Teacher Receives Grant For Alternative Seating

RACHEL DICKERSON/MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Megan Worden, a teacher at White Rock Elementary and Junior High School, is pictured with an indoor hammock she purchased with a grant from the McDonald County Schools Foundation. Worden has alternative seating in her classroom.
RACHEL DICKERSON/MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Megan Worden, a teacher at White Rock Elementary and Junior High School, is pictured with an indoor hammock she purchased with a grant from the McDonald County Schools Foundation. Worden has alternative seating in her classroom.

Megan Worden, a special education teacher at White Rock Elementary and Junior High School, recently received a grant from the McDonald County Schools Foundation for alternative seating.

The grant funded an indoor hammock or swing and four bean-bag chairs.

"Many of the students that are served do not function well in a traditional desk and chair classroom," Worden said. "These seating arrangements allow for more movement and different comfort levels for the students. In addition to the swing and bean-bag chairs that were purchased through the grant, I also have two couches, a rocking chair, wobble stools, a dining room table set, two small tables with padded chairs, pillows and sensory fidgets for the students to use in order for them to find an area where they are more comfortable and better able to focus.

"The swing is an indoor hammock-type swing that gives the children a different sensation of movement, as well as a different pressure sensation. It is used as seating during class but also as a place to go when students are frustrated or overwhelmed, and it helps to calm them. Since it is an inside hammock, the sides come up higher and also create a smaller space to help if a student gets easily distracted."

Worden started the alternative seating in her classroom two years ago with two couches and a rocking chair that came out of her own home when she got new furniture, she said. She added some stability balls, and another teacher donated some stools that did not work out in her classroom. Worden brought the dining room table from her house when she got a new one, as well, and was able to secure two cafe tables with chairs from a restaurant that went out of business.

"I have a couple of sensory kids and a couple of ADHD kids that need to move a lot," she said. "It helps them concentrate more. That's when the swing came in."

She said the students have to take turns at the different seating. There are no seating charts in her classes.

"For special ed kids and all students, it gives them an alternative. Even for regular ed kids," she said. "Sometimes kids turn in their best work when they're comfortable when they're working. It's hard for them to sit at a desk and focus all day long."

Worden said she found out about the grant at the beginning-of-year banquet. This was the second time she had applied for it, as she did not receive it the first time.

"I was excited," she said. "The swing is the one thing I did try to get the year before, so I was excited to be able to get it."

Students love the alternative seating, she said. At the beginning of the year, it is a little difficult reminding them they have to work and not visit and that they have to share their favorite seats. However, Worden said she has seen improvements in student work, especially from those who have trouble concentrating.

General News on 02/14/2019