Total Tech Teacher on Gathering & Interpreting Student Data

Interconnection of Learning Styles & Development 

Total Tech Teacher back with another informative blog!! 

I am writing this post to highlight the interconnection that is present within visual, auditory, and reading/writing learners! Educators can include activities to help support all types of learners. In addition, I will be addressing various ways that each learning style is connected with our human developmental areas --- cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical. 

To begin, I will be addressing our visual learners out there! Visual learners prefer to see information through pictures, illustrations, diagrams, and videos. It is interesting to know that this learning preference is tied to our human development. Visual learners must cognitively process information in their brain to gain understanding. If you are a visual learner, you might find yourself looking at a digram for a long period of time to fully process the information presented. Visual learners also benefit from seeing written words and responses. The written words can enhance their linguistic development to help them memorize important information. Visual learners can enhance their social development through collaborating with their peers and discussing the visual representations presented to them. Students can develop emotionally through the feelings they gain from viewing information. Visuals may enhance certain emotions for students. Lastly, I will be addressing the physical development that is affiliated with visual learners. Students can draw a picture of their thoughts and verbally explain their thinking through words/pictures. 

Next, I will be highlighting our reading/writing friends out there! Reading/Writing learners prefer to read and/or write about topics they are learning about. Students who prefer reading/writing as a learning preference are developing cognitively through enhancing their literature, comprehension, and critical thinking skills. Students develop linguistic skills through working with words and writing sentences about certain topics. Students can enhance their social development through sharing their completed activities with their peers! They can collaborate and discuss new ideas about their finished work. In addition, students are enhancing their emotional development by expressing themselves through reading/writing. Lastly, students enhance their physical development by using their fine motor skills to write their thoughts.

The last learning style I will be highlighting in this blog post is our auditory learners! Auditory learners prefer to listen/speak about the information presented to them. Students cognitive development is enhanced by listening to information, comprehending verbal information, and all together improving their memory. Auditory learners develop linguistically by processing the spoken words they hear. Students social development is enhanced through the discussions and debates they partake in. A student's emotional development can be enhanced through listening to the tone and/or expression in an individual's voice. In return, students can enhance their emotional development through understanding their emotions. Lastly, students can enhance their physical development by participating in activities that include speaking/listening like collaborating with peers. 

How a Learning Style Inventory has an Effect on Teacher Planning

Total Tech Teacher is back with another helpful blog post about the importance of learning style inventory data on teacher planning! 

Let's review the data collected from the previous learning style inventory a small group of students completed. Here is the information that was found:

• Student A preferred texts with illustrations and explanations using pictures
• Student B preferred reading/writing about new concepts 
• Student B also preferred reading/writing about animals and nature
• Student C preferred learning with diagrams and videos
• Student D preferred listening to texts and having information explained verbally

Suggested Instructional Strategies 

Visual: highlighting, charts, graphic organizers

Auditory: music/songs, storytelling, and presentations

Read/Write: note-taking, reflections, writer's workshop

Collecting data on learning styles had a positive effect on student engagement!

Based on the results, it is important to note the student's preferences and apply them to the learning activities in the classroom. Now that I am aware of the learning styles of each student, I will integrate these activities into each lesson. For example, our upcoming lesson is on life cycle's. To plan effectively, I will ensure to collect illustrations and diagrams as visuals for every life cycle. I will also include videos about life cycle's. Visual learners will connect with the resources and build a deeper understanding of the topic. I will also take into consideration that student's enjoy reading texts about animals and nature. I look forward to creating book collections that include texts about animals/nature. The data also shows that planning lessons where students have a choice to read texts in various ways is helpful. I will include student options when reading texts like partner, independent, audio, and teacher reads. 

I am giving you this information to help you understand the postive effects learning style inventories have on teacher planning! It is time to think about the best learning style inventory you should use in your classroom ASAP! 

Thanks for reading!

How Student Strengths, Interests, & Needs for Growth Influence Instruction

Total Tech Teacher back again with another informative blog post! Our topic today will be highlighting how educators can effectively use student data to provide meaningful instruction. 

Let's start with the basics...

Assessments!

As teachers, we are ALWAYS assessing our students. Here's the time to think about how to use the assessments effectively. Here are some helpful assessment ideas to understand your student's strengths, interests, and needs for growth!

• Monthly Interest Inventory 
• Seasonal VARK Model Assessment 
• Other Learning Style Inventories
• Student Interviews 
• Student Survey's 
• Performance Tasks in all Content Areas
• Diagnostic Assessments in all Content Areas
• Exit Slips in all Content Areas
• Completed Student Work 
• Conversations with Parents
• Conversations with Other Teachers (previous, intervention, core subjects)

Utilizing this data can help positively influence instruction and form small groups!

Now I will be addressing how I utilized student strengths, interests, and needs to influence my instructional decisions.

The targeted group of learners with learning preferences in visual, auditory and reading/writing had strengths in many areas. One of the strengths found that student engagement is heightened when they play games or utilize technology in the classroom. To move forward, I will incorporate fun games and technology applications into instruction to enhance student engagement. Another strength students showed was their ability to work together. Students were able to collaborate with one another in completing activities in the classroom. They used this strength to complete assignments confidently. 

The students were interested in reading texts about animals and nature! Students also enjoyed reading texts with illustrations and/or pictures. In addition, students enjoyed reading different varieties of texts like magazine articles, books, videos, and audio books. To move forward, I will be making my instructional decisions based on their interest data. I plan to incorporate nonfiction texts about animals with pictures. I also plan to incorporate a variety of texts for students to read.

After collecting information from the targeted group, I found student needs that need to be addressed during instructional activities. Data found that students learn in different ways. For example, the visual learners prefer to read texts with pictures and explanations. They also prefer previewing videos about topics to learn more background knowledge. To move forward, I will incorporate texts with visuals like photographs, videos, and illustrations. I will also include additional visuals like anchor charts to display reading skills and strategies. Data also found that a student preferred reading/writing about topics. To move forward, I will be incorporating reading and writing components into the reading block to enhance student engagement. Lastly, one of the students had an auditory learning preference. To help accommodate learning, I will give options to listen to the texts in an audio format. I also plan to verbally explain all directions and provide audio directions on Google Classroom to listen repeatedly. 

Assessments: How to Address ALL Learning Styles 

Total Tech Teacher back with another helpful post helping you address all learning styles in your classroom to develop and implement assessments for your students! 

It is important to address all learning styles in every assessment! Here are some helpful tips on ways you can accommodate all learning styles in your classroom! I have collected data from a targeted group of students with the following learning styles: visual, auditory, and reading/writing. To move forward effectively, I will incorporate the suggestions on the learning assessments students will complete. I believe that these supplements can help enhance student success on their formative and informative assessments. 

Visual Learning Style 

• Visuals Presented on Assessment 
• Diagrams/Charts on Assessment 
• Questions Related to Visuals on Assessments
• Student Demonstrations through Hands-on Projects
• Student Demonstrations through Diagrams/Drawings
• Highlighting Options 

Auditory Learning Style 

• Instructions Read Verbally 
• Repeated Instructions
• Audio Test Options 
• Group Projects 
• Projects that Include Songs/Rhymes

Read/Write Learning Style 

• Written Tests 
• Short Response Questions
• Writer's Workshop Final Projects
• Explanation/Summarizing Assessments
• Allowing the Use of Graphic Organizers/Notes

Including these components in your upcoming assessments can help enhance student learning! I hope you enjoyed reading these helpful tech teacher tips!