Learning Styles

Everyone learns differently.  I don't think that any person has only one particular way they learn; rather, they learn by a combination of different styles.  I believe that I learn by both visual and auditory means.  I enjoy a good presentation, and can recall what things look like and where they were placed during a presentation.  I also enjoy listening to people talk and share experiences during a good lecture.  These examples would suggest that I'm both a visual learner as well as an auditory learner.  However, I was/am an athlete, and I learned a lot during basketball or volleyball or softball by practicing things over and over again; by doing!  I guess that also makes me a kinesthetic learner as well.  Can I be all three?  Are some more present than others? 

I feel that I was taught and exposed to all different types of strategies while I was growing up, which makes me more apt to learn information in varying styles.  I feel that students, while they may be predisposed toward one type of learning, can still learn by the other types if they are exposed to them at a young age.  I guess there is a reason youth is called "the formative years".  I firmly believe that although we may have predispositions, we can be shaped by our experiences.  That's probably the scientist in me coming out; wanting to debate 'nature vs. nurture.' 

Many students haven't been exposed to all ways of learning, and it is extremely hard to accommodate all learning styles in one lesson.  However, I believe that being a good teacher means taking information and presenting it in a variety of ways to try to include all kinds of learners.  For example, perhaps there can be a lecture, a hands-on activity, and a demonstration which could possibly reach all learners.  Who knows, maybe it'll even help students who are predisposed to one learning style begin to make connections of a topic in another learning style?