 Betsy David and Debbie Lopes |
On Tuesday, February 25th students and staff at DMS were treated to an assembly on Learning Styles. Parents in the DMS school community were also invited to attend. This assembly was organized by Ms. Sahagian in support of Tactic 2 in the DMS school improvement plan. Tactic 2 states the desire of the school to provide learning opportunities for students before, after, and during school. The presenter was Betsy David of The Performance Results Group of Providence, learning specialists. She was assisted by Debbie Lopes.
|
Betsy David and Debbie Lopes |
The presentation was divided into three parts. The first dealt with an explanation and analysis of the three basic learning styles; auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Prior to the assembly all students completed a learning styles questionnaire which helped identify each student's preferred learning style. The presenters emphasized that there was no "good" or "bad" learning style. The purpose of identifying one's preferred learning style is to help each student become a more efficient learner. Following an introduction to the topic the presenters provided a detailed explanation of each of the three learning modalities, provided tips for "smarter" more efficient studying for that type of learner, provided examples of famous people who favored the learning style, gave examples of careers which favored the modality and finally provided strategies for improving one's ability to learn using the modality. The message was that everyone can learn in all three ways, but each learner has a preferred learning style.
The presenters succeeded in keeping the attention of the students by employing all three modalities in their presentation. In addition they used humor and audience participation to create an informative as well as entertaining presentation.
Auditory Learner - learns best by listening and remembering |
|
Visual learner - learns best by
seeing |
|
 Kinesthetic
Learner - learns best by doing rather than either listening
or seeing |
|
The second portion of the assembly dealt with managing test anxiety. The discussion began with an explanation of the physiology of stress and its impact on memory. The presenters then provided three strategies for overcoming test anxiety; they are positive self-talk, visualization, and breathing and progressive relaxation. These strategies, if practiced and implemented, will lead to a reduction in test anxiety, improve memory, and result in better test performance. These concrete, practical suggestions should help our students become self-sufficient learners.
 |
 |
The third topic was forming a habit of order. The major idea here was that students cannot be successful if they are not organized. Ms. David and Ms. Lopes used humor and a number of visual aids to make the point that organization both at home and school are essential to academic success. They identified 5 keys to successful study. They are: plan your strategy, play to your strengths, engage others, create an inviting study environment, and be proactive. This presentation went beyond merely providing students with strategies for success; it challenged them to develop their own action plan for success. As students prepare for state assessments in March this assembly was both timely and beneficial.
A list of Internet resources on the topic of learing was provided at the conclusion of the assembly.
