Writing Feature Articles - Step 1 - Lesson 1 | Page 29

Writing Feature Articles - Lesson a
Writing Feature Articles - Handout .. a

Beginner

Name: ______________________________________ Date: ____________________

. a: Feature Articles Packet

(page of

)

“Situation: Irritation” continued
Time for a change: Getting your seat switched
You’re going to bang your head against your desk if the kid next to you clears his throat one more time.
Doesn’t he know how annoying he is?
Sometimes students just can’t get past feeling irritated with one another. And when a kid can’t focus on
class work, it might be time to ask the teacher for a seat change.
If so, approach your teacher before or after school, “de?nitely not during class,” says Jennifer Schmidt,
a 7th-grade teacher at Morgan Park Academy in Chicago.
Explain how you can’t concentrate because of the disruptions, and be prepared to give examples of the
problem. Schmidt says teachers only want students requesting seat changes for legitimate reasons.
Not being able to focus because of a distraction is a good reason, Schmidt says. “In order to help you
stay focused, [I’d] move your seat.”
Teachers also can move your seat if you can’t hear well or see the blackboard. But don’t bother asking
for a seat switch so you can sit closer to a friend, Schmidt says.
And consider your chattiness factor before you ask. Schmidt says teachers are strategic with seating
charts and big talkers need to be separated. That means there may not be another seat where chatty
kids can sit.

Le Beau, Emilie. (April 24, 2007.) “Situation: Irritation.” Chicago Tribune. (Available in Prof. P’s Of?ce.)
Permission pending.

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