Young people often sense that there’s a disconnect between them and their teachers, but they seldom know what’s behind it. Frustrated teachers often assume that a student is being lazy or impertinent even though he or she is really trying to learn.
Often, what’s going on here is that the student’s style of learning is different from the teacher’s style of teaching.
No two people learn exactly the same way. Some people learn better in one environment than another. Often, teens become convinced they can’t learn when in fact they’d learn just fine if the information were presented differently.
Many school systems and teachers still aren’t fully aware that different students learn in different ways. A one-size-fits-all teaching method is never going to reach every student. Sometimes teens get labeled with Attention Deficit Disorder when what’s really going on is that the teacher doesn’t know how to reach the student. We’re not advocating against correct diagnoses and prescription drugs when they’re appropriate—there are teens with ADD whose meds have made their worlds good again—but it’s possible that not all diagnoses of ADD are equally correct. When people get a handle on the way they learn, they can customize their learning experiences and fill in the gaps their teacher might leave.
Human beings have three main ways to take in new information: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. For most of us, one of these ways is dominant and the other two are weaker.
How do people know which kind of learners they are? There are tests they can take, but most get a pretty good sense of their learning styles just by becoming aware of the way they behave in class. They can also pay attention to the way they express themselves. If they “get it,” “grasp the problem,” or “have a feel for” a certain subject, they’re probably strongly kinesthetic. If a phrase “rings true” or “sounds familiar,” they’re likely to be high-auditory. If they “see what you mean,” or “get the picture,” they’re probably visual learners.
Students who have come to believe they’re poor learners have a major “Aha!” when they realize they learn just fine in their own way. In many cases, it’s not that they can’t learn; it’s that the way they learn and the way the teacher teaches aren’t a match! Once they have this information, teens can take charge of their learning again and fill in what’s missing from their learning environment.
SuperCamp has graduated nearly 50,000 students worldwide since 1982. Including the company’s school programs, which trains teachers, administrators and students, SuperCamp’s Quantum Learning methods have positively impacted well over two million students.
SuperCamp will be held at eight
SuperCamp offers four grade-specific programs: the 10-day Junior Forum for students entering grades 6-8 in the fall, the 10-day Senior Forum for students entering grades 9-12, the 7-day Youth Forum for kids entering grades 4-5 and Quantum U for incoming college students. The dynamic learning environment is designed to maximize long-term retention of the information provided.
More information on SuperCamp is available at http://www.supercamp.com/, by calling 800-285-3276 or emailing info@supercamp.com.
