WHO ARE YOU AS A TEACHER?

What personal learning styles influence your teaching?

I have a BS in Psychology, and have been a certified Suzuki violin teacher for over twenty years, and on the Board of Directors for the Greater Philadelphia Suzuki Organization. It is my hope that the years of research, both in psychology and music, I share with you, will enhance your teaching experience.

It is important for teachers to know how to teach each student regardless of his or her learning style.

It is even more important for the teacher to know how they, themselves, learn.

Ultimately, these innate tendencies will dominate our teaching.

Try to focus on what you discover to be your strong points.

As time allows, work on your weaknesses, but don't focus on them. It is a natural tendency to admire those teachers with strengths where we have weaknesses.

In doing so, we overlook the probable fact that our strengths are often their weaknesses.

Take this test to evaluate your personal strengths and weaknesses and see how that extends into your style of teaching.

Many of the questions refer to your responses to students in groups. It is merely a way of identifying your core strengths. Try not to answer the way you 'wish' you would respond but the way you have responded to situations in the past.

You might not like your answers because they aren't what you admire. If you are honest, you might be surprised at the strengths revealed about your style of interaction with others. Remember: in this exercise you are not limited by money, or your immediate situation when choosing your answers.

1. When you ask a three year old student the names of the notes and his response is Pete, Jacob and Fred, or ABCDEFGHIJKL... do you:
   1. Give up on reading music for the time and assume the child is just too young.
   2. Pull out one of the books you've collected (tried and true) and try it on her.
   3. Grab a sheet of colored paper and draw a staff with a note and start over again?
   4. Tell her that was adorable, and put it in your book of memoirs.
      
      
2. If you have a teenage student in a group lesson who is taking charge of the group with his/her contagious and disruptive behavior do you:
   1. Try to harness your impulse to put a zapper collar on him.
   2. Create multiple small groups led by assistants, away from the 'maddening crowd'.
   3. Give them a pep talk about group lesson manners
   4. Make them 'leader of the day'.
      
      
3. If a group lesson student raises her hand as you are about to play Lightly Row, and requests her favorite, Allegro, because she has to leave in two minutes do you:
   1. Kindly decline because you need to play Lightly Row and a few others before you get to Allegro - and, by the way, group goes from x:00 to x:00.
   2. Have her play it as a solo so everyone else isn't thrown off track.
   3. Ask the mom if she can stay a little longer since time is a guideline and so what if she is a little late for the next thing on the agenda.
   4. Change gears and shout, "Allegro Everyone" and make it a real energy game.
      
      
4. If a child plays a solo at group lessons, and the bowing is off, do you:
   1. After she/he is done, kindly explain that the piece is bowed thus and so and have them try again.
   2. Clap and cheer, playing it again with the whole group, subtly pointing out the unique bowings, not to single out the mistakes but to make it clear that it needs to be done correctly.
   3. Correct them with a little nudge to their arm to make it go in the right direction but when they are done, have all the students try the incorrect bowing and see which way is easiest.
   4. Clap your hands, cheer. Say, "Who is next?" and deal with the issues in the next private lesson, praising them for at least having the guts to play in front of others.
      
      
5. If a student talks in a loud whisper or absentmindedly plucks the violin like a guitar while someone is asking a question, do you:
   1. Stop talking and explain to the student what is expected behavior in a group during 'down times'.
   2. Have a teaching assistant distract the students when you are busy and at this point, teach the students how to correctly pluck.
   3. Ignore the plucking because, you aren't a policeman, and, what damage does it really do anyway - at least it is relevant to music.
   4. Don't answer the student's question but make it a group effort to find the answer.
      
      
6. What happens when a student shows up for a group lesson without their music or instrument? Do you:
   1. Give them a lecture about responsibility and make them sit out the group.
   2. Shift the lesson to games, working through the ideas behind what they are studying such as the life of the composer or the structure of the music.
   3. Share one of your violins or create a buddy system for another child to share when possible, or play, 'Pass the violin'.
   4. Take some time to listen to why the student didn't have the violin (left at school and school locked) and ask them what they would feel most comfortable doing.
      
      
7. If a student's string pops during a lesson, do you:
   1. Restring it immediately. Since your time is valuable and this will be considered part of their lesson time.
   2. Teach a lesson on strings, how and where they are made, what kinds there are and have the student restring the instrument.
   3. Teach them to play the pieces on the other strings. Have the return another time with a string or leave the instrument so you can string it later.
   4. Use one of yours, or borrow a string from an old violin sitting around.
      
