Tag: Personal teaching

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You Probably Have An ESFJ Student In Your Classroom- Here’s How To Foster Their Personality

This is part of a series of using Myers Briggs personality types in the classroom. For more information, click here. For information on how to figure out your student’s MBTI type, click here. 

Dedicated, loyal, social, and personable. Does this describe a student of yours? If you have an ESFJ student, this could be a great explanation of their personalities. ESFJ students are your cheerleaders, your star football players, your student council leaders. They like to be the ones who set the stage and lead others to success.

Extroverted 
Sensing 
Feeling 
Judgment 

When you’re teaching an ESFJ student, you are teaching a future nurse, teacher, or child care worker. Their careers lead them down a path to take care of others because that’s what they do best, therefore it only makes sense that group work is where they work best. In a group work setting, they are the ones to look over everyone, making sure each person is involved and participating. 

They learn best when the material learning is systematic and organized in a manner they can visualize. Having the study material beforehand to access helps them vastly succeed. They also thrive on hearing different angles of how to accomplish what they are learning. For example, it would be very beneficial to teach them two or three different processes for long division, instead of sticking with one. This can help them fully connect the concept in their minds. 

ESFJs don’t handle criticism well and can be uncomfortable in a classroom where they have been criticized in the past. They need to feel validated and will flourish in an environment with a happy, comfortable culture.   

How can you use this information to better teach the students in your classroom? How do you teach your ENFJ students? 

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Tips For Teaching Logical, Curious Students

This is part of a series of using Myers Briggs personality types in the classroom. For more information, click here. For information on how to figure out your student’s MBTI type, click here. 

The INTP personality is described as a logician, and for good reason. They thrive on logic and organized data leading them to discover theoretical ideas. They tend to spot liars fairly easy because they love to look for inconsistencies.

Introverted
i(N)tuition 
Thinking 
Percieving 

These students the ones who are quick to point out flaws or ask deeper questions in the material you may not know information on the depth they are inquiring about. Because they can be very critical in their speaking and questioning, they are often the students told to stop asking questions or to accept the material the way it is. This does nothing but infuriates them. INTP students are looking for deep, logical conversations where they can bounce theoretical ideas back and forth, sometimes not even making complete sense of their thoughts before moving on to the next. 

Most introverted students do not think group work is ideal, however, most of them do okay with limited amounts of it. For INTP students, it can actually harm their learning potential. In group work, they can feel limited by others because they cannot become lost in their own deep thoughts and instead are forced to listen to ideas from multiple peers.

A very interesting fact about INTP students is their lack of concern for test scores or grades. “INTPs are more concerned with meeting their own standards than they are with meeting an external set of standards. They have high intellectual goals for themselves and if the lessons they are being taught don’t align with what they think is worthwhile they will often spend their time thinking about other more stimulating ideas.” 

A tool to facilitate better grades for these students is to meet with them and figure out what their personal goals as a student are. This conversation can lead to a discussion about how their academic goals can line up to create better scores and grades, keeping everyone satisfied. 

INTP personality types can exude shyness from the beginning, but once they open up, the logical conversation can easily flow if it’s an interest of theirs. 

If you’re teaching an INTP student, there is a good chance you are educating a future architect, political scientist or engineer. However, there is a great chance you are also teaching a procrastinator. They work as quickly as possible, often finding shortcuts to cut down their workload in order to accomplish it on time, with the little time they do have. 

INTP students are constantly curious and challenging others. This can be a great tool in the classroom. Don’t underestimate these shy students, they can surprise you. 

Do you have any INTP students in your classroom? What tools do you have when teaching these students? 

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The Debaters, The Politicians, The Business Managers- A Guide To Teaching These Students

This is part of a series of using Myers Briggs personality types in the classroom. For more information, click here. For information on how to figure out your student’s MBTI type, click here. 

Extroverted
I(N)tuition 
Thinking
Perceiving 

Do you know those students you look at and think to yourself, “He will make a great debater in high school.” or, “She is going to end up in politics later in life.” There is a chance these students may be an ENTP personality type. 

These students are clever and constantly questioning you, whether it be about the material presented in class or any other subject they can think of, they are always up for a good debate. A great way for them to learn is conceptually, and a logical flow of information is key to them. They are students that will connect their studies with other angles and thoughts, more than what is given to them explicitly. 

Group work with ENTP students may seem ideal with their extroverted personalities, but they work well both in groups, and individually, because they know their capabilities as an individual and group work can hinder this. However, they still need interactions with their peers. 

