In the News: The Importance of Class Placement

This week I have been quoted in the Bloemfontein Courant about where children should sit in class. Since schools reopened yesterday for the new year, this is some food for thought for all our parents and teachers.

You can read the online version HERE on Bloemfontein Courant's Website.


Here is the translation:

Important where child sits in class

by Mark Steenbok

With the schools reopening on Wednesday it may be a good idea to review some factors that influence learning, like where your child sits in class.

This is according to Luise Spangenberg of Edu-Profile. She assesses children and adults through genetic brain profiling. Spangenberg says that where your child sits in class can play a big roll in their academic performance.
"I had a grade one student whose teacher was convinced he had ADD (attention deficit disorder) and needed medication. After the consultation I advised that he be moved to a different place in class, since there was no indications in his profile of ADD or ADHD. A week later the teacher apologised to the mother and reported that the child showed no symptoms of ADD anymore and was a bright student."

According to Luise children should sit with their dominant ear facing the teacher so that they can physically hear better and pay better attention. They should sit where there is fewest distractions.
She also says that children who move more by nature doesn't necessarily have ADHD and they should sit at the back of the class where they won't distract other students.

"It is also of value for these children to sit on a Pilates ball, rather than a chair. Parents can enforce this at home during homework and study times, since schools generally doesn't allow this. In class they can play with a stress ball or small item. This will help them pay better attention," says Spangenberg.

Don't let your child blindly choose a chair this year. Choose right and prepare for a good academic year.

The Importance of Class Placement

We all know that feeling: Standing in line of our classroom for the very first day, wondering where we’ll sit, if we’ll like the teacher and the subject. Either the teacher will let everyone choose their own seats or assign them based on some kind of order (alphabetically, academic performance) and of course move the kids that cause problems of some kind.

In a perfect world I would want to show each and every teacher where to place each child in their classrooms. Why? Because it has a greater impact on learning than you think.

Each person has a dominant ear and a dominant eye. This means that you see and hear better with a specific eye and ear and you process the information differently depending on the dominant side. As a general rule a child should sit with his dominant ear faced towards the teacher, therefore if your child is left ear dominant, he should sit on the right side of the classroom.

But why is this important? After all, you have been sitting in different places in classroom all your life and you’ve always been able to hear, right? Yes, you can hear no matter where you sit, but you will hear better when your dominant ear faces the speaker. You will also be less distracted because you won’t have to unconsciously turn your head to hear better.

As soon as a child has to turn his head to hear and process information better, he notices other things like classmates chit-chatting, someone’s hair that’s out of place, mismatched socks, and more. This can be so distracting that the child misses most of the lesson as he day dreams.

What’s more is that “problem children” are usually placed in front “where I can keep an eye on you”! These are usually children that need to move a lot in order to keep their brains from going into “sleep mode” (see my post on stress for more information on this). Now they have to sit in front where they will distract all the other kids when they move and what’s worse is that they are permanently in the spotlight: “Sit still! Be quiet! Leave him alone! Focus! Look at me! Stop that! What did I just say?”
This makes the child believe that he is naughty and therefore he will act naughty because it is expected of him.

A better way to manage this is to place the antsy children at the back of the class where they can move without disturbing the other kids. They only need some guidance as to how to move without disrupting the class (jumping up and running is out of the question, but squeezing a stress ball and/or sitting on a pilates ball is quiet, inconspicuous and keep that little brain alert).

Similarly children who are left eye dominant are prone to daydreaming and if they sit too far back, there is a whole host of things that could distract them. They should not sit farther back than the middle of the classroom.

So is this really an issue? Does it really make a noticeable difference?

Yes, it does!

I had a mother who brought her first grader to me because his teacher was insisting that he had ADD and needed medication. The mother was heartbroken and not wanting to just go to the doctor for a prescription, she came to me instead. Nothing in the child’s profile pointed to ADD, although he was left eye dominant and therefore prone to daydreaming.

I recommended he be moved to a different place in the classroom and the teacher refused as she had gone through a lot of trouble arranging her students. A month later the teacher gave in and moved the child. A week later the mother received a phone call from the teacher who apologised for jumping to conclusions - since he was moved to the correct spot in class he has been paying attention, completing tasks and the teacher could no longer see any symptoms of ADD.

It is amazing that something as small as where you sit in the classroom can make such a marked difference.

Do something different this year and have your child sit in the correct place in class and see for yourself if it makes a difference.
I will gladly assess your child and recommend the optimal position for him/her in a classroom.

Feel free to comment or contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Exam, Procrastination & Time Management

When it comes to studying, students are notorious for their excellent procrastination skills. Procrastination during the school year can cause stress and frustration to both students and parents as exams approach and the pressure to remember important facts increases. With just a little bit of planning and organising, the stress levels surrounding exams can be reduced significantly. Let’s see how...

On Your Marks...
You’ve heard it said over and over, but it’s worth repeating: there is no time like the present. Don’t wait for tomorrow or put studying off until the night before the big test, start you exam preparations today. The possibility exists that if you fall into this routine of pre-test cramming; you may well be putting all the information into your short term memory rather than your long-term memory; meaning that you will have to re-learn it all before the next test or exam.

