Learning Styles

According to the learning styles online quiz, I am a social learner.  This style fits me perfectly, as I enjoy collaborating with others and working together towards a common goal.  When learning new material, I like to be physically in the classroom with the teacher and other students.  I am always taking notes while the teacher is speaking, so when there is a test or a project I like to work with someone to make sure I understand the information correctly.  Working with a partner or in a group allows you to ask questions and help each other, as well as share feedback about the information you are working on.  It was interesting to read that people with this learning style commonly find themselves in pursuits of teaching!   

The most effective ways for me to learn are by incorporating visual and auditory strategies.  In addition, different types of groupings support social learners like me.  Some examples are working with a partner, collaborating in small groups or working in a large group setting.  One example is having students work in partners, such as reading buddies.  Students can sit with a partner, read together and share their favorite part of the story or a text-to-self connection.  If there is a word that is difficult for one of the students, then their reading buddy can help them figure out what word would make sense.  Another way to promote social learning is having students work in small groups, such as centers.  The students can work with each other to problem solve putting a puzzle together or use team work to build a volcano.  Working in a large group is another beneficial teaching strategy to support social learners.  Having whole group discussions and the opportunity to ask questions freely allows social learners to grow in their learning and feel comfortable in this atmosphere.         

The teaching style that does not fit my learning style would be verbal teaching.  If an educator is simply standing in front of the class and lecturing, it is hard for me to pull out the important information, write it down at the same time and continue to actively listen for more essential information that is being presented.  I like to have the information that is pertinent already given to me, so when the instructor is presenting, I can make additional notes to help me understand and remember the information. 

In addition, it is difficult for me to learn the tasks where you have to basically just memorize the answer.  I made a prediction before I took the learning style test of what my lowest score would be in…I was right!  I can confidently say I definitely am not a logical learner.  I am not the most mathematically inclined person.  It brings me back to elementary school when I had timed multiplication tests.  I remember my heart beating fast, only thinking about the clock ticking, seeing other people finish their test when I was only in the middle- AHHH!  At that age, those skills were strictly rote memorization.  The test not only made me feel nervous, but sadly made me lose confidence in my math skills early on.

A teacher’s classroom is filled with students that have different backgrounds, abilities, ages and learning styles.  It is impossible to teach each lesson focusing on every learning style that is the classroom.  I feel that teachers have to aim for a balance of instructional methods.  During a particular lesson a teacher can represent a few of the learning styles while keeping the lesson on track.  For example, if the classroom is learning about insects, they can have non-fiction books about these insects to read about and/or actual insects in the classroom to observe (even hold if they want).  This balance will allow the students to be taught either in the method that is best for them or one that will teach them to approach thinking and solving problems in a different manner.  It is important for an educator to know how each student learns best.  If you have certain children in your class that may need to take a test verbally versus written, this is something that you need to be aware of.  It may not be that they do not understand the information, but just need to use a different way to express it.  With all the resources that I have learned about in this class and have seen through my research, technology is certainly a way to reach out to students with various learning styles as well.    

Creative Commons

Photo Attribution:

Original image: "Vietnamese Stick Insects, Baculum estradentatum"

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6137/5970286747_eaf1e27a91_m.jpg 

By:  Ryan Somma
 

Released under an Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike License:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

I feel it is very important to incorporate images into my curriculum.  Some students are visual learners who need to see the character we are talking about or the actual numbers that are being added.  They are most productive when images are shown.  Other children may learn in different ways, but possibly have not been exposed to the specific material that is being discussed.  For example, we engage in a unit on insects for Science.  Some of these insects do not live in America; therefore, my students have not had any exposure to them.  Using images the students will be able to learn about and explore these diverse creatures and imagine what it would be like to have them as part of the outdoors (maybe even indoors)! 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68124415@N03/6268181820/in/photostream

PC Maintenance and Security

This week’s lab focused on PC Maintenance and Security.  Using Atomic Learning, I viewed different tutorials that furthered my knowledge in technology.  I have shared that information with you below.
 

Clean Up and Speed Up Your PC: 

Using Windows CleanUp! and Using MSConfig to Speed Up Your PC’s Startup

The first tutorial was perfect for me, as I happen to be somewhat of a pack rat when it comes to my computer.  One application that I definitely wanted to share is called “Windows Cleanup!”  It is an easy to use application that empties your Recycle Bin, frees up disk space, deletes cookies and removes temporary files.  I was really surprised by how fast the application works and how easy it looks!  I am definitely going to give Windows Cleanup! a visit soon.  Another way to clean up and speed up your PC is by using MSConfig.  What was surprising to find out is that every time you start your computer, hidden programs load in the background.  MSConfig will help to turn these unnecessary programs off, which will help to make your computer faster and more reliable.  I also learned about a website called, “Startup Programs and Executables Listing.” You should use this site when you are not sure if a certain startup item should be turned off during the boot of your computer.  You just put the name of the item in the program, and when you use MSConfig it will let you know if it is required to be on or not.  This website is a great resource that will help speed up the use of your computer.  I was not familiar with either of these tools.  My work computer is so slow....I will be busy tomorrow morning using these different applications.

