Have you ever had one of those days when you just can\u2019t get a catchy or annoying song out of your head?\u00a0 Or was there ever a time you watched a scary movie and couldn\u2019t get a certain image out of your head?\u00a0 These are examples of how your memory can retain things by sound or sight.\u00a0 Now, think about how hard it was for you to tie your shoes once upon a time. \u00a0Chances are, that\u2019s not a great struggle for you anymore!\u00a0 Your brain has learned muscle (kinesthetic) memory for tying shoelaces.<\/p>\n
Most people have a preferred learning method.\u00a0 Personally, I\u2019m a visual learner.\u00a0 If you show me a picture, I will remember what you say so much more easily than if you just talk to me. \u00a0My default Scripture memory method is to try to picture the words in my mind.<\/p>\n
I had a friend growing up who was primarily an auditory learner.\u00a0 He struggled with spelling because you don\u2019t hear spelling; you see it. \u00a0He learned best by listening to someone teaching while doodling.<\/p>\n
If you have taught for any length of time, you know that some kids just seem like they\u2019re always moving.\u00a0 While they need to learn to obey and sit still like all other kids, keep in mind that they may learn best through movement because they\u2019re kinesthetic learners.<\/p>\n
So what does this mean for your teaching?<\/p>\n
It means that you need to use a variety of methods to engage the children in your class. When I first started teaching, I primarily sought to involve children through visual media, like flashcards or PowerPoint.\u00a0 I still have to work to diversify my teaching style, because I naturally assume that everyone learns like I do!\u00a0 My wife is more of an auditory learner, and she tends to use fewer visual elements in her teaching; instead, she relies on her voice inflections and physical movement.<\/p>\n
Can you identify a pattern in your teaching? \u00a0Do you need to diversify?\u00a0 If so, here are some ways that you can expand your repertoire.<\/p>\n
Visual learners love vivid colors and pictures. \u00a0Find some good Bible illustrations, either in a picture Bible, or online.\u00a0 Use PowerPoint to display the pictures, or print them out and hold them up at key points as you teach.<\/p>\n
For abstract concepts, try magazine pictures. You might try a physical object that will visualize what you\u2019re teaching.\u00a0 I\u2019ll never forget a sermon in which the pastor used a baby\u2019s ring-toss toy to show how different character qualities built on one another.\u00a0 Because I\u2019m a visual learner, the image of him stacking those rings on top of each other is stuck in my brain.<\/p>\n
Have students repeat key words or phrases in your lesson, so that they can hear themselves saying parts of your story or lesson. Use an appropriate song to reinforce what you\u2019ve just taught, or even interrupt your lesson to sing it (this is also a great way to pull your class back if you\u2019re losing them).<\/p>\n
If you want to get really fancy, you can insert sound effects into a PowerPoint presentation. I once sat in a seminar in which the presenter inserted screaming monkey sound effects for each new point of her presentation (it tied into her presentation, of course).\u00a0 It was a really effective tool for catching the attention of the audience (mostly high-schoolers), and helped the group to track with her main points.<\/p>\n
Have your students close their eyes and just listen to a portion of the story.\u00a0 For example, as you\u2019re teaching the story of the tower of Babel, you could have the children close their eyes and bang the floor with their hands or feet to simulate the sound of thousands of people leaving Babel (this will also help kinesthetic learners).\u00a0 Earlier in the story, you could have children listen to the sound of two bricks grinding together as you talk about building the tower.<\/p>\n
Kinesthetic learners love movement and touch.\u00a0 They\u2019re \u201chands-on\u201d learners.\u00a0 In teaching the tower of Babel, you could let them feel some bricks, or let them build the tower out of play-doh.\u00a0 When my wife was teaching the story of Noah, she had the children build houses and other objects out of Legos\u00ae; then they took them outside onto some steps and dumped two huge pots of water down on them to simulate flooding the earth.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the simplest way to engage kinesthetic learners in your lesson is to have them perform the actions from the story as you teach it (this works best with younger children). If someone rides a horse in the story, have them stand up and pretend to ride a horse. If someone is hauling a heavy weight, have your students pretend to do it as well.<\/p>\n
You will probably find yourself gravitating to one teaching style more than the others. That\u2019s okay!\u00a0 But be aware of your weak areas and try to strengthen them.\u00a0 This Sunday, how could you incorporate elements into your lesson that will engage each of the three learning styles above?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you have taught for any length of time, you know that some kids just seem to learn best when they’re moving. Others are stimulated by sound or by visuals. God has made us to be unique, and each of us learns in different ways. So what does this mean for your teaching? It means that you need to use a variety of methods to engage the children in your class. If so, here are some suggestions for expanding your teaching repertoire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[24,33],"tags":[59,198,48,52,58,57,50,37,49,40,60],"yoast_head":"\n