Get Set...
Don’t spend too much time planning and organising either. It can easily happen that you spend hours or days planning to study, organising books and making a neat time table when in fact you are not really focussing on the material you need to be revising. Complete your planning quickly and well ahead of time.
When is the right time to start preparing for an exam? A month, 2 weeks, or maybe 2 even days before? No. The key is to do a little bit of preparation every day from the start of the term so that all the work will be summarised and ready to study by exam time.

STUDYING = revision, identifying possible questions, working out long questions, going over old papers.

Studying is not making notes from scratch.

Go!
Taking notes in class is your first step to being prepared for exams. When you get home after school, take some time to read through your class notes and compare them to your textbook and other material to make sure your notes are complete.

Don’t rewrite your textbook! The idea is to summarise the key points in your textbook into a few pages with as few words as possible. If you like, use colours, pictures, graphs, etc. to make it easy for you to understand your notes.
If you invest a little time every day after school in exam preparation, you won’t waste hours during exam time prettying up your notes; you’ll be ready to study them much faster than if your notes are a mess.

Create a revision sheet for each subject and mark your progress in each section as you complete it. It is also important to make notes of sections you do not fully know or understand and need to return to. This way you can keep track of your progress and it’s a fantastic way for parents to monitor your studying.
Not sure what a revision sheet is or how to make one?
You can download a printable sample revision sheet and print a copy by following this link.

A Break from the action
It is also good to remember that students shouldn’t be studying around the clock.

Study breaks are very important to let the brain rest and be refreshed for the next study session. Study sessions should range between 20 min for Gr. 4 students and 1 hour for Gr. 12 and above.

Breaks should be between 10 and 30 min, but this does not mean taking a quick nap or watching a TV program. During study breaks, students should engage in some kind of physical activity. Play outside with the dog, shoot some hoops, jog around the block, run around the house or just take a walk. The physical activity will help energise your mind in preparation for the next study session.

Whilst we've managed to scratch the surface regarding effective study skills and how to avoid procrastination, a personal consultation with one of our trained Edu-Profilogists® will give you an in-depth insight into YOUR personal learning style. You will also be given customised study skills tips and one on one training on information recall techniques best suited to you. To book your assessment and personal study skills course, email now.

Good Study Habits

Let's face it. Nobody likes to study. Unfortunately we all have to. So why not reduce your study time by doing it right the first time? 

Do you know how much time you are wasting in front of the books because of silly things that could have been avoided?

Habit 1

Make sure your room is light enough when you are studying. Weak lights or studying with a bedside lamp alone will make you secrete more melatonin which will put your brain to sleep. Weak lights = wasted study time.

Habit 2

Drink enough water! Keep a bottle of water on your desk and take regular sips. If you get dehydrated, your brain does not function optimally and you will have trouble concentrating.

Habit 3

Take regular breaks. Do not break in front of the TV or with a book!
Take a walk, play with the dog, dribble a ball, etc. Do something physical and, if the weather permits, preferably go outside. Physical activity will let your brain rest best.
Rest for 10 - 15 min and go back to your books for 30 - 45 min. (30min for Gr.4; 45min for Gr.12)

Habit 4

Music that is faster than 75 bpm will “switch off” your brain, because your heart is beating too fast. This means that you are wasting study time.

(a) Study in silence or listen to calm music without words (words will distract you and you’ll end up singing along instead of learning)
Try classical baroque music or the “Hooked-on-Classics” series.

(b) The radio will also distract you, because you will listen to the announcer and the ads. The music is usually too fast anyway and all have words. Rather switch off the radio and get some good study CD’s

Habit 5

Eat healthy during exam times. Make sure that you follow a balanced diet, especially in exam times.  Don’t be tempted to stock up on sweets and crisps for studying:

(a) They will make your blood sugar rise and drop too quickly, which mean that you’ll get tired quickly and you’ll have trouble concentrating.

It will also speed up dehydration and your brain needs water to work. Remember that you need to drink 3 glasses of water for every glass of soda you drink!

(b) Rather snack on fruit or yoghurt if you have a sweet tooth and drink diluted fruit juice, water or milk. If you want something salty, dip melba toast in hummus or cottage cheese, or couple with fresh herbs or salad.
You (or mom) can also make your own muesli bars. There are many recipes on the internet and they are much healthier than those you can buy in the store.

(c) Recipe: Healthy dip: Mix 250g smooth cottage cheese with lots of fresh chopped chives, 1tsp sweet-chilli sauce, 1tsp lemon juice, freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of salt.
Dip any fresh veggies, melba toast or plain pretzels - tastes great!

Habit 6

If you have trouble sitting still, always fidgeting or lose concentration easily, try sitting on a pilates ball instead of a chair. This will help keep your brain alert.

Habit 7

If you are frustrated, irritated or mad, your heart will beat too fast and your brain will “switch off”, resulting in ineffective study time.

(a) If you feel negative, do something physical for 15min

(b) Use positive self talk and tell yourself that even though you don’t like the subject, you need good grades and therefore you need to put your feelings aside and study effectively.