Part of my responsibilities at my first teaching assignment (36 years ago!!) was to be in charge of the “High School Bowl” quiz team. The team was made up of four students who competed against two other teams, answering various questions about the sciences, history, English, math and the arts. I remember being quite intimidated at first with the visual art questions. Various pictures would be presented to the team members from famous artists, and the students were supposed to recognize them. This seemed like a daunting task at first, but as we began to look at paintings from the various artists, many were recognizable because of the “style” of the artist … the particular way the artist painted or drew his/her pictures or the subjects of interest that were painted often gave the artist away. Even though I wasn’t an artist, I began to recognize paintings by Rembrandt, Monet, and of course, Picasso, just by the “style” that the artist used.
Using this same principle, teachers can become much better teachers simply by observing their students and recognizing their learning “style.” Most new teachers entering the field are quick to mention the three major learning “styles” most often discussed: visual, auditory, and/or tactile/kinesthetic. These are sometimes