Teaching with Style

This is for all of my teachers out there, who are parents to many kids each day. Parents who also teach their children from time to time may appreciate the insights as well.

DISCovering how to relate to your students.

Do you notice differences in your students? Are they all exactly the same? If they are different then why do we expect them to learn the same way? You may have heard about learning styles; auditory, visual, and Kinesthetic (Tactile). While these are important to know and understand I want to concentrate on personality as a factor in learning.

We all have different personalities and know two are alike; however we can categorize four major personality styles. Using the DISC model of human behavior, I am going to share a little insight into your students and possibly yourself.

One factor in determining your student's personality is their motor. Is your student more outgoing (fast pace) or more reserved (slow pace)? Another factor is their compass. Is your student more people orientated or task orientated?


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A student that is out going and task orientated fall into the "D" sector of our Diagram, while a student who is more reserved and people orientated fall under the "S" sector of our diagram.

A "D" student is dominant, direct, decisive, demanding, determined, and a doer. They want their instructors to be quick, confident, to the point, specific, and motivated. They do not like indecision, slow activities, activities without a goal, and taking orders. One important secret to success with these students put them in charge of something.

An "I" student is inspiring, influencing, impressionable, inducing, interesting, interested in people, and sometimes illogical. They want their instructors to be fun, stimulating, upbeat, and enthusiastic. They do not like being ignored, ridiculed, doing repetitive tasks, or being isolated. Your secret to success with this student is interaction. They need interaction with people in order to succeed.

Your "S" student will be one of your favorites. They are sweet, stable, steady, supportive, and many times shy. They want their instructors to be kind, understanding, and gentle. They do not like sarcasm, being yelled at, surprises, or being pushed. Your secret to success with these students include asking them to help you, maintaining a friendly environment, giving them sincere appreciation, and keeping the pace slow and steady.

Your "C" students will challenge you to keep your facts straight. They are cautious, cognitive, competent, careful, correct, and consistent. They want their instructors to be accommodating, structured, and accurate. They do not like being criticized, unnecessary interruptions, mistakes, or sudden changes. Your secret to succeeding with them is to provide correct information, and answer questions correctly. Do not guess answers or ignore their questions.

We all know what we like and how we learn don't we? I notice that instructors try to teach the way they want to learn. They assume their students are the same way. I decided to modify a game from the service rep instructors to use in one of my classes. Other technical instructors told me that technicians do not like doing those fun-learning activities. I went forward with using the game anyway. The classes that I used it in enjoyed and learned at the same time.

I challenge you to try adjusting your style in order to help all of your students succeed.


Franklin Reeves






The image is property of Personality Insights.

article originally appeared in the September edition of Employee productivity Express. A newsletter published for the Employee productivity Department of BellSouth.

Parenting with Personality

Parenting with Personality

Food for thought. Once you have thought about it, let me know how you feel.



PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO CONCERNED PARENTS

Congress has funded the development of a plan for
_mandatory_ mental health screening of all school
children. The purpose of this screening will be to
determine which children should be prescribed
powerful psychiatric drugs.

If this new program moves forward parents will lose
control over mental health decisions involving their
children.

And children will face having evidence of psychiatric
disorders added to their permanent record.

This program is being promoted, as usual, to "save
the children," but the scientific questions involved
in childhood mental health "problems" such as
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) are extremely
unsettled. There is intense scientific debate about
the validity of these disorders.

Worse still, no one fully knows the long term health
effects of administering powerful drugs to developing
brains. The already known side effects of these drugs
can be severe. Two deaths have already been
attributed to Ritalin prescribed to children.

Parents and children stand to lose from this new
federal program. So who benefits? Big pharmaceutical
companies that help fund political campaigns.
Fortunately, Representatives Ron Paul and Tom Feeney
are riding to the rescue.

They have introduced The Parental Consent Act of 2005
(HR 181) to counter this emerging threat. This bill
would de-fund the mental health screening program.
This bill needs your support. Please go to
http://www.DownsizeDC.org and click on the icon for
the campaign titled, "No Child Left Un-drugged."

Then, you can use the easy Electronic Lobbyist system
to send your representatives a message to support HR
181. If you're a first time user, please note that
you need to insert your own, easy-to-remember,
password. Do not let the system assign one to you!

After you've made your voice heard, please forward
this message to other concerned parents and
taxpayers.

Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

P.S. Your support keeps us going. Please consider
making a donation when you visit
www.DownsizeDC.org

Parenting with Personality

Why start a blog on parenting?
Why focus on personality?
Is personality important?

Parenting is a very important topic, at least to parents. Being a parent and realizing I do not have all the answers, but plenty of questions I wanted a place to discuss the issues.

I am focusing on personality because understanding a child's personality helps to determine the best was to correct, discipline, teach, reward, and show love to each child.

All of us have a personality and none are bad or good. It is just the way we are wired. Many factors affect the behavior but the underlying drivers are still present. For example I tend to be outgoing and talkative, but when I am in a business meeting with upper level management I subdue myself. It is better to be quiet and appear a fool, than to open the mouth and remove all doubt. Now if had to remain in a situation that required being still and not talking for a long period of time, my inner drives will start making me edgy and uncomfortable. I can extend this time through practice and self control, but knowing myself helps in the process.

My oldest Walker is a High "I" and tends to be outgoing and talkative. School is a challenge because for around 8 hours he is supposed to be still, quiet and be bored by the teachers endlessly. He had problems in one class because he finished his work faster than the other students but the teacher would not allow him to do anything else. I recommended reading a book, but he said she would not let him. I believe that eventually without my understanding him and teaching him how to adapt, they would have tried to put him on drugs for ADD.

I will post on the major 4 personality types later. If any sound like your child and you want to ask questions, give recommendations, tell funny stories please do. Another reason for this blog is to give me material for my classes and pass on advice that works to other parents.