Organising your workspace

Occupational therapy

﻿Hi, I'm really looking forward to our lesson today. I hope you are too. Before we get started, this is just a little reminder. We're here to support any approaches you might already be using, and any work you might have already been set. We know that this lesson is going to be going out to so many different children and families. So if you're not sure about anything or have any questions, then please do contact your usual therapy team. Hi, today's lesson is all about organising your workspace, and how important it is that you know where everything is in the spot where you're going to be working. Okay. Why do you need a set workspace? Well, it helps keep you organised. You can keep track of all your stuff. It's usually less distracting to work in the same place every time. And you can focus better if everything is always in the same place on your desk or in your workspace. Where could you do your homework? Well, every home is different, and you could do your homework in lots of different places. So sometimes you could do your homework at the kitchen table with your family, and that makes it really easy to ask for help. Other times, you may do your homework at your desk. in your bedroom, where it's quieter and less distracting. Or, if you have, if you don't have a desk or a table, then you might do your homework on your lap while you're sitting on the sofa. You could do your homework on the floor. Or you could just have, like a little workstation, that you could take anywhere with you. Now that is an incredibly messy desk, and it makes me feel very worried for that person. Pause the video now to get the items that you will need. So, I want you to go and look at your homework area, or your workspace. And then I also want you to get maybe an old lever-arch file or a storage box or a tray. And you can ask an adult for something that will hold your pens, your pencils, your paper. And it would be amazing if it had a lid. It doesn't have to, okay? Restart once you've got all those bits. Okay, for our first activity, we're going to do a little checklist of your workspace. And I want you to say and ask yourself, is your desk neat? I'm looking at my desk right now. It's not neat. Do you know where everything is? Sometimes. Do you have a homework box or a tray? Is there a clear space? Now, is your chair at a good height? Is the table the right size for you? And do you have something hard to press down on, to push on? Pause the video now to do that checklist. Restart once you're finished. Now, your next activity is we're going to look at a space for everything. So you can see that in that image there, on that slide rather, sorry, some people are doing their homework at the table with everyone. Some of them are sitting at a coffee table, or at a desk. Okay, and you can see that there are lots of things that you can use to organise your workspace. So you can have little pots, you can have some plastic drawers or some other drawers. I want you to see what storage you have, and try and organise your space. Restart once you're finished. Okay. So, what if you don't have a desk or table? Well, there are loads of options, right? You can do your work on the floor, if it's nice and clean. You can use a clipboard, and that will give you something hard to press on while you're sitting with your legs crossed. You can keep the clipboard on your lap while you're sitting on a chair. So there are loads of options. So now, I want us to make a what I call a take anywhere homework station, okay? I want you to think about where you could do your homework if you don't have a desk or table, and then I want you to get the storage box or bag, and I want you to add your stationary. So this could be in a pouch or a box. I want you to add some sheets of paper, which could be in a plastic sleeve. A hard folder to work on. You could even work on the actual box, or if you had a lever-arch file or a thick folder, you could work on top of that. And some blu-tac, okay? And you can then keep this somewhere where you will always find it. And this is really useful if maybe say, you're going to stay with a relative for a few days. Then you could just take this with and you won't have to worry about where you're going to do your homework. Pause the video now to do that task. Restart once you're finished. Remember, you can do your homework anywhere if you are prepared. Make sure that your posture is good. Go back to lesson one of the handwriting module to remind yourself and try and keep your homework equipment in one place. It will really help you loads. If you'd like to, please ask your parent or carer to share pictures of your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak. See you next time.

Organising your workspace

Organising your workspace

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