Ladies and Gentlemen, I have figured it out! After all this time of thinking and thinking I have got it - and it is good.
I have always found the idea of different types of learning very interesting. What works best for people? How to teach what? Which teachers are best at which type? I wanted to find the perfect teacher. I might be able to say that I did. It was my tenth grade social studies/AP European History teacher. He had this way of making history into a story - a story that I was fascinated by. If I had to give credit to someone for my love of history, discussion, politics, social sciences, learning, it would be him. Because of the story telling.
So while I was watching this video, I was a tad distracted and I started thinking about how I learn. And then it finally clicked. I am very much an auditory learner. I looked it up to see if it was a real thing and I got this: "Auditory learners are those who learn best through hearing things. They may struggle to understand a chapter they've read, but then experience a full understanding as they listen to the class lecture." This is so true. I hate reading text books. I wish someone could read them to me.
While taking tests or writing essays in school, I would remember information that my teacher said. But not just, "Oh, she said ___." No - I would literally repeat exactly what I heard: words, tone, fluctuations. I would replay the whole scene, listening to my teacher's voice which is why my social studies teacher was so good for me.
THIS is why I am so good at music. In fact when I've heard a song and I hear someone try to hum it, sing it, cover it, I can very easily hear a mistake. I can't tell you what you did wrong, but I know it's there. That's why, when I played piano, I played by ear. I rarely used the music which is why I eventually quit, because I never really learned how to read music.
Funny things:
- Though I am very good at music, I am extremely terrible at lyrics. It takes me a very long time to learn lyrics and I have to work very hard at it.
- I can't take descriptions well. If someone were to describe what their new dress looks like, the color, the length, the cut, anything I wouldn't even try to visualize. I would stop the person in mid sentence and say, "Don't even try. I can't do it."
- I am very bad at directions. With directions I am a visual person. I need to have been on the trip before, many times before or I need a map (gps style works best).
- Even small directions like, "I need you to get something for me..." Where a person would spill out directions for which room to go into and which closet to open and which shelf to look on. No - I get very nervous when someone confronts me with something like that. I have to try so, so hard to remember. That's where the auditory playback comes in.
I can't believe it took me this long to figure out and I just had a quick talk with my mom. I said, "Mom, I'm an auditory learner," and she said, "I know." My mom knew. Of course she'd know, but it took me my entire childhood to finally click it all together. I'm so excited to use my new found information!
