Learning Styles

I went to http://www.teachnology.com/currenttrends/learningstyles.html in order to analyze what learning style I am. The website asked questions that were not just an analysis of what I think I am, but asked actual questions in order to figure out my learning style. What I mean by this is that instead of asking “Do you enjoy reading for fun?” or “Are you good at logic problems?” it actually asked me to DO logic problems, math problems, and linguistic problems. I felt as though it was a fairly accurate reading of my abilities, since I do not just answer “yeah, I do feel like I am good at math or good at spelling”, or, “no, I suck at logic problems.”
By taking this online assessment, I “learned” that I am linguistic, which is good since I am planning on teaching English! The results of my test said that I have a gift for expressing myself. This is something that I have always known about myself, although I know that there are times when I cannot express my ideas for the life of me (I kind of feel like that right now!). In my personal and professional relationships, I can generally explain what I mean with little effort. One part I did not agree with, however, was when it says that I can make a very persuasive argument. Rarely do I feel as though I present a very strong argument, and I don’t ever feel like I am very persuasive.
I also found out that I am a kinesthetic learner. This was more of a surprise to me, because I don’t really feel as though I need to get “hands-on” experience to understand something. But I think that the reason the test said that I am is because I am athletic and like to be active. However, I guess I do retain more information when I am having fun, such as when I act out a play instead of just reading it on my own.
A good way for me to incorporate my own learning style into my teaching would to create a very interactive classroom, where students are able to speak often as well as be active. If we are doing a unit on a play then we can read it aloud and then find a way to act it out. When I was doing my three-week practicum for T&L 317, one class I observed was finishing up an unit on Shakespeare. The class was broken down into different groups (one for each act), and were to modify the act using current-day dialect and bringing out the most important theme of that particular act. I really enjoyed watching these interpretations of the play because it was a good way for the teacher to evaluate the students on how well they understand it, as well as a good way for the students to gain stronger understanding and application. This also was something that went along well with my learning types because they were very active and manipulated the language to get their point across.
I know that not every person is the same when it comes to learning styles, and it is important to incorporate different styles into different lessons, so that I will be able to reach every student. What works best for me may not be effective for any of my students, but the likelihood is that I will reach everyone at some point or another, as long as I am switching up the lesson plans and activities.