Like Amy, most of my experience with nonlinguistic representation was also in college in my education courses. My college education professors focused a lot on learning styles and ways to enhance student learning. Why then, do so many teachers not use this mode more often? I think it has a lot to do with our early learning experiences. We tend to teach topics in a way similar to the way we were taught. This is why it is so important for us to remember to use this mode in our teaching even when it may not seem natural for us.
I do tend to use a lot of graphic organizers with my students and it definitely improves their attention to and retention of information. We use them mostly in writing, but also when studying social and science topics. Another way I incorporate nonliguistic modes is with vocabulary words. I often have the students write a sentence and show a picture to show the meaning of the word. This way they remember it more and I can also clear up word confusions by having them explain their pictures.
In math, we use a lot of manipulatives to learn addition, subtraction and a variety of other topics. I always tell students that they should picture the manipulatives in their mind when they are solving math problems.
I would like to do more with this mode because I feel it really can help my students retain information in a new way. That will be my goal for January and beyond.
I, too, have found success having students attach a picture to their vocabulary words to help retain them. However, only one of Freshman English teachers teaches this "trick" so I have to remind or reteach this to all of the other special education students that I see. I think it is a great "tool" to help all learners. Sometimes, High School students think they are too "old" for this, but usually I can convince them that it helps, and they at least try it for themselves.
ReplyDelete