How can I use knowledge of the learner to be a better teacher?

The knowledge I have gained so far has come from the homework of reading the textbook. I have learned about the diversity of my possible student pool and understanding their culture will help me teach them more effectively. Also if I teach about a piece of their culture to the whole class then the student will feel more connected to the class. I also learned from the reading that I will most likely have a special needs child in my classes. Hopefully the child's aid and I will work together to devise a suitable plan to meet the learning needs of the child. I know that students possess many different learning styles and I would like to learn about different ways of incorporating each of the styles into one lesson, so that every child can learn.