Tag: MBTI in Teaching

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Teaching Extroverted Students

This post is part of a series of posts on teaching to different personality type indicators as found in the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. To see more, head here. 

Let’s talk about teaching extroverts! My articles on teaching using Myers Briggs type indicator have been so popular that I felt like breaking them up this way would be beneficial for teachers and students. 

Graphic from 1069thex.com

But first, let’s grasp what an extrovert really is, and why it differs from an introvert. One way to understand the difference is to look at your focus and energy. Is it inward or outward? Extroverts are very outward in their thinking and energy. They talk through ideas and problems with others and being surrounded by a crowd brings them energy. Versus an introvert, which is very inward thinking. 

A few traits of an extroverted student: 

They need talking and discussing. 

They thrive on social interaction. 

Giving them a chance to be in the limelight can be great for some. 

They typically do better with a faster-paced environment. 

Extroverted students tend to be the school’s leaders, the class clowns, the center of attention. They are always thinking about how they can change the world or figure out a newer, better way for something. They want to be a part of the events and the school how and where they can. 

These students can be supported by allowing social time, assigning group work, and giving them a chance to take the limelight. If you can recognize them getting antsy or needing to move, allowing them to express this outwardly can do wonders for your classroom, by giving them the chance to get up, move, and talk. 

Creating a personal relationship with an extroverted student can make or break their education. They thrive on relationships with others, and role models, such as teachers, are high up on their list of important relationships that they value. 

Are you able to pick out the extroverted students in your classroom? What is the best way you’ve found to support them in their learning? 

Cover photo: pexels.com

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Personality Types: Are They Meant To Put You In A Box?

substitute teacher quandry

I’ve written multiple series on personality types and how they relate to education. Read about them here:

Myers Briggs Personality Types

Enneagram in Education

A lot of people are not a fan of learning more about personality types because they feel like they are put into a box when assigned a “type” or “number”. I see this point of view! I absolutely have felt the same way. I have also felt like as I read general overviews of types, I can relate to every single one, they seem very “vanilla” and are relevant to anyone with a pulse.

While these are valid, I have found in my research that these personality types are not trying to put you in a box, their goal is to help you understand yourself and those around you a little deeper. Just because you identify with one “type” doesn’t mean you have to or will act EXACTLY the same way. However, it can help you understand your personality better if there are aspects you do identify with.

For example: I am an ENFJ in the MBTI personality type. This tells me I am extroverted and breaks down what exactly extroversion means. This one in particular I came out with 95% extroverted when completing the test, so it is a trait that I can learn more about and help me apply these findings to my life.

(N) means I primarily use my intuition over my senses. Does this mean I don’t use my senses? No! It means I primarily tend to choose intuition over sensing, however, I can still use sensing at times too.

(F) means I use feeling in decision-making versus (T) which is thinking or logic. I use both, and often! But feeling tends to win over thinking. (J) means I use judgment over (P) perception. I can use both and I do.

Because I identify as an ENFJ I have lists and articles galore that can help me dive deeper into learning more about my personality. Including the ones I wrote. But if an article reads, “you thrive in group work because you are extroverted.” but I personally don’t like group work, it doesn’t mean they are trying to fit you into a box. That is the general consensus of the ENFJ type, and you are who you are. Not many people fit the exact mold or can agree with every single point in their personality type.

So next time you don’t want to research your personality type for fear of “being put in a box”, consider that it’s there for you to learn more and gain knowledge, not put you in a box!

What is your MBTI or Enneagram if you know it? How does it help you learn more about yourself to research personality types?

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New Blog Schedule: A Peek Into What I Will Be Writing About

I’m coming up on one year of writing for this blog, I cannot believe it has been that long! I’ve loved the experience it has given me, the research opportunities, and the new relationships I’ve been able to make. When I began writing, I created a blog schedule. My original blog schedule ended up changing and adapting over time and eventually became non-existent. I was writing what was relevant and important to me at the time, and it truly worked so well! I loved the adaptability of it. 

However, I’m ready to get back into a blogging schedule. I like the consistency and dependability of a blog schedule and it’s what I need in my life right now. Here is what I have settled on. 

Monday: Past Teachers Still Teaching Me Today

I’ve written about past teachers and professors on my blog before and came to realize that they are continuing to teach me as I take these lessons from them and apply them to my education world today. I want to write out each of these stories and gather them together as one big resource. You can read the ones I’ve already written in these links. 

Mrs. Scoresby 

Mr. Meyer

Max Longhurst

Wednesday: How Each Enneagram Type Learns

I wrote about each Myers-Briggs personality type and how to adapt your teaching to each type. For the next ten or so weeks I’ll be breaking down the nine Enneagram types and diving into more depth on what Enneagram is and how to understand it. 

Friday: Feature Friday 

If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you know Feature Friday has been a consistent Friday post since April! Originally I planned to do this for 2-3 months, but it has been such a hit and so fun to do, I decided to continue. If you are an educator in any shape or form, please reach out to me to be featured. 

What posts are you most excited to see? 

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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?