Past projects 31
Gettin' My Teach On for My Military Students
Funded Dec 29, 2017The conference was amazing! It was high energy from start to finish, invigorating as I stood among my peers who also have a passion for teaching, and the opportunity to share best practices on such a huge scale truly made my heart soar! I am ready for the new school year to start because I am so revved up! I try to create learning experiences for my learners, but my toolkit is busting at the seams now!
Nonfiction reading with neon classes, highlighters, and note-taking elevates the task to a new level. Integrating STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) into each and every day as opposed to once a week or when work is completed will be a great change.
Listening to Hope and Wade King share their stories and ways they connect personally with each and every student further reminded me of my WHO and WHY. I am blessed to be in this profession where I can make a difference for each and every learner. This conference has ignited my flame and I am ready to take off for the 2018-2019 school year!
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. This was truly a once in a lifetime experience and I have also made new teaching friends along the way. Thank you.”
With gratitude,
Dr. Morgan
This classroom project was brought to life by Craig Newmark Philanthropies and 8 other donors.Making Learning Flexible!
Funded Mar 16, 2018Wow! My kids are LOVING the new seating options. Some students who thrive when working independently love the ability to take one of the portable desk seat trays and go work separately. The covered donut cushion provides a great alternative to the hard plastic seats. The balance ball chair was the highlight of their day and they began taking turns and making a plan for sharing it without any direction from me. The two Kore Wobble Chairs are a couple inches taller than the others in our room so now many of the kids will go to these first and then talk about how grown up they are.
Thank you for providing such exciting options for my students. They are loving the variety of seating options and my students are thriving as they find the seating that best suits them and their learning. I sincerely appreciate your generosity!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Morgan
Lighting My Spark with Ron Clark
Funded Jun 10, 2017I cannot begin to explain how grateful I am to have gone to the Ron Clark Academy! This has been a dream of mine since it opened. Ron Clark is a teacher-author whose philosophy is to revolutionize education by combining academic rigor, passion, creativity, and a strict code of discipline. Their mission is to "To be the best school in the world by demonstrating transformative methods and techniques that are embraced and replicated everywhere." During the training, we were taught how to engage students, promote academic rigor in classrooms and schools, and create a climate and culture that encourages success.
When I walked through the doors of the Ron Clark Academy, I could not believe my eyes. There was a dragon skeleton in the lobby! RCA's motto is "dream big" and this is evident everywhere! Each classroom is personalized to the teacher's interest because, as Ron says, the teacher is the driving force in the classroom. From the moment we walked in we were welcomed with cheers, chants, and extremely polite and poised students who introduced us to the school and gave us all the information we needed. We were swooped away through this Hogwarts-like school to several trainings - we got to see the teachers in action with students and also met with teachers one-on-one for trainings on specific topics. It was amazing to see the different personalities of the teachers and one of my biggest take-aways was that passion comes in all forms and educators need to find their niche and let their personality seep into their classrooms.
The energy all over the school was absolutely electric! The classrooms were full of chants, cheers, and callbacks, which are something I already employ, but will immediately amp up in my classroom. The energy in the classrooms was also high because of the sense of urgency the teachers possessed. Not a second was wasted- transitions were seamless and the teachers were extremely prepared. I have worked to have this in my classroom but am committed to making it more efficient so kids are more engaged and we are covering more content.
The Ron Clark Academy employs a House System, much like Hogwarts! Students are separated into houses and these houses earn points for behavior and academics. We were trained on how to take this system back to our schools to promote a sense of family, belonging, and community throughout the building.
We also learned how to bring "magic" into our classrooms with room transformations, games, and "outside the box" thinking when dealing with curriculum. I was inspired to review my standards and start coming up with creative ways to bring in that magic!
I was both encouraged and challenged during my time at the Ron Clark Academy. The educators spoke hard truths to us about education and our contribution to some of its shortcomings, and they also spoke life to us, encouraging us and giving us tools we could immediately take back to our classrooms. It was a truly transformative experience. As I sit here at the airport to head home from RCA, all I can do is reflect, sit in awe, and try to remain calm as my ideas are exploding and I am ready to add some more to learning in my room. I am forever grateful for this opportunity!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Morgan
Fun Fine Motor Fitness
Funded Jun 14, 2017My students are LOVING all of the fine motor resources. They are so excited to come to school in the morning and choose their favorite station. I was also able to quickly identify who needed the additional practice and guide them to these centers. As shown in one picture, a student who couldn't cut was working with the bug station where the grabber mirrors the handle of scissors. These repetitive motions and gripping are strengthening his hands, too! I swapped out the stations for some playdoh and they immediately asked when they were being put out. When they have choice centers, these are all a favorite.
