Professional Development Workshops: Learning Modalities

Here at Myriad we place a BIG emphasis on continuing education. One way we do this is to have clinics for not only our teachers but for interested teachers in our neighborhood! Our teachers had a great time together with author / educator / education clinician Susan Bruckner, from Cabrillo College. Her topic was  “Teaching Students with Different Learning Modalities". This clinic was part of Myriad's on-going Professional Development Workshops for our music and dance teachers.  Susan is a talented, seasoned teacher, with  a plethera of research and a great biblio to back up her findings. She presents clinics to educators at various conferences throughout the US. This is her second appearance at Myriad.

Her book is entitled The Whole Musician: A Multi-Sensory Guide to Practice, Performance and Pedagogy.  It's a great read for parents too, to better understand your child's learning modality.

DID YOU KNOW? A few highlights..

• We only know the world from our own experience. As parents and teachers, we have to determine how our child learns. 
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  Our culture values and rewards visual learners - what happens to the aural or kinesthetic learners? Do you know how to tell what kind of learner your child is?
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  If you learn to read the tell-tale signs, you can direct your child towards into activities, or learning experiences that will speak to them more authentically. Our teachers learned about some of the signs that can be typical of visual, aural, kinesthetic, olfactory and gustatory learners. We explored helpful, engaging strategies we can easily employ at the lessons / dance classes that will aid our students to take in information in a meaningful, lasting way.

Sincerely,
The Teaching Team, Myriad Music School and Dance Academy