My students need alternative seating options to the standard classroom chair (3 balance balls and 4 sensory chair cushions) to help them maintain focus when at their desk.
One of the biggest challenges that teachers of special needs students face today is sustaining their students' attention. Some children appaer lethargic and slumped behind their desk, while others can't seem to stay in their seat for more than a few minutes.
My students are in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade special education classrooms in an integrated school in Staten Island.
They have a variety of diagnoses from ADHD to Autism to Learning Disabled. My students are highly motivated and try their best to take in all that their teacher's have to offer, however they often find it difficult to focus. I have observed students in my classrooms looking bored or disengaged, tired even, despite the fact that they have a dynamic teacher trying their best to keep them alert. Other students crave movement and have a very difficult time staying at their desk long enough to fully participate in a lesson.
My Project
Students will use the ball chairs and seating disks to allow them to maintain an optimum level of arousal during the day. These seating options force children to maintain an upright posture (no slouching allowed!) Also, by gently bouncing up and down on these seating options students that normally appear lethargic will keep their minds and bodies alert. Students that are prone to moving around the classroom will be able to use the chairs and disks to satisfy their craving for movement without getting out of their seat and disrupting the classroom. Students love being able to bounce and squirm and move their bodies! Currently their is one ball chair in my school that must be shared by all students.
My students would love to be able to sit and move and feel good in their bodies so that their mind can be in an attentive state!
Donations to this project will be such a blessing to the special education students as well as teachers who are currently struggling in under equipped classrooms! Please take some time to donate to this worthwhile cause and make a difference in the lives of struggling students.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. DiCaro and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
