Using Sight, Sound, and Smell to Improve Well Being

Every December when my students are taking their fall examinations, I try to reduce their level of test anxiety with some non-traditional techniques. Sure enough, each spring when we start preparing for the final exams, my students ask if I will be bringing in my peppermints and "smelling lamp." The multisensory approach to teaching has grown in popularity since I was taking my education classes in college. This approach suggests that all students, especially those with learning disorders, can benefit from using not just sight or sound in the classroom but a combination of these senses along with the others. Therefore, successful teachers employ as many senses into lessons as possible to stimulate our students. I agree with this approach and take it one step further but using it while my students are engaged in independent reading and test-taking. Does it really work? My thinking is that as long as my students continue to ask for it and believe they are doing better because of it, then it works for them.

What exactly do I do? First, right before administering my fall exam, I pass out small peppermint candy canes to my students, telling them about research that has proven that peppermint stimulates and clears one's mind. I had a college professor who always gave out peppermints and shared with us this information. I do the same in the spring, only this time using peppermint candies instead of the holiday candy canes. They always appreciate this little treat and often ask for another for their next exam.

Second, I play classical music very softly. I have a number of classical CDs, and my students get used to them throughout the year, sometimes even requesting certain songs over and over again. Some of my favorites are actually CDs arranged for babies. While I was in college one of the first research experiments came out reporting that classical music, especially Mozart, increased students' test scores. Continued research determined that the high brain functioning required when performing mathematical calculations, reasoning, and spatial-temporal thinking is stimulated when we listen to classical music. Other research sites that enhanced brain development occurs when we listen to classical music and that classical music heightens the microscopic connections in the brain accountable for learning and memory. Since teenagers aren't going to turn their radio dials to classical stations by choice, I figure it is up to me to introduce this genre of music to them. Besides, while classical music is being played in the background, the sounds of pencils being sharpened and stuffy noses will be drowned out, so students are less likely to be distracted by them.

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