      
8. When teaching a lesson, or researching in preparation for a lesson, would you be subconsciously saying to yourself:
   1. "Just the facts"
   2. "How did this method develop?"
   3. "What's the point?"
   4. "How does this have any relevance to my reason for teaching?"

Look to see whether most of your answers were a, b, c, or d. Then look at question 8 and count your answer 4 times (ex: If your answer was a, add four additional a's to your count.) Click on the 'majority letter' below and see if it doesn't sound like you. If it doesn't, look at the other answers and ask yourself if you were totally honest with your answers. There are no correct answers, but we tend to want our answers to reflect what we would like to be like.

Mostly A's:

You like beginnings and endings and tidy in betweens!

If most of your answers were answer 'a', you have a great number of strengths in keeping order and structure in situations.

Below is a description of what makes you tick.

If I owned a business, I would want you running the office. You are good at bringing an idea into being. You would be the type of person to organize a well structured workshop.

Focus on these!

Some of your strengths are:

• You work well with time limits
• You are systematic
• You can follow through step by step
• You are detail oriented
• You live by routines
• You think very literally.
• The phrase, "When is this due?" doesn't scare you off. You actually like the time constraints.
• Your life is well organized
• You have a schedule and keep it
• You manage money well and are economical
• You are efficient, no clutter

What might be considered a weakness at times:

• Your schedule is almost cut in stone.
• You find it difficult, or at least not your favorite task, doing group lessons
• You need complete instructions.
• 'Winging it' doesn't work for you.
• Gabbing over coffee about the weather is almost torture. You need a topic.
• Inflexibility when it comes to work places.
• Disorganization drives you crazy.
• You like control of everything, people, paper, clutter, decisions

As a teacher, your strengths are:

• You let your students know what is expected of them.
• You have a curriculum you follow, one lesson after the other.
• There aren't usually gaps in the foundational scaffolding of their knowledge base.
• You work well one on one

As a teacher:
Weaknesses might be -

• At times you come across as harsh. You say what you think, sometimes without the cover of kindness.
• You expect certain things from others and if they don't produce you might become frustrated with them. It's not that you don't like people, it is just that the facts and situations are more comfortable.
• You find it hard to 'buddy up' to people or your students.

Mostly B's:

You, my friend, are a people watcher, researcher, talker.

Check out your strengths.
Focus on them.
Develop them.
Your weaknesses might improve but they will not be your strengths. They are someone elses.

As a teacher:
Your strengths are -

• A well-structured yet diverse program
• Teaching ideas that haven't seen the light of day since the 1400's
• Carefully developed ideas of teaching, what they are learning, and how to teach it
• You have probably had the best teachers on the subject and therefore excellent role models.

Some of your obvious strengths as a whole are:

• You are well researched.
• You make decisions only after getting all the information.
• You tend to think about ideas and chew them over in your head before making them your own.
• You are willing to work through an issue from start to finish, giving logical sequence to a project.

Accepting certain aspects of our personality and defining them as weaknesses might be difficult.

The behaviors are so ingrained in us we count on these characteristics and find them very helpful in completing tasks with quality.

To imagine they are a weakness is humbling.
And you are right.

We need people like you with your obsessions for detail or we would be a very shallow society.

It is simply when combined with the whole of activities that they can at times seem overbearing to others.

Some of your weaknesses might be:

• You study things to death. Others are riding down the street with their new car and you are still on the internet checking out Consumer Report to compare the oil consumption of the car you think is the best, not necessarily the one you like.
• You need a teacher who is an expert on the subject. This can be a weakness in that everyone has something to offer, and you would tend to overlook the experience for the credentials.
• You won't take someone's word for it. You need to check it out before it gets your stamp of approval.
• It takes you a long time to come to a conclusion.
• Once a task is done you want to move on. Repetitive things such as teaching the same ole' tune can drive you up a wall.
  You can't follow a program with lots of rules and regulations with comfort. Not that you wouldn't, you just find it confining.
  When you discover something that interests you, you tend to talk about it and dominate the conversation.

As a teacher:
Your weaknesses are -

• You find it hard to simplify and only give what the student can handle at the time. A three year old doesn't want to know that all the notes are ABCDEFG. They just need to know that this one string is the A.
• You talk and dominate the lesson time
• You don't learn by doing, so you might overlook a student's need for doing a task a few times, repeatedly, which is something you find annoying.
• You know something is correct, so you have little tolerance for having to explain it or convince a student of your point of view.
• You are not the 'chummy' type. You have difficulty expressing your emotions.
• Sentimentality isn't your thing. You get tired of 'cute' real fast.
• If you have a short lesson, or the student is late and you don't have time to complete the entire thought thoroughly, you become frustrated.
• You don't hide your frustration well. You are not real diplomatic when expressing yourself.

