Discovering Your Students' Strengths

Do you know your students' strengths, talents and learning styles?

Identifying student strengths can be a helpful tool in the classroom!

One of the best ways to find out how your students learn is by watching them at play. Do you see students reading, sketching things, or building things? Do your students have lots of friends and socialize most of the time? Are your students musical and rap oriented? Are they puzzle-solvers or dancers? These activities can give you a glimpse into their academic strengths. For instance, by observation, you may find out these special talents that your students have:

• Readers - may be visual learners
• Sketchers - may be visual or  artistic
• Builders - may be kinesthetic or logical thinkers
• Socializers - may be interpersonally skilled
• Rappers, Musicians - may be artistic
• Puzzle Solvers - may be logical thinkers
• Dancers - may be artistic or kinesthetic learners.

Notice that I say "may." This is a very broadly sketched observational tool.  You can also get information about student talents, literacies and intelligences by having them share the information themselves. Offer them a survey, and then collate the information. Who better to share this than the students themselves? To learn more about multiple intelligences, please:

1. Familiarize yourself with Howard Gardner's theory on multiple intelligences 
2. Watch the following  video by Laura Candler, who explains how to use a student survey that she created.  
3. Use this link to her student survey, the Getting to Know You Survey, and use it with your students. 

Take a moment to watch Laura Candler's video to see how the survey is completed. 

Have you learned anything new about how your students learn?