Left and Right Beatriz Lupiano Beatriz Lupiano March 2010 March 2010

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano2 We learn many things in our first years at school Numbers Letters, words, the ABC We continue: socializing working on our gross and fine motor skills

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano3 LRLR Left Right This is also the time when most of us start learning more precisely which way’s right and which way’s left. Right and Left are meaningful when it comes to learning and teaching

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano4 Teachers have been aware of the specific functions of the right/left sides of the brain for well over a decade now: The right side of the brain is responsible for the more intuitive part of ourselves, our emotions, response to music, colour and patterns. The left side of the brain is much more logically-driven. It analyzes, sorts and categorizes. The main language areas are here. Teachers also know that we learn better when we engage both sides of the brain, and try to plan lessons accordingly.

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano5 Now coming back to those first school years… Think for a moment. Remember when you were learning to distinguish right from left. How were you helped when you were not sure?

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano6 I remember I would ask, “which way is right?” My teacher would answer with another question… “which hand do you write with?” …which only made things more confusing… I’ve always been left-handed

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano7 Most people are right- handed If you are right-handed, Have you ever wondered how a left- handed person experiences the world?

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano8 Have a look at the two photos Which person is right-handed? Which person is left-handed? How do you know? How does that affect the task (if at all)?

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano9 Using scissors for school-aged children How about now? List at least 3 things that are different, and think about how they might affect the outcome

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano10 Scissors again This person is left-handed. In slide 9, the first person is left-handed and the second one right- handed. Compare the photos –do you notice any significant changes?

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano11 One of the things I notice is the inclination of the paper when it’s being cut. The right-handed person in slide 9 goes upwards, while the left-handed person goes downwards. (Note that they are both adults) In slide 10, the left-handed person has shifted the inclination a bit and has started cutting in a more upward direction.

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano12 What’s changed? The kind of scissors being used. In slide 9 a regular pair of scissors was used, while in slide 10 a pair of scissors for left-handed people was used

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano13 I noted earlier that the people cutting were adults. The left-handed one was me. I learned to cut with regular scissors: the blades would move outwards, as if trying to become unbound. Cutting was difficult, and very often my teacher would point out (quite rightly) that my cut-outs seemed to have been made with a small saw.

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano14 I can use “grown-up” scissors now, which are more firmly bound. I have tried scissors for left- handed people. They feel more comfortable, but the truth is I don’t feel confident cutting with either kind. (I assume it’s because I’m used to right-handed scissors and so my natural tendency is not “free”; I have to think before holding and cutting using left-handed scissors and compare what I’m doing to what I notice I need to do with the other pair –for example aiming at lines: do the blades need to go inside, outside, right in the middle…?)

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano15 A brief example from my experience as a teacher A few years ago I had a left-handed 6- year-old learner. He dreaded cutting-out tasks. We got a pair of scissors for left-handed people. The next time I set a task with scissors he looked down, and grumbled a bit…

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano16 …When he remembered his new scissors, his face lit up with a broad smile From then on, his cutting skills were similar to those of his right-handed peers.

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano17 So why am I saying all this? Pre-schoolers and 1st graders are still developing their GROSS AND FINE MOTOR SKILLS

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano18 We all need to use motor skills Gross motor skills involve control of large muscles, big movements, even whole body motion Fine motor skills require the use of small muscles and precision in small areas.

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano19 Examples of motor skills Fine (or small) Cut, colour, write, paint, solve jigsaw puzzles, build things using unit blocks, hammer, make dough models, sew Gross (or large): Skip, walk, run, catch a ball, tiptoe, kick a ball, cycle, throw a Frisbee, turn around

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano20 As teachers, we try to help our learners If we see a learner squinting at the back of the class, we’ll probably consider checking whether they need glasses If we see a learner systematically turning round in the opposite direction as their peers and teacher when singing and dancing…what do we do? What do we think? When that learner becomes to look puzzled, dance more slowly and tentatively…what do we think?

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano21 As a left-handed person, I don’t feel confident when I… Need to use a ruler (I know my line will not be perpendicular. Look back at slide 8 and try to figure out why I’m holding the ruler that way ) Need to cut things out. Am performing a group choreography and the instructions don’t state clearly which way we need to turn. Open certain doors Sit to the right of a right-handed person and we both need to write (arms and elbows collide!!)

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano22 There are many more examples I could give, and I’ve learned from experience that I need to develop some kind of strategy to get the result I want when: I use a felt-tip pen (plenty of smudges at first!), I sit on a chair with a desk attached that covers only the right side …when people are curious and ask why I write with my hand this or that way and why I position the paper differently When as a teacher I write on the board and want to turn my head and keep some degree of eye- contact with the class

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano23 As teachers, we try to cater for all learners: Those who are more visual, auditory, kinesthetic. Those whose learning styles are more closely connected with the right or the left side of the brain. Those who have some physical impairment, like short-sightedness.

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano24 Do we do the same for left-handed learners? For example… Do we explain to them that some tasks may be more difficult for them because of the way they’d naturally tackle them? And that it’s not their instinct that’s failing; it’s just that the environment isn’t always prepared for both right-handed and left-handed people?

March 2010Beatriz Lupiano25 Maybe some teachers do, maybe some parents and peers do…maybe even more will do so in the future. This presentation aimed at raising awareness, where needed, as to how left-handed learners experience the world, and how sometimes they need to adapt themselves to the world and how some small steps from their significant others could perhaps contribute to make this adaptation easier. Thanks for taking the time to read this presentation. Beatriz