Selma Musanovic

EDU211 Learner Education Profile

8 February 2016
In the classroom, one of the most important concepts for a teacher to implement is
differentiated and personalized instruction. This is because students do not all learn in the same
way. Each student has their own way of thinking, their own way of perceiving, and in turn their
own way of learning that they are most comfortable with. In order for all students in a class to be
successful, it is necessary that the teacher uses different strategies to provide a variety of learning
options for each student. In order to successfully implement this concept, the teacher and the
student themselves must be aware of the students learner education profile, which explains the
way a student best learns. It includes the students learning styles and preferences, strengths,
needs and personality. The learner education profile allows a student to reach their full potential.
To be able to understand my future students learner profiles, I must first understand my
own; if I understand my preferences, strengths, and how to incorporate them into my everyday
learning, I can apply my learning experience to help my students figure out their learner profile.
Because of my organized, structured personality, I mostly identify most with being a
concrete sequential thinker. When learning a new concept, I learn best with structured lessons
that include things like lists, steps, and detailed graphic organizers. I am able to connect ideas
very well, but rarely think outside of the box or often miss the big picture. When given an
assignment, I like clear directions and a specific due date. Outside of school, I feel most
proactive when I use a planner as well as daily to-do lists. I also have some qualities of a
concrete random thinker, like enjoying problem solving and being creative and self-motivated.
Though I am a very concrete sequential thinker, I do like some flexibility and independence like

an abstract sequential thinker, but also like to share my thoughts and hear the opinions of others
like an abstract random thinker. In subjects like math, science and psychology and in daily
activities like planning out my day and choosing how to study a certain topic, I tend to use the
two types of concrete thinking, while in subjects like English and history and daily activities like
watching the news and having downtime, I change to the two types of abstract thinking. Mostly,
I am a concrete random thinker, but when I see that I am not understanding something, I switch
to another route. Like many other individuals, I have a general style of thinking, but it can
change with certain concepts or activities; the important part is knowing my strengths and
weaknesses in each type of thinking and when and how to apply each one.
Similarly, I am a mix of the three major learning styles: auditory, visual and kinesthetic,
each type playing its own part in my learning when applicable. Few subjects require me to learn
kinesthetically, but I do always keep it in mind when studying. Once I understand a concept fully,
I use kinesthetic strategies to help myself remember. On the other hand, I rely heavily on visual
learning. I often joke that I am so visual that even my closet is color-coded, but this definitely
shows in the way I learn! I use visual clues, find it most helpful to have written or printed
information, and most easily remember when it is something I can picture in my head. For
example, I make sure to take notes in a way that is organized by topic; I highlight, underline, use
capital letters, etc., to make a concept easier to understand. I find graphic organizers very helpful
as well as games, puzzles and videos. When I add auditory learning to the visual learning, I am
most successful in learning a concept or completing a task. I learn most from written or spoken
words and like to hear something I do not understand explained through different words.
Repeating back what I learn and teaching my peers helps me grasp a concept better. Combining
visual and auditory techniques has always been my most useful style of learning.

Having a full understanding of myself in terms of my thinking and learning style helped
me to accurately find out which of Howard Gardners multiple intelligences I favor. The Multiple
Intelligences Quiz revealed that I favor the verbal/linguistic and logical-mathematical
intelligences. This was not very shocking to me considering my concrete sequential thinking
style and auditory-visual learning style; these two go directly hand in hand with the intelligences
I favor! My strengths, like reading, writing, word plays, puzzles, outlining, calculations and
reasoning, all relate to words and logic. My weaknesses, like metacognition, perceiving the big
picture, and adequate physical gestures, relate to the kinesthetic, naturalistic, and more creative
intelligences.
Throughout my educational career, I have stuck to the aforementioned thinking and
learning styles. When I get stuck, I concentrate on and use my strengths, while I avoid using my
weaknesses when I see that I am improving; for the most part, I have been successful in school
settings. I have had teachers whose teaching styles do not go hand-in-hand with my learning
style. In those cases, I ended up being bored in the class, not stimulated by the structure of
lessons, or not understanding the material, teaching myself in the end just to pass. Fortunately,
most of my teachers were very flexible and cognizant of my peers and my learning styles. In
these classes, the information was taught different every day, giving each of us to explore the
topic in the ways we most felt comfortable with. For me, the most effective teaching styles were
lectures accompanied by PowerPoints as well as guided class discussions. One key thing I have
noticed about myself is that I take very detailed notes even when I am not required to, and that I
often go back and reword my notes and confirm with my teacher to make sure I understand,
which shows my thinking and learning styles.

Comprehensively, learner profiles are very extensive and unique to each individual. As
mentioned, that is why it is so important for a teacher to understand that of each of their students.
It creates options for every student, allowing them to explore the different ways of learning and
deciding which is best for them. Creating a variety of learning options and instructional
strategies also creates a diverse, accepting classroom climate. Often times, students are
embarrassed when they do not understand a concept the first time it is taught and are discouraged
from trying again in a new way. Implementing differentiated instruction on a daily basis makes
students aware that the teacher is accepting of diversity and willing to help. Thus, each student
feels comfortable to learn in their own way, regardless of their academic, developmental or social
level.
As a teacher, I will use the first few weeks with every group of new students to get a feel
for their styles and personalities. Simple activities, like ice breakers and academic games on the
first day of school or pre-quizzes before the first lesson I teach, will allow a quick first glimpse at
the way my students think and learning. As the weeks go by, I will implement my own thinking
style as well as have the students share their own amongst each other. Of course, I will need to
keep my own strengths and weaknesses in mind as I plan out each lesson to make sure
everything runs smoothly and effectively. Most importantly for student success, I will not force
my students into a certain way of completing an activity; I will provide simple guidelines that
allow for flexibility but also clarify for those who need it. In my lessons, I will have multiple
mini-activities that will incorporate the different types of thinking, learning and intelligence,
keeping my students stimulated and at the same time comfortable. For example, when reading a
story, I can have them fill out a graphic organizer, attending to visual learners who may not be so
creative, then write down answer to a few questions for those strong with the linguistic

intelligence, have them share the answers out loud for the auditory learners, draw a picture or
create their own version of the book for more creative students and finally act out key parts of
the story for the kinesthetic learners. My goal is to have a teaching style that exemplifies the
many different ways to succeed, and a classroom climate that will make student comfortable to
use these different ways. The most important way I can do so is to understand my students and
my learner education profiles, and be diverse enough to intertwine them all in daily differentiated
instruction.