Student Learning Inventories

Mandy from Caffeine and Lesson Plans here, excited to share with you a little tidbit about student learning inventories- one of my absolute favorite back to school activities!

As a teacher, I have always struggled to maximize the limited time I have with my students. No matter how much time I get, I always feel like I could use more! There is just so much learning to do, and so little time to do it in. One of the best ways I have found to get the most out of my instructional time is to really try to tailor the teaching to my students in every way possible. Yes, it's true that I can't change the curriculum... no matter how much I want to at times. However, I can modify my instruction to include different styles, activities, and assessment to best suit their needs. How can I found out what their needs are? Student learning inventories!

The learning inventory is a short questionnaire designed to help teachers identify the learning style of their students. It's a simple "check the box" type of assessment which is pretty quick to administer. There are about a million versions out there to try, based upon the grade level you teach and if you have technology available to you or not. Here are a few favorites of mine:

Multiple Intelligences Survey (available printable or as a self-calculating excel document)

Learning Style Survey (online)

VARK Learning Questionnaire (online)

Learning Inventory for Older Students (printable)

Mathematical Learning Inventory (printable) *one of my favorites!!

To be honest, most years I pick and choose questions from each of the available tests and create something that I think will appeal to my kiddos the most. Definitely make it your own!

Once we finish assessing ourselves, I have the students determine their learning style based upon the answers they gave. The directions are included in each of the linked inventories. Then, I give the students a short presentation on what it means to be each learning style and what they can do to learn best. Here is an overview of what I use with my kiddos, compiled from several websites:

Visual Learners:

• use visual materials such as pictures, charts, maps, graphs, etc.
• have a clear view of your teachers when they are speaking so you can see their body language and facial expression
• use color to highlight important points in text
• take notes or ask your teacher to provide handouts
• illustrate your ideas as a picture or brainstorming bubble before writing them down
• write a story and illustrate it
• use multi-media (e.g. computers, videos, and filmstrips)
• study in a quiet place away from verbal disturbances
• read illustrated books
• visualize information as a picture to aid memorization

Auditory Learners:

• participate in class discussions/debates
• make speeches and presentations
• use a tape recorder during lectures instead of taking notes
• read text out aloud
• create musical jingles to aid memorization
• create mnemonics to aid memorization
• discuss your ideas verbally
• dictate to someone while they write down your thoughts
• use verbal analogies, and story telling to demonstrate your point

Kinesthetic Learners

• take frequent study breaks
• move around to learn new things (e.g. read while on an exercise bike, mold a piece of clay to learn a new concept)
• work at a standing position
• chew gum while studying
• use bright colors to highlight reading material
• dress up your work space with posters
• if you wish, listen to music while you study
• skim through reading material to get a rough idea what it is about before settling down to read it in detail.

As a teacher, I use this info to help guide me through lesson planning. Of course, I can't meet every student's individual learning style every lesson, but understanding where my kids are at helps me break down my planning and tailor as many lessons as I can to as many kiddos as I can.

So, there it is- one of most informative and useful back to school activities!