Mrs. Brus' Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 8

• Making Our Classroom Cozy!

  Funded Sep 27, 2024

  Thank you once again for your generosity to help my classroom become a cozy and functional space for all. As an intervention teacher, I see almost 100 students every day for reading, math, and English language services. It can be difficult to create a space that works for so many students with different needs. However, the items that I received through Donor's Choose have made that task possible! Having the classroom storage such as baskets, totes, and bins make switching instructions and tasks easy and seamless. Students are able to get the materials they need quickly and effectively. All of the flexible seating options are wonderful and give students the opportunity to work in a space that best fits each individual's needs.

  Students enjoy coming into my room and seeing an organized, functional space that is clean and tidy and is conducive to learning and achieving. This wouldn't be possible without your support.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Brus

  This classroom project was brought to life by Governor Jared Polis.

• Everyone Can Be a Reader

  Funded Sep 24, 2023

  Thank you so much for your generosity in helping my students become better readers and writers! My students were very excited to see all of our new materials and learning tools!

  We began using the new resources right away. The basic supplies like markers and whiteboards allowed my students more access to having more opportunities to practice skills. The books provided high interest read alouds to get students excited about reading. The organizer materials help keep everything neat, organized, and easy to reach.

  Overall, these materials have really impacted my ability to teach my students how to read and also their abilities to learn and grow as readers. I am so grateful for these materials to help me do my job more effectively and efficiently.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Brus

  This classroom project was brought to life by Gov. Jared Polis & the Colorado Dept. of Education.

• Help My Students See Letter Sounds

  Funded Oct 11, 2022

  Wow! I can't even begin to describe how I excited I am that this project got funded! Since using it, I have seen such a huge difference in my students' abilities to learn and pronounce letter sounds. It has been especially impactful on my students who are learning English.

  At first, many students were confused by all the mouths that now filled our learning space. However, as I explained to them the purpose and importance, many of them became very excited to have such a cool resource. The vowel sound cards in particular have been very popular. Many students are using the hand mirrors to look at how their mouths move and then comparing it the pictures to determine which vowel sound they need. My native Spanish speakers have really benefitted since some of the vowel sounds are very similar in English so it can be confusing for them to hear the difference. However, their mouths move differently when saying the sounds so watching and comparing their mouths has opened up a new tool for them to utilize.

  Once again, thank you so much for all the support for my students and their learning to read!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Brus

  This classroom project was brought to life by Panda Cares and 8 other donors.

• Starting The Year Off Right!

  Funded Apr 29, 2018

  Thank you so much for your generosity and support for my kindergarteners. Although I am currently on maternity leave, I know that these necessary classroom supplies have really helped us get off to a great start! We use whiteboard markers multiple times a day in all subjects, but especially reading and math. The play-doh has also been big hit, especially for helping students learn to write their names, letters, and numbers.

  Students love using these fun and exciting tools to help them learn and get smart! Whenever we bring out these materials, they get so excited! They love using different materials other than paper and pencil to learn and show what they know. Since most of my students come from low income backgrounds, most have not used materials like these before so it is extra special to be able to expose them to markers and play-doh.

  My long term sub has updated me that students are progressing on learning their letters, sounds, and numbers. These materials have really helped them make so much progress in such a short time. When I return in October, we will continue to work on these skills as well as add in higher skills such as putting sounds together to read words and working