Past projects 9
Kicking Classroom Cooties to the Curb!
Funded Mar 27, 2018As the school nurse, one of the first things that I have students do when they enter my health room (regardless of their complaints!) is to wash their hands. Unfortunately, without fail, students will miss an important step in the hand washing process, whether it is not fully wetting their hands, not using soap (!!!), or rinsing soap off with out actually rubbing their hands together. This was so shocking to me. Ask anyone in health care what is the number one way to prevent illness and infection and they will unequivocally tell you HAND WASHING!
As a result of my observations of students, I decided to take on a school-wide hand washing campaign. Fortunately, all of our classrooms in grades K-3 have sinks in them. Unfortunately, they are not always equipped with soap. The items that your generous donations helped me purchase, include posters with simple and visual instructions for the steps of hand washing. These posters were posted in every classroom near their sinks and in school bathrooms as well. Additionally, every classroom received a foaming soap dispenser (just to make hand washing a little more enticing!) and unlimited soap refills available! Each staff member also received a container of Clorox disinfecting wipes with helpful for hints for where and when to employ them to decrease germs school-wide.
Hand washing has become a topic of conversation at school, while escorting kids through the hallways, waiting to go to lunch, and via reminders for heading to the bathroom. These kids have cooties on the brain!
The impact of employing the aforementioned cannot be understated. So far this year, I have had no reports of flu from students or teachers! The amount of student sent home early for illness, vomiting, fever has decreased exponentially. Not to mention preventing parents or guardians from losing valuable hours at their places of employment to care for a sick child.
I work with a high needs population of children. Every minute at school counts. I am so happy to see an increased well-being of students and staff at my school. Thanks again for your generous donation. Sometimes the simplest things make the greatest impact!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Boyle
This classroom project was brought to life by Ripple and 4 other donors.K-2 Autistic Support - LCD projector
Funded Nov 22, 2013In an era of smart boards, tablets, and lap top technology, the school district where I work is severely underfunded and woefully behind the times. This is unfortunate, especially considering my students are such visual learners. Your donation has helped me close the technology gap in my classroom. I purchased a wireless projector which has allowed me to display math lesson videos and activities from our math curriculum, digital worksheets that the students can complete on our white board, and has allowed me to expand my teaching methods to songs, games, and videos from the internet. My students love when we use the projector and battle to see who gets to turn off the lights or turn on the projector. I love that I can use the projector to interact with me and with each other during whole group activities. And of course, as is my policy, I always share with my colleagues so more classrooms can benefit from your generosity. Please know that your donation has made a powerful impact!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Boyle
K-2 Autistic Support- Consumable Math Materials!
Funded Nov 19, 2013Thank you so much for funding the math materials for my classroom. My students love their workbooks and they treat them with pride and care. We use the Go Math workbooks every day during our math lessons, and the skills books as supplemental work during precious free moments.
One the of the great things about these workbooks is that not only am I able to use them to reinforce math skills but they serve an an excellent tool for language development and sequencing tasks. The ability to follow a sequence or a process is frequently taken for granted by many people as something that is simply acquired through exposure. However, most of my students present with significant language needs so multi-step processes require explicit teaching and many repetitions. Using these workbooks, I have been able to teach my students how to identify numbers, and therefore how to locate page numbers. I have taught them the process of ALWAYS writing their name on their work and writing the date (as a number!). They are learning how to first read directions for each math problem and how to identify questions and statements. The greatest benefit that I've noticed is that once they master the processes and sequences, the math is easy for them!
Please know that your donation has made such an amazing impact on my students. They would not have made such wonderful progress without your generosity. We are eternally grateful!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Boyle
K-2 Autistic Support- Reading Supplies Needed!
Funded Sep 21, 2013Thank you so much for funding our reading materials. We LOVE them! As a teacher I have gotten so much mileage out of all the materials already. Everyday we have guided reading using the books sets that were purchased. We've already read through the entire set of Sight Word readers. My students learned appropriate reading group behaviors such as tracking words when another student is reading, listening when to turn the page, and of course, actually reading the words! The Sight Word set had a series of accompanying writing worksheets so I used them to teach sentence writing. Now my students are writing independently in a writing journal. I sent home reproducible copies of the books for them to read to their parents. My student's parents are impressed with the progress that they've made.
