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December 5, 2008
Importance of space, time
Children's learning environment is the key to academic success.
ADAM GELMON
"Time and space are modes by which we think and not conditions in which we live."
Albert Einstein makes an important point in this statement. When students begin to look at when and where they work, they will be closer to understanding how they work best.
Kids are not born with a mastery of their own time and space and, therefore, need to work on developing an understanding of these from an early age. And, of course, they need all the guidance that the adults in their lives can give them. Here's a look at these two very important dimensions as they apply to student success.
One of the most important skills for students to develop is the ability to manage their time. Most students are very busy during the week and an ability to get a handle on what they're doing, when they're doing it and what they need to do, is crucial for short-term happiness and long-term success. Kids who have a good picture of what their week looks like in advance will be less stressed out, happier and more productive.
This means that, besides putting your kids' schedule in your own personal organizer for planning carpools and pickups, your kids also should be aware of what their week looks like. A great way to do this is to have your kids fill in their own calendars with after-school activities, play dates and homework assignments.
A simple tool that often gives immediate results is a monthly wall calendar on which kids can write all of their commitments – school and otherwise. Day-at-a-glance school agendas are excellent for the day-to-day things, but most kids won't look ahead. This can be a major cause of forgotten school projects and missed due dates.
Get a wall calendar and help your kids write in their own commitments. The increased ownership they will feel over their schedules will translate into a smoother week and less forgotten homework – not to mention the valuable life skill they will be developing.
During a recent lesson on study skills and habits, my seventh grade students were very vocal about how and where they like to do their work. "I have to study with music playing!" "It's really awkward to work in a quiet place!" "I like working in the kitchen because I don't like being alone." Almost everyone had a different preference for how they liked to work, and some students were convinced that they work best with the television on, music playing or the din of a busy family in the background.
The ideal study or work environment is one that keeps kids focused, productive and organized. Some students work better with background noise or with music playing, while others need to work in a quiet place. The important question to ask is whether your child's work environment is adding to or detracting from them getting their work done. If your child is constantly being interrupted or distracted from their work because of the things going on around them, it may be time for a change of location.
A few weeks ago, I challenged my students to consider, or reconsider, whether their current homework environments were ideal for getting work done. "You might think that you work better with your headphones dangling from your ears...." My students sat politely listening to my words, but I could feel the rebuttals building up inside of them, so I continued, "What if you just think you're working better because that's what you're used to?"
My students stared back at me with a resounding look of, "What do you mean?" I explained that perhaps they've trained themselves to be more comfortable in a noisy environment because they do it so often. I challenged them to try studying and working in a quiet place without music or the television playing in the background.
Admittedly, some students do work better and are better able to focus when they are listening to music, but this also depends on the work being done. Some tasks, especially studying for tests, usually require a quiet environment. We write tests in a quiet classroom, so it's best to prepare for them in quiet as well. Recall of information is better when you prepare for a test in an environment similar to the one in which you will be writing.
"So, does this mean that if we study with music playing that we can write our tests in class with our iPods on?" one of my students asked with a satisfied grin spurred by her powers of deduction. "Not likely," I replied, though I did appreciate her attentiveness.
Little changes in habits can pay huge dividends. When we guide and challenge students to take more ownership and responsibility over their lives, we help set them up with important skills that they'll need and use through school and adulthood. Perhaps more importantly, when we help students get a better understanding of their own time and space, they will be that much closer to developing the genius that is in each of them.
Adam Gelmon is a freelance writer and a teacher at Vancouver Talmud Torah.
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