The quiet down corner centre is a constructive approach to dealing with students who have difficulty controlling their emotions. Used correctly, can help you meet your students’ social and emotional needs, allowing them to quiet down and work through their problems, rather than hitting out.
SO, HOW DO YOU BUILD A QUIET DOWN CORNER?
You need an ideal spot in the room
You want a place that is a little remote from the rest of the class, preferably angle or somewhere behind the corner room must be somewhere where students who are depressed will not feel other students staring or judgment them
The corner should also:
- Have enough room for chairs or small tables
- Space must be at least semi-private
- It must come out of fellow student’s vision
Add some furniture
After you have the perfect room, set a small chair and a table there so they can feel comfortable and safe. Or, you might want to consider the Bean Bag seat if you want them to be more comfortable. Making a tablespace allows you to set the reflection and worksheets that they can use later to resolve their emotions.
ADD SOME MEANINGFUL POSTERS
The purpose of this space is to help children work and handle their emotions, and you can add meaningful posters to help them with this process.
Here are some suggestions
- A Breathing Technique Sign
- A sign asking students to evaluate their anger/feelings on a scale of 1-1
- A sign listing what students could do in space
- A sign discussing trafficking with emotional explosions or intimidators
ADD IN A FEW TOYS AND TOOLS
No quiet Down Center is complete without tools that help students do exactly that – quiet down. You can add toys that you have noticed to have the most effect on your student’s behaviour. Here are some of our best choices:
- Glitter Jars
- Puffer Squeeze balls
- Sensory Stixx
- Timers
- Playdough, etc.
TELL THE STUDENTS ABOUT THE CORNER
The final and largest step is to tell students about your early learning centre on the corner and show them how to use it. Your final goal is to help each student who is sent to the corner to calm down and join the class. Be clear that it’s not a fancy point of detention or play space.
Conclusion
Take them through all the exercises on time, they should understand and use space for this purpose. If this succeeds in the learning centre, they will probably use it in other areas of their lives.