I appreciate your generosity and continued support of my students. I love to see their elated faces each day and these provided additional resources for me to support them. Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Morgan
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, OH MY! Kinder STEM
Funded Nov 21, 2016Thank you so much for your generosity! The STEM kits arrived right before our winter break. My kids squealed with delight (and maybe their teacher did, too). I knew that it would be the ideal team building exercise to start out our new semester when we returned. I was right! My kids bonded, supported one another, and explored so many engineering concepts that it completely blew my mind. The Three Billy Goats Gruff set had them create a bridge. They had to figure out the dimensions (math) and illustrate the overall plan and layout (science and engineering). My students were reconnecting and focusing on their support of one another and working well together. The Goldilocks and the Three Bears one helped start some amazing conversations about size, weight, and more. These 6 sets have now become brain boxes which are boxes students can grab when work or a station is complete. My students are begging to try it out independently! I love their excitement and enthusiasm for it!
When I wrote this grant I listed my 25 students as getting to enjoy them. These were so successful and engaging for my kids that I will also be sharing them with the entire kindergarten grade level (150 students approximately). The fairy tale aspect really helped connect to our fairy tale and folktales learning so it has truly helped support our classroom.
Thank you for your generosity and for making such a huge difference for my kindergarteners' learning.”
With gratitude,
Dr. Morgan
Flexible Seating for Success
Funded Jul 2, 2016Dear Donors,
My students absolutely love our ball chair and bounce cushions! It has allowed for movement when they're seated and also been and a soft bounce motion when comfort is needed. My more active students have been able to give more attention and focus on tasks because they aren't confined or restricted with their movement.
I am so grateful for the transformation I have seen with behavior when I actively use the flexible seating options like the bounce cushions and the ball chair. With these little learners it can be hard to maintain their attention and engage them even when the content is exciting. Thank you for supporting my students. It is greatly appreciated!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Morgan
Wiggly Bottoms Need Wobble Chairs
Funded Jul 11, 2016Dear Donors,
My students absolutely love our wobble chairs! It has allowed for movement when they're seated and also been a gentle rocking motion when comfort is needed. My more active students have been able to give more attention and focus on tasks because they aren't confined or restricted with their movement.
I am so grateful for the transformation I have seen with behavior when I actively use the flexible seating options like wobble chairs. With these little learners it can be hard to maintain their attention and engage them even when the content is exciting. Thank you for supporting my students. It is greatly appreciated!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Morgan
Engaging Eager Elementary Entrepreneurs
Funded Dec 30, 2014Thank you so much for supporting my students as they explore their entrepreneurial spirit! The kids are having a blast with their economics project! We started out learning about consumers, producers, goods, services, needs, and wants. We transitioned into working an assembly line as pizzeria employees and now we're working as a complete factory! Students completed job applications for the positions of: boss, marketing, tape wrappers, curlers, Quality Control, and pen checkers. The selected boss said his desire to be boss was "to encourage others". I love it!
To explain how engaged and excited my students are, they don't want to stop for recess they want to keep working! It is hilarious to hear them declare their "backs hurt" or "it's hard to work a job". Now they understand their parents and adults!
My students are grasping not only economics concepts, but learning about hard work and financial literacy with their daily income for time worked and choice to save or spend at our grade level wide event.
This is such a memorable event. Thank you for supplying to materials to bring my vision to life.”
With gratitude,
Dr. Morgan
This classroom project was brought to life by Cognizant Technology Solutions and 4 other donors.Splashing Our Way to Sea World!
Funded Dec 22, 2014Thank you so much for supporting this amazing trip for my students. They had a fantastic time. They haven't stopped talking about their favorite events: feeding the alligators and seeing one eat a koi fish, learning that dolphins have belly buttons, being splashed by Shamu, seeing flamingos, and learning more about penguins. My students were amazed by the Beluga Whale show and learned more about adaptations and habitats for these animals than any book or in-classroom experience could ever provide. We're starting our animal research projects over ocean animals and this was an engaging introduction to it! Now they have heard some of the vocabulary in a real world situation which will help them relate to it during our lessons. That is invaluable.
Additionally, we had a total of 16 chaperones and a few siblings accompany us, and for these military children, this was a memorable bonding experience that they will not soon forget. Thank you for giving so selflessly. It really means a lot to my students and to me.”
With gratitude,
Dr. Morgan
This classroom project was brought to life by Disney and 2 other donors.Mathematician Hot Shots Need Hot Dots!
Funded Aug 24, 2014Our 1st grade classroom is extremely appreciative of your very, very generous donations. They were excited when the box arrived and they cheered on our custodian who brought it in during the day. We all participated in opening the box and exploring our materials. Our classroom has come alive as my students are finding that learning with hot dots is a game to challenge themselves! Learning is happening in every which way, and the best part is, my students don't even know it because they are having such a wonderful time playing and practicing skills with their awesome hot dots.
I'm writing this letter to you, just to inform you of what a nice change in excitement for learning I have seen with my students since receiving all of our fun, new learning supplies. We were always excited to learn, but hot dots united students as all want to use them and feelings aren't hurt if I ask a student to work with them when work is completed as I target individual skills. I will use them in after school tutoring and love the ability for students to receive immediate feedback. I love making learning fun and engaging! I feel like we are on top of our "game" thanks to your help with making our classroom an even more exciting, independent, and fun learning environment.
Again, thank you very much for giving to our class. We really appreciate you!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Morgan
This classroom project was brought to life by Gates Foundation Back To School and 3 other donors.