I feel like this is an undertaking in itself. Our school is an AVID school, and part of what they have to do is "discover" their own learning styles and make their own study guides for tests...and almost none of them automatically know what type of learners they are! One of my students said she is a kinesthetic learner (because she wants to get up and run around) but in reality, she can recite anything she hears but can't recall what I put on the board.

Yes, and there are times when I think that grouping them by learning is best and others where they need to be grouped by ability. I've found it very beneficial to reflect back to the standards at least once a week to reinforce what I need to do and how I can possibly teach it differently.

I do this as an adult! Haha, I feel like I understand it and then I go to apply it and blackout... kind of like learning the rules for a card game. My students do this, too. Sometimes they just need a little validation!

Very true, but very different in actual application. I have students that still don't know what nouns and verbs are. I feel extremely pressured by the standards in this circumstance, I do spend extra time re-teaching, but I can't not teach what's new, either.

I feel like I've read that we shouldn't take too much credence in learning styles... maybe in our last text? I personally try to hit them all with different units, but I can't always teach ELA kinesthetically, but I try to.

I am experiencing this right now in my high group. In the 8th grade, I have students that are testing at slightly above grade level and a few that are testing post-high school. The ones that test post- high school are bored, so differentiating content is the best solution for them.

In my experience, this is an ongoing issue. My collaborative classroom has been marginalized, and even my co-teacher suggests that we "move along" with or without understanding. Its hard to come back from the margins when its been happening all their lives. It's frustrating, and I want to challenge them, its just deciding what challenges will be most meaningful for them and what I can do to not exhaust my co-teacher!