Learning Styles and Rubrics

              This week we were reminded of the importance of considering the different learning styles that our students have when designing our lessons. Not only do we have to think about the objectives of the lesson, the procedures we will use to achieve these objectives, the materials and technology tools that are most suitable for that particular lesson, but also we have to think how to accomodate all learners by tailoring the activities to their needs and preferences. It may seem a difficult task for teachers since there are so many students in one class and a lot of learning styles. But if we vary the activities and if we combine several different ways of presenting and practicing the language items, we will certainly cater for the needs of students with different preferences and different learning styles.                 Many students will benefit from using technology tools as they offer greater possibility of providing different ways of learning, so that every students can find activities and tools they feel comfortable with. We have seen that there is a great choice of tools available for all types of learners. As many tasks can be done via different routes, whenever it is possible teachers should allow learners to choose their own way. However, in order to help learners develop different skills, teachers should also  provide opportunities for expanding students' learning styles and preferences by encouraging them to try out different ways of learning and doing things so that they can be better prepared for their future professional life.             The other important issue on the agenda this week was the use of rubrics for evaluating students learning. Rubrics are a valuable tool for both students and teachers. If students are familiar with the rubric before they do the given task, the criteria in the rubric will tell them what are the important aspects of the task and how they have to approach it in order to achieve better results.   When the task is completed, the rubric can serve as a self-evaluation tool for the students and an evaluation tool for the teachers. Rubrics can contribute to more objective and easier assessment of activities such as presentations, projects, compositions and other tasks that are more difficult to evaluate and where usually the subjective judgment prevails. Preparing rubrics may take some time,  but there are so many ready-made rubrics for all types of activities on the Internet, that teachers do not have to start from scratch, they just need to adapt them to their particular class of learners and to the particular purpose.