Strategies for a Comfortable Self-Contained Classroom
When setting up a classroom that is self-contained. You want your classroom to be welcoming, so your students feel that is a place they can be themselves. Out in the mainstream, deaf and hard-of-hearing students are “different”. In the self-contained classroom, all of the students are just like them.
Strategies to make a self-contained classroom more comfortable are as follows:
- Have different centers with various activities.
- Instead of the students sitting at desks, let them be free to sit on rugs or at tables.
- Because there are no desks, make sure there are cubbies for students to keep their belongings.
- Books and materials should be stored so students can access everything themselves.
- Allow your students to interact through language with peers.
- The classes should be more flexible, allowing for autonomy and conversation.
- Make the classroom colorful with many decorations.
Following these strategies will help make the classroom more exciting and inviting.
References
Ramsey, C.L. (1997). Deaf Children in Public Schools: Placement, Context, and Consequences. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.
Megan Devaney