We've moved on to the word family books. Their reading abilities have expanded exponentially and they are demonstrating that they can generalize reading behaviors to more difficult texts. I even started sending one of my students to the regular education classroom for a guided reading group. This is a huge deal and mark of success. We could not have done it without your generous contribution!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Boyle
K-2 Students With Autism- Art Supplies And Basic Supplies!
Funded Sep 16, 2013Most of my students have significant communication issues but one thing that they can all say with exceptional clarity is "thank you." If I could record their little voices saying it I would. It's pretty adorable. Their excitement when they see their new art supplies says it all.
Imagine a school with no art materials! Imagine a classroom with no paper! Imagine cold season without tissues! Your gift helped us buy much needed art supplies and basic classroom supplies that we use daily to function. Almost all of these resources are used on a daily basis to help our classroom a fun and functional environment.
Here are some of the highlights that resulted from your donation:
1. We were able to almost completely bypass the worst of flu season because we had enough tissues! Last year it seemed like someone was always sick!
2. We made amazing dragon masks for the Lunar New Year with our nice new sturdy card stock and glitter.
3. Our water color paints are beloved! Every other Friday we have "Fun Friday" and water colors are the prized activity.
4. The dry erase markers are priceless to me! I laminate activity pages printed on card stock and the kids can practice, practice, practice basic writing and math skills without going through reams of paper.
This is just a tiny slice of what we've done with your donations. Our classroom would not have been the same without your generosity!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Boyle
K-2 Autistic Support Classroom- Theme Boxes
Funded Apr 13, 2013I don't know if it's possible for me to show enough gratitude for your support of this project. I am positively giddy with excitement and my students are absolutely thrilled with our new materials.
As you probably already know, drastic funding cuts has brought public education to its knees. Much of the time that should be spent planning rigorous instruction is used in acquiring or cobbling together homemade resources. In public education we face a lot of doom and gloom but these theme boxes are a bright shining tunnel of light for our little classroom.
Each theme box provides a visual feast, excites and engages students, and most importantly, motivates them to communicate and interact with me and the other students.
Thank you so much for your support of a Free and Appropriate Public Education for ALL students!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Boyle
K-2 Autistic Support Classroom- Literacy and Language
Funded Mar 5, 2013Thank you for your very generous donation! As a result of drastic funding cuts, we in public education are facing some stark realities, namely an increasing lack of curricular materials.
It broke my heart at the beginning of the school year when the school district only supplied my brand new k-2 autistic support classroom with a trampoline, some wooden puzzles, and some handwriting workbooks. It spoke volumes of their view of students with autism. However, with your help I have been able to provide my students with academically appropriate literacy instruction using materials that are engaging, exciting, and meet their specific needs. They are keeping pace with their peers in the regular education environment! Yay!
The file folder activities that were funded allow me to differentiate instruction and provide opportunities for positive social interaction. The language kits contain fun manipulatives that motivate students to expand their verbal repertoires- they want, they speak, they get!
I think I can speak on behalf of all my fellow teachers and colleagues when I wholeheartedly extend my thanks for your support of a Free and Appropriate Public Education for ALL students!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Boyle
K-2 Autistic Support Classroom- Occupational Therapy!
Funded Feb 18, 2013Thank you very much for your generous donation! You have funded some desperately needed occupational therapy resources. The reality is that our district's occupational therapists are stretched thin, with many having caseloads of up to 60 students. This makes addressing all students needs virtually impossible. Therefore, the OT and I work as a team to integrate simple strategies and activities into the daily routine so that students are immersed in an environment that allows them opportunities to practice fine and gross motor skills and visual motor skills.
By using the OT vest, shoe tying activity, and fine motor binder that you funded, my students are improving their functional skills. The biggest and best payoff is that they gain a feeling of independence and confidence!
Your support of students with autism and public education is greatly appreciated!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Boyle
K-2 Autistic Support Classroom - Math Centers
Funded Feb 16, 2013Thank you very much for your generous donation. We are a brand new autistic support classroom, which means we are starting from scratch. The powers that be down at district administration clearly underestimated the potential of my students because the only supplies I received were a trampoline, a couple of wooden puzzles, and some handwriting books. Little did they know that I have some smart cookies in my classroom!
Your donation has funded some desperately needed math materials that have allowed me to keep pace with the same curriculum used in the regular education environment while meeting the specific needs of my students. My students absolutely love our new math files folder activities, puzzles, and manipulatives because they are fun and engaging and I love them because I can devote more time to planning and teaching instead of spending time making my own materials!
Thank you for believing in a Free and Appropriate Public Education for ALL students!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Boyle