For My Students

There are several ways to help process the information and to truly understand what we are learning. Sometimes we might be reading the same page for hours but still nothing get in the head. Been there before. The frustration of not being able to get the information in the head is...well frustrating. :) So now as a teacher (and a student too) i try my very best to help my students identify their style of learning. Some are aural learners, some are visual learners, some are kinesthetic learners and some can be a combination of  the two method or all three infact.

Aural Learners
Aural learners are those who learn better when they 'hear' the information. They are more of an audio person. They understand the information better when they listen to it. Like when they hear a friend or teacher explaining the lesson they learn than and there and when they are revising on their own, reading out loud or explaining the whole thing to themselves (in other words "talking to themselves") helps in keeping the information in the head. 

Visual Learners 
Visual learners are those who look at things in a 'big-picture' kindda way. Those mind-maps, flow charts, diagrams will be of a great help to them. They understand better when they are able to view the whole picture of the information given. They need to 'see' to learn. Hence most of the time they'll need lots of papers and colourful pens when revising on their own in order to get the information in the head. :) 

Kinesthetic Learners 
Kinesthetic learners are those who is "to-understand-is-to-do" kindda people. They prefer to get 'physical' when it comes to understanding the information. Getting physical here means that they prefer to be engage. Like to do some hands on activity or to be involved in a play. Basically, to do something with their hands. To feel and be involved with what they are learning. 

For me I'm a mixture of Aural and Visual. :) To ease me in my revision, I'll be very attentive in class when the lecturer is explaining (Aural) and jot down as many notes as i can (Visual: so that i can see the whole picture) and when it comes to revision and preparing for the exams... I'll have all my colourful pens and lots of paper for me to write down or draw out a mind map and than spend time explaining the topic to myself out loud. In short i need to see and hear in order to understand and get the information in my head! :)

Teaching has been an amazing experience for me. I too learned from my kids. But it requires lots of commitment which at this point of time, i cannot give. So i decided to, not stop completely, but to do it as a part time. :) I teach at the mosque every Sunday. Although its just a part time, once a week job, i do take it seriously. At the end of the day, when lesson is over, i would like to make sure that each of them learned something new. It doesn't matter if its from the lesson that i teach or some life lesson. 

Since one of my students came up to me and told me that it's hard for him to memorize the short surahs (I get them to do it every time before i start the lesson) and it will help if he can 'hear' the surah. So i decided to make my trip down to Geylang yesterday to find him a CD for the Juz 30 because i know not all students are the same. Some can memorize it fast, some after a few tries and some, just stare and stare but can never get it right. 

While searching high and low  for the CD, i came across a book from Ustazah Siti Nor Bahyah. Its called " Panduan Mencerdaskan MINDA". Grab it and thought of sharing it with the kids this Sunday. I'll share with you once I've done a postmortem of the book with the kids. Will be back soon insyaAllah. 

My buy yesterday. :)

Lots of love

   ella <3