A couple of weeks ago I decided to do something different with my students. It was the week I got obsessed with learning styles (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic) and wanted to make EVERYONE my guinea pig. Of course my first victim was ME because I wanted to TEST the TESTS. I thought I knew myself Soooo well so I googled a bunch of different online learning style tests and took them.
Here are some examples: The printable one or this quick online version. There are a million of these.
I really thought I was a visual learner. I never remember anything that anyone says to me unless I write it down, so I was SURE about this. I didn't even know what the hell a kinaesthetic learner was (they're also called Tactile learners).
WELL, it turns out that I am strongly KINAESTHETIC (why is it spelled like that anyway?) with a minor in Visual. I realized once again that my understanding of myself is rudimentary (but apparently pretty easy for others to get, as evidenced by almost every ex I've ever had who said "I know you better than You know Yourself!")
Then I started thinking about it. I went back to my very first memory: Petting a cat (Doing something, not seeing it or hearing it).
Then I thought about the things I hate most: sitting anywhere for long periods of time, like the dinner table (unless I am also knitting or, in the old days, smoking), talking on the phone (but that may be a result of 3 years of working in a bank call center when I was in college), waiting (unless I am writing or reading or knitting).
Then I thought of the ways I make myself relax at night so I can fall asleep (I imagine I am swimming laps or running a 100mile race, which is my dream by the way).
Then I considered the skill I wish I had (I would love to be a great chess player but I get too impatient to strategize. I just want to play as fast as possible, and I do it pretty badly. Love it, though, because I don't mind losing).
Then I thought about times when I was really productive, and I realized they were times when I was a frenetic note taker and journal writer. I went back even further and missed writing physical letters to people. I could crank out 16 a day during my more prolific pen pal periods (my only obstacle was the price of stamps).
And what of all those journals? Well, according to the evaluations and explanations I read, if I were a visual learner, they would be in neat, legible condition, and I would actually read them later.
Well I don't do that. Never did. It's like once the junk in my head was on paper I could sleep again because I knew I wouldn't forget it. I kept them, too. Until last week. A friend of mine died, see. A young guy, and it was sad and disconcerting.
It made me think about the things that are lying around the house. I thought about those journals that I toted halfway around the world with me. I realized that my writing helped me process information. That's it. If I wanted to get in touch with my feelings, for example, I had to get the pen moving. I probably could have done it with a fake pen, or my finger on a desk. It wasn't the ink on paper that did it, but rather the ACTION of writing. I purged all of those journals. My bookshelves looked organized for once. I felt lighter, less messy.
Later that day there was this tax question I had been mulling over that I couldn't figure out. I knew the answer was easy but I wanted to be able to explain it. So I took the dog for a walk. And you know what? While I was outside with her, I figured it out. And I was right.
Other telltale symptoms of Kinaesthetic learners: Frequent snacking, short attention span, and desire to play outside as much as possible. Check, check, and CHECK!
