Recently there has been renewed interest in differentiating instruction for all learners. Classroom Visions uses students' depictions of actual and ideal school pictures to understand their instructional preferences and learning styles. This research-based model has shown that students, as young as age five, can successfully communicate their learning preferences through their drawings. They create images of their ideal school that is different from their present experiences. Typically the students want small changes such as to work more closely with the teacher or work more independently. Since it is hard to infer the meaning of these pictures, the students are asked to tell us what they are doing in the pictures and why this is important to them. These preferences can be integrated into the talent development planning for each student.
Learning styles has been one of the most popular was to differentiate instruction. You will find included here the directions and forms that you can use to quickly summarize the learning style preferences that students reveal in their drawings. You will see that the students complete the same 18 questions about which learning styles they are using in each picture. Research has documented that these preferences are revealed in their actual and ideal pictures. There is strong consistency between each student's actual and ideal pictures.
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. You will delight in the images your student draw. They communicate meaning in ways that words alone do. I invite you to share the vision your students have for their education.
Classroom Visions-Actual Form (Word Document)
Classroom Visions-Ideal Form- (Word Document)
Examples of Indicators for Each Learning Preferences-
Class Summary Form for Learning Preferences
Sample Ideal Picture-(when finished, hit back on your browser window)
Sample Ideal Picture Scored (PDF)