Mundane work can drive these students up the wall, they are motivated by solving problems and finding solutions. Deadlines can be stressful to them because task work is not how they function, they need time to be creative and come up with plenty of possible solutions to find the best one. Focus is a hard topic for ENTP students because when they become excited about multiple projects it is easy for them to jump from one to the next to accomplish each, but letting each lack by spreading themselves too thin. 

Are you an ENTP? How do you learn best? What other ways can we facilitate meaningful learning for ENTP students? 

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Logical And Creative, Does That Describe Any Of Your Students?

This is part of a series of using Myers Briggs personality types in the classroom. For more information, click here. For information on how to figure out your student’s MBTI type, click here. 

Logical, reserved, creative, and decisive. Do these words together describe one of your students? They may be an INTJ personality type. 

Introverted 
I(N)tuition 
Thinking 
Judgment 

These logical students are forward thinkers that love to know the “why” behind learning. They need their information organized and in a logical format, they have a hard time seeing the big picture when the material is not orderly. 

INTJs have impeccable recall skills. When shown information or a picture, then taken away and asked to remember what they saw, they can often name the majority of the details. This has been thought to be because they do not reflect on what they are seeing, they simply just memorize and make a list. Just because this is a skill of theirs doesn’t mean they learn best through rote memorization. They need the why and the how of procedures and processes to truly understand a subject on a deep level. 

These introverted learners don’t necessarily do great in group work unless they see their definitive role in helping. However, this much interaction with other students can cause stress in learning and they will often need a break. Not only do they not thrive in group work, but they can also have a hard time asking a teacher for help. They would rather do everything they can independently to figure out their problem before going to a teacher for help, which can cause a student-teacher relationship to be almost impossible if the teacher isn’t putting in an effort. It’s important to keep an eye on these students and check in often to see what they need and how they are doing. 

Is your INTJ student struggling to understand long division? Go through the process as a list over and over, see if that might help them. Show him or her how long division can relate to multiplication and why those two functions work together. Give them a real-life example of when they will use long division. 

Maybe they are having a hard time in an English class using the correct verb tense in their writing. Show them a list of the rules for verb tenses and when/why we use the verb tense that we do. Give them the bigger picture of how the verb tense in one sentence relates to the verb tense in a paragraph or story as a whole.

They do not need inquiry-based for subjects they are struggling with, they need logic and rules. 

If you still would like more information about INFJ students, watch this video that explains the personality type in 4 minutes. 


Do you teach an INFJ student? What benefits have you seen from knowing your student’s personality types? 

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Do You Have An ENTJ Student? Here Are A Few Tips

This is part of a series of using Myers Briggs personality types in the classroom. For more information, click here. For information on how to figure out your student’s MBTI type, click here. 

E- extroverted
N- I(n)tuition 
T- Thinking 
J- Judgement

Do you have a student who is driven to lead and succeed? One that may come off as overbearing to peers, or can easily push others too far in projects? This student may be an ENTJ personality type. 

These students are big advocates for well-executed plans and thrive in structure. If you ever notice that they are having a hard time focusing or learning, look around at their environment. Do they need more structure? Do they have a plan? Is future thinking in their minds? 

Group work is where they shine, especially with their extroverted tendencies. However, it is important to note that they will not thrive unless they take the lead. These students do not lead quietly, taking charge and managing people is their strong suit. Knowing this, it’s no surprise that their future careers usually end up in higher management, top executives, and CEOs. 

ENTJ students need a driving force in their learning. They need to know how and why this will benefit their future, and the more it logically makes sense, the more likely they are to dive deep into the subject. When they ask the common question, “When am I ever going to use this in my life?” if you can give them a solid, realistic answer, there is a good chance they will accept it and move forward with more appreciation for the topic. 

I personally interviewed a few ENFJ students to ask how best they learn and what they wish their teachers knew. A common answer among all of them was that any information given too fast or brushed over cannot and will not be learned. They need time to process information and many different ways to take it in, such as hearing it, reading it, then writing it.  

If you know of an ENTJ student who is struggling with understanding a concept on a deeper level, a great solution for them could be to make a focus group to discuss it further amongst peers. This can give them multiple perspectives to ponder and bring their comprehension to a greater level. 

Do you teach an ENTJ student? What personality traits do you see in them? How does knowing their personality type help you in your teaching? 

Featured Photo: https://www.mbtionline.com/

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A Note About Those Idealistic and Compassionate Students

This is part of a series of using Myers Briggs personality types in the classroom. For more information, click here. For information on how to figure out your student’s MBTI type, click here. 

You are 15 minutes into a math lesson on adding two-digit numbers and you start randomly calling on students to answer questions because you feel like generally, the class is understanding the concept. Calling random students is a tool for you to grasp where everyone is as a whole, as well as individually, and direct your teaching from there. 

