Learning Differences
I hope as a society we all know that everyone learns differently. Everyone. That’s what I try to stress to my students. Different doesn’t mean bad or wrong. I have a hard time learning by only listening. I’m constantly writing things down, reading the slide show (rather than just listening to the speaker), or asking my kids to “bring me their paper” so I can see what they are asking instead of just listening to them. But I know a lot of people need to hear something to be able to internalize it. Neither way is the right way to learn, it’s just what works for that person.
As educators or parents, we know we need to vary our lessons so we aren’t doing the same things all the time. Most teachers make sure there is a visual up somewhere in the class for the students to see (so they are not just listening) then we add in movement or a song or a silly phrase to help reach even more students. Teachers think about these things all day and plan out different ways to allow students to internalize what they are learning.
But, while we are planning all these wonderful lessons to present in a variety of ways, we also need to think that before students can even begin the process of learning (whatever their process might be), that our students need to all meet a certain base level. No, this base level does not mean all 6 year olds must know their letter sounds, or all 10 year olds must know their multiplication facts. This base level needs to be: Are they hungry? Are they tired (more than just it’s early in the morning tired)? Do they feel safe?
If you have a student who doesn’t know where they are going to sleep that night — they are not going to learn the difference betweens nouns and verbs that day no matter how much you differentiate your lesson for all students. If your student hasn’t eaten breakfast that morning and didn’t get dinner the night before, they can not learn about the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — no matter how compelling his story is. And also, if your student is struggling with their self worth as a person, they will not be able to fully participate in your STEAM activities, no matter how engaging they are.
Sure, maybe the student seems okay. Maybe you have seen them smile that day, or they ended up doing well on their independent work that morning, or you saw them playing basketball with their friends. That means for those few minutes, they were able to put their hardships aside and succeed. It might not mean they are “fine” like you want to think.
This happens to me sometimes. I think a student must be doing better because they were able to complete their work in my class with no issues, but then I hear about a fight they got into that day. Or, I think my daughter had a good day because she ate her dinner and she engaged in conversation with me, but then she ended up crying in my bed late at night. What happened between dinner and midnight to make her upset? The answer: nothing specific.
The glimmers of “okayness” are just that….small moments during the day. And I’m glad they are there. I’m thankful that the student can have fun with basketball or get a good grade on a test. It shows the child they can be successful. I am thankful my child can experience a funny conversation with her family.
However, as adults we need to make sure it doesn’t make us complacent. If we know a student is struggling, we need to continually check in on that student. To the point that it annoys them or they are questioning why we are talking with them so much. Engaging the student in conversation, showing them we care more than just about their grades will allow them to feel safe with us and hopefully allow them to open up to us if something is bothering them.
We know how to feed a student, a lot of the time we can even give the parents resources if they are struggling with a safe place to live or struggling with putting food on the table, but it’s hard to reach the student emotionally. It takes time to build trust with them so they will come talk to you when they need help — whether it’s help on the assignment or help with a social problem between friends, or help with something more serious going on in their life. Building that relationship is the key to getting everyone in your class starting at the same base level. Then, hopefully, they will be open to your wonderful lesson with audio, visual, and tactile elements and they will truly learn — and learn to love learning.
