Sit down with the left-handed students and explain that writing with a hooked fist causes them to smudge their work and adds pressure to their joints. Tell them a few techniques can help eradicate the problems.
Give the students a pen and piece of paper and ask them to sit at their desk. Explain that you will describe and show the best way for them to write with their left hand.
Ask them to place the piece of paper to their left side, off center to the middle of their chest. Position the paper at an angle so that the top left hand corner is higher than the right. In this position the bottom edge of the paper is skewed away from them.
Get the students to grip their pen between one and 1.5 inches from the nib. It should be held comfortably between the thumb and fingers. Put a mark on the pencil if the students hand slips down from this point, as it will adversely affect the quality of the writing.
Tell the students to rest their arm on the piece of paper. The arm should be perpendicular to the bottom edge of the paper.Tell them to keep the wrist straight.
Ensure the students position their hand below the line of writing, but with the pen tilting upwards so it can reach and write along the line.
Demonstrate this writing style to the students and get them to practice writing it. Reassure them by explaining it will take time to master the technique.
Hold practice sessions with the left-handed students for 20 minutes each day for the first two weeks of education. Reduce this to once a week to keep the practice constant.
Monitor the students' progress. Provide help and advice if their technique falls back towards bad habits.