Students at San Luis Obispo High School are constantly exposed to alternating, and often divergent teaching styles. The ways in which students absorb information differ greatly amongst the school’s population as a whole, so having this assortment of teaching styles helps ensure that almost all students find a class in which they can be highly successful, and allows students to find the style by which they learn the most. But how do differences in teaching on campus directly influence students?

  “Depending on what my students need, I try to provide more independence or more structure in my teaching,” said English teacher Jane Hawley.

   Adjusting to differences in student learning styles should be a crucial component of developing a lesson plan.

  “I do best when a class is interactive. Like when we do class discussions, or when the teacher doesn’t just stand and talk, but asks questions and interacts with students,” said senior Cassidy Clark.

  For many students, alternative teaching styles often prove to be the most effective. Especially today, teachers are more aware of the relationship between individual expression and comprehension in the classroom.

   “I give students different ways to express themselves. For example, some students enjoy writing to explain the reasoning, while others use drawings to express their knowledge,” said chemistry teacher Jessica Yi.

   SLOHS hosts teachers and classes with very different teaching styles and class environments, though recently, due to SLOHS’s new teacher evaluation system, a general shift has been made towards more progressive, modern styles that include more opportunities for students to learn and express their individuality, and allow them to customize their education to maximize their potential in school and beyond.