Kate was trying hard to learn,but the odds were stacked against her. Fortunately she found a saviour. Here is her story.
Kate is a bright girl but a slow learner. She read slowly and with little comprehensions. Her reading proficiency scores showed that she read at 50 words per minute and had a comprehension level of 30%. This inability to read with fluency and to understand what she was reading was effecting her ability to learn.
Then Kate had a learning style assessment and it was discovered that she had a very visual style of learning. She liked to learn by understanding patterns, using colors, seeing ‘pictures’.
So, Kate was shown how to use visual strategies to help her read with more fluency and comprehension.
To see if the strategies worked Kate’s reading proficiency was retested. She was given a much more complex piece of reading and was timed on her reading speed and her comprehension.
The results were dramatic. Her average reading speed jumped up from 50 words a minute to over 500 words per minute!
Her comprehension went from 30% to 85% on the first test and to 100% on a subsequent test!
The Deputy Headmaster ( it was an English study) said that if Kate had not been shown how to use her visual leaning skills to help her learn she would have struggled throughout her school life.
Most teachers have a verbal style of teaching. They teach by explaining, writing on the board, writing instructions on worksheets, , talking, and using text books. This is fine fora child who is ‘Word Smart’ and learns best when information is presented this way. But about 40% of children are visual learners, they are ‘Picture Smart’. They need information presented in graphic form such as, diagrams, patterns, pictures, maps, doodles.
These students struggle to understand information presented verbally and should be taught strategies to help them translate how they are being taught into how they learn. Once they have developed these strategies, and learned how to use them, their ability to learn rapidly increases.
Research studies have proved time and time again that children with an understanding of how they learn and who have developed strategies to use their learning skills will become better learners.
When this happens the results looks like magic, and feels like magic.
That is why I tell the students I work with that I am a magician. I can show you how to be a magician too!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I totally agree. All of us learn differently. Each child has their unique style of absorbing whatever material is placed before them. Some are visual,audio,writers or tactual learners. However some people can be a combination of some of these. Once each child finds that unique path to their learning, learning will be more enjoyable.