“Sarah, what two numbers do we add first?”

Sarah looks at you with panic in her eyes, frantically searching the room for a way out. Tears are welling up, she can feel the lump in her throat as she tries to ignore her body’s initial reaction in order to answer the question without laughter from peers. 

“Um… The 2 and the 4?” Sarah says in a quiet voice, hoping no one can hear the fear in her voice. 

“Correct, Sarah!” 

The lesson moves on. 

Sarah, in this case, is an INFP. When interviewing 5 different people with the INFP personality type, I found that all 5 individuals had the same answer in their learning style- Do not call on us randomly in class. One even went as far as to say, “I will end up resenting you as a teacher for calling me out and making me answer in class without fair warning.”  Let’s take a deeper look into the INFP personality type. 

Introverted
I(N)tuition   
Feeling 
Perceiver 

INFP students do not work well under stress like some other may. They thrive in situations where they can take time to absorb as much information as possible in the way they choose. You most often will not find them studying for a test the night before and cramming in all of the last-minute information that they can because they will be studying for the test starting the day the material is presented.  

INFPs are introverted. They do not strive in group work, they will do best in individual studying, usually being creative in their own form, or reading the material from a book. Not only will the interaction with others overwhelm them, but they can feel limited in group work by not using their creative side as freely as possible. 

These students will be the ones who grow up to become teachers, counselors, musicians, or artists. They base so much of their daily lives on their feelings and emotions, making careers as doctors or nurses is almost impossible because of their emotional involvement in their work. They would become too attached and be devastated if and when something goes wrong. 

To best help INFP students, remember that it may be best to present information and step back. Often as teachers, we want to sit with kids and help them until they understand it fully. However, they will most likely gain a better idea of the concept if left on their own to take it in. 

Watch out for them during group work. If it seems to be stressing them out too much or if they are not thriving, give them additional, specific-to-them tasks to help them use their creativity and individualistic traits. Remember that they need breaks from others often to recharge. 

If an INFP student seems like they are not paying attention or looking up directly at the information you are presenting, it may be that the student is needing time to reflect and take in all the information, and looking up can cause more sensory than they can handle while learning a new concept. Check-in on them, but do not force them to be more actively involved, it could hinder their learning. 

INFPs are great students who love to give help where available. They can be excellent students to call on in time of need when notes need to be run to the office, peers need tutoring, or papers need filing. If they see that their work is noteworthy and useful, they will continue to give great assistance. 

Do you teach any INFP students? What tips would you add? 

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Is Your Student The Advocate Type? Here Are Tips On Teaching Them

This is part of a series of using Myers Briggs personality types in the classroom. For more information, click here. For information on how to figure out your student’s MBTI type, click here. 

A student walks through the halls at school, smiling and waving quietly to each of their friends. Deep down, she looks at all of them in the eye and wonders to herself how she can help them more, how she can change their lives for the better. In her speaking, it’s all personal, sensitive words, because logic and reason are far from her mind. When others do not recognize the difference she has made in others’ lives, in the school, or in her community, it deeply hurts to not have those congratulations.  

Do any of these describe a student of yours? There is a possibility he or she may be an INFJ personality type. 

Introverted
I(N)tuition 
Feeling 
Judging 

With a friendly personality and ability to work so well with others, these students can often be mistaken for extroverts. However, at the end of the day, they need time to themselves to recharge and be alone. Once you have identified these students in your classroom, it’s crucial to look out for this. They can easily feel overwhelmed by spending too much time working with groups or also feel stressed by projects that aren’t accomplishing their goals. 

INFJs strive to make a difference, especially in individuals. When this is not a possibility, whether that be from lack of time, indecisiveness in others, or a disrupted routine, it can be very hard for them. They are the students who love to be peer helpers and watch their friends understand and better themselves in their work. 

These students also are not the type to understand something after hearing it only once. If they are having a hard time remembering facts about the Revolutionary War, they most likely need to hear it again. And again. And again. Repetition is a powerful tool for these students, especially when presented in different ways each time. 

INFJs have a hard time learning when they cannot see the importance of learning and how it connects to bettering one another. This is why INFJs often find careers in teaching, nursing, psychology, and counseling. They are often the students asking, “When will I need this later in life?” and are dissatisfied unless your answer unless it includes ways they can utilize the material to accomplish helping others. 

INFJ students work very similarly in school to ENFP students and can relate to them using flashcards for repetition and how material sticks best when they see it as a benefit to others. 

Do you teach any INFJ students? What tips do you have to teach them? Have you found knowing your students MBTI is beneficial to you?