Self Reflection Paper

As a young boy growing up in a rural town (Dublin, VA) in Southwest Virginia, the furthest thing from my mind was “learning styles”. We had one stop light, a tight knit community where everyone knew everyone. The only learning we concerned ourselves with consisted of the lake, the river and the local church grounds. We went fishing, we liked to swim and participate in local sports activities (whatever sport that was relevant at the time) against local neighbor kids. Our learning was not about how we learned; it was about fitting in and learning how to be a great fisherman and a good athlete. What was important was fitting in both socially and athletically. I came from a family where education wasn’t important. The community, working hard and making a living were the important aspects of life. Learning style and school were the furthest things from my mind. However, once I started high school it all changed, I realized I had a dream to pursue. During high school it was my dream to play college football. Randy Flinchumm a special teams football coach made me realize that I was capable of living my dreams. He said “Son you have the talent to make it to college on your abilities, but your grades have to get better to qualify you to get into college”. I never took school seriously; it was boring and I struggled with the subjects I was trying to learn. I found classes were difficult. For me, classes which were fun and interesting were those that included charts, diagrams and physical activities that would allow me to stay focused and to really understand what I was learning. I had never heard of learning styles until now, here at the University of Phoenix. While taking Com/516 and reading an article called “Different Strokes: Learning Styles in the Classroom”, I have learned about three learning styles. There are three: Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic. In the article “The Effect of Learning Styles on Education and the Teaching Process” by Ibrahium, he