With effective teaching and the incorporation of visual, kinesthetic, and audio activities into the daily lessons, students will become more physically active and involved with the content. These methods may also help to increase teaching score evaluations at the end of the term.  

Using crossword puzzles are great for analytical learners, but could also be used as a group activity rather than an independent activity. This helps students be more thoughtful with and creative while also learning. The Mystery Word Challenge seems like a great activity because it can be used with a variety of content in the course modules. 

Activities are fun ways to get students engaged with not only the content, but with one another. It can prevent boredom with the content and it can also help students to build confidence with their peers. Healthy competition is also a way to help boost confidence in learning the material as well as a way to assist learning in knowing what they need to work harder to understand. 

I have learned that students will commit material to long term memory when they are exposed to it at least six times. Students can retain more information when not just listening to lectures, or through memorization, but also by engaging in activities. Students are also successful in understanding material when they learn from each other. It is important to incorporate both visual and hands-on activities to capture the attention of most types of learners. 

I will try to present a variety of teaching methods and ask for anonymous feedback from my students, knowing that I may not like what I hear. I am going in with the intention of being a good educator that offers a safe space to learn. How successful I am is to be determined! But I want every student to feel seen and heard. With adult students moving on after graduation, I am not sure a 3-mo follow up would be appropriate for the blended class I will be teaching. 

This was an interesting module, in how a simple exercise, like asking your students to close their eyes and write down what comes to mind when given the word, "apple."  It is fascinating how subtle clues can be indicators of learning styles, if we only know to look for them! 

As educators, we need to recognize our students' learning style. I felt I identified with the "Nattie" student, as I like a temperate room with decent lighting. But I also related to the rapper who likes a backdrop of music playing throughout life. Perhaps it is up to us to cover all the bases, so our students have the best chance at accomplishing the learning objectives. 

This is such an important topic for educators in ensuring each student has the adequate resources to reach the intended goal. I feel like I have moved through varying degrees of the personalities profiled: The Jabber, The Integer, Touchy, and Loner. However, I have typically been the loner, though it has not been a detriment in my career. As the text suggested, once you learn your craft, you do not want someone "hovering" over you. 

Identifying these individual characteristics will be of HUGE service to the students entrusting us in our care. And, if we are unsure, perhaps giving examples… >>>

New ideas in teaching help motivate students and keep them interested

I like learning different ways to teach that is interesting and thoughtful