Mostly C's:

Would I have seen you at Woodstock a few years ago?
Maybe Creation today?

You are a free spirit with the attitude "Don't fence me in".

This doesn't mean you don't have principles and ideals. You hold to the standards that make sense to you.

Some of your strengths are:

• You are able to inspire others to greater heights.
• You are action oriented. Do it. Don't just talk.
• When on a team, you see all the options and multiple ways of solving a problem.
• You are very global in your way of approaching life. Let me know where I'm going and I'll find the specifics my own way.
• You can make a moth-eaten suit jacket into a rug, Creativity is almost a plague and often keeps you awake at night when trying to complete a project.
• You see where plans and issues will extend in the future and how to get there.
• You are a risk taker. Your motto in life is "Do it my way or bust", and often you choose 'bust'.
• You are willing to hear someone out, even if they are totally different thinkers than you.
• Tolerance is your strength.
• You are witty.

As a teacher:
Your strengths are -

• You are inspirational
• You aren't 'stuck in the mud'. New ideas fascinate you.
• You can see a project from all sides and introduce others to that type of thinking.
• You keep the class going. There are almost no slow moments in your day.
• Kids love you.
• You help others to see the other side of issues.
• You have no hesitation when trying something new.

Remember: In some instances, what is a weakness is actually a strength. Some of your weaknesses are:

• General rather than specific is what suits you. This a weakness if you are part of an organization that runs by rules. What are rules anyway? Maybe guidelines, suggestions?
• You refuse to re-do a project once done
• You are extremely strong willed.
• You are almost 'manic' with new ideas
• Here's an instance where your strength can be a weakness. You are witty. You catch people off guard with your totally unexpected statements, sometimes making them uncomfortable.
• Tolerance = no black and white. Everything is always gray. Therefore, some things that should be taboos remain an option, if you are not careful.

As a teacher:
Your weaknesses are -

• Recognizing that some children need structure.
• Slowing down
• Keeping your thinking on the lesson, not extraneous subjects.
• You don't know who paid you what - you'd rather stop teaching than have to worry about keeping records of the money you make.
• Recognizing that, although there are many ways of doing something, there might be a best' way that should be taught.
• Sticking with your schedule
• Saying 'no' when a novel opportunity arises and you have other things on the agenda.
• Knowing, acknowledging, or even admitting that there are some situations with limitations and restrictions that others have made and might be beneficial to follow.
• You like to make the rules.
• If someone else says the background to this page is blue with white clouds, even though you might have thought the same at first, you notice that it could be a blotchy sponge watercolor background.
• You demand options.

Mostly D's:

Are you a teacher or a counselor?

People talk to you for three minutes and suddenly they are telling you their carefully concealed secrets.

It's not magic.

It's you.
You care.

Your strengths are:

• Everything you do is for the 'end goal' you have established as your reason for teaching, doing, simply living. And everything is measured against that standard and reason.
• You understand people
• You care about them and their issues
• You recognize others emotional needs: people first.
• You can establish a good relationship with just about anyone, even the difficult person everyone else tries to avoid.
• You are enthusiastic about participation
• You are the peacemaker
• Your activity plate can be full and you handle it well.
• You are a leader. So much so that if you can't be the leader you would rather not participate. Yet, if the team does get you to play, you are enthusiastic, and keep morale high.
  You see your world as a huge map where you are constantly filling in the gaps, always feeling that what you are doing is contributing to your reason for living and doing.

As a teacher:
Your strengths are -

• You decide issues with your heart. If a student can't pay, the dad's out of work, you don't charge.
• You can tell if a child has had a rough day and ease up a bit on the demands of the lesson.
• You have a broad idea of your program of teaching
• You include all aspects of your subject matter.
• You personalize learning so your students grow at their own pace.

Your weaknesses are:

• You have difficulty slowing down your thinking to become focused for a long period of time on just one detail.
• You hate details. They frustrate you.
• Yet you admire anyone who can be organized and detailed.
• You are not a team player if competition is involved. You would run from competition like a phobic runs from germs.
• You don't like to have to explain your actions. Maybe this is why you almost demand to be the leader of most projects. It is difficult for you to accept even positive criticism.

As a teacher:
Your weaknesses are -

• You might go through a lesson and only play for five minutes because you have allowed the parent or student to talk about some difficulty they are having either with life or with the lesson.
• You take things personally. If a student isn't doing well, you feel you haven't done everything you can to reach them on their learning turf.
• Your hatred of competition makes you shy away from situations that would compel your students to prove themselves.
• You do not like working with unfriendly people