Tips for Safer WebBrowsing:  Explaining Cookies

When my computer is running slow people in my office will often tell me to delete my cookies.  I would go ahead and delete them, but never really understood what they were.  I wanted to share the information below for people that are in the beginners stage of learning different part of technology like me.  The tutorial “Tips for Safer Web Browsing:  Explaining Cookies” helped me to learn that a cookie is a small information file placed on your hard drive.  It tracks user's browsing activities, which tends to be a privacy concern.  There are three types of cookies:  persistent, session and tracking.  A persistent cookie enables a website to remember you on subsequent visits, speeding up or enhancing your experience of services or functions offered.  Session cookies are only available for as long as you are on the site and then they are erased.  Tracking cookies was what really surprised me.  They track where people go on the web, report this information to advertisers and then they place their ads on those websites.  Cookies make features, such as making recommendations for certain products for you, possible.  After viewing this tutorial, I now have a better understanding of how a website like Amazon.com works.

Making Email Safer:  Using the Junk Email Filter in Microsoft Outlook

The next tutorial that I watched was in a section called “Making Email Safer.”  This particular video focused on the topic of using the junk email filter in Microsoft Outlook.  This tutorial caught my eye because it connects back to one of my personal growth goals, which is to increase my knowledge in basic technology applications.  I use Microsoft Outlook at work and definitely want to learn as much as I can about the different tools that it has to offer.  I also wanted to share this with other Microsoft Outlook users as they might be losing some of their important email…and here is why! This tutorial showed me how I have different levels of junk email protection.  It is important to be careful if you put the setting on high, as it may catch legitimate messages sometimes.  It was surprising to learn about the Safe Senders option.  This allows you to generate a list of senders that you consider safe to receive e-mail messages from.  You can add names manually, import them from a file or export them to a file.  This feature will definitely be a tool I will check out at work.  It would be helpful to just export a list of who is on my safe sender list.  Then I will know who I need to add from there!      

Getting Things Done

For the “Getting Things Done” lab I organized my workflow process by using post-its and a pencil.  I am constantly making “To Do Lists” and like that I can keep the list in my purse or pocket to easily add or cross off a task.  September and October are very busy months for me…a lot of traveling back and forth for family birthdays and holidays, plus my regular work and school schedule here in Chicago.  To top it off everyday errands like going to the grocery store and cleaners keep getting pushed back and continue to fill up my list.  Sometimes I wish there were more hours in the day!  I have always been an organized person but since I started taking school full time, I feel my organization could use a little fine tuning.  It is important that I write things down what I need to do immediately.  Things can escape my mind as I feel like am doing fifty things at the same time.  For example at work, I may be writing an email to a customer, while answering the phone and having to switch my attention to the database.  This will then trigger me to remember to call a certain customer about an issue they are experiencing.  Having note paper next to me as I work is essential.  It allows me to quickly write a message to myself about something I need to complete that particular day or week.   

I had mixed emotions as I was going through this process.  The collecting of information was difficult because I had a lot of sticky notes with tasks on them all stuffed into my purse.  I wasn’t alone, as I recall Joe Fiorini from his podcast, “Mind like Water:  How to Get Things Done” was having the same experience.  It wasn’t until the organizing stage that I started to feel more on top of things.  Organizing the information and classifying it into the four groups of Projects, Calendar, Next Actions and Waiting For helped to highlight the items that had specific deadlines like projects for my MSU classes and appointments for work.  If there were a number of items that I needed to purchase from Walgreens, it was helpful to have those items organized together in my list.  My feelings of tranquility started to change once I started to create my “Next Actions” and “Waiting For” lists.  I began to feel overwhelmed when I saw how many tasks I had to complete and places I had to go.  Yikes!  I have a lot on my plate!

Going through this process was definitely helpful, as it allowed me see what tasks were the most important and needed to be completed first.  Even though my list of things I have to get done will always be long, I am learning to take a deep breath and realizing that not everything has to be completed at the same time.  I have to remind myself that it is okay to space things out and take a break.  J      

I will continue to use the process of pencil and paper to organize my workflow at this time.  I feel a sense of accomplishment when I can physically cross out the different tasks that I have completed on my “To-Do” list.  Since this engagement I have found it easier to use one piece of paper that collects all my tasks instead of random post-it notes.  As I add to my list, I try to organize it into groups suggested by David Allen; however, having a master list of everything I need to do is what works the best for me.  I am guessing that within time I will probably move to an application on my phone, but for now I am very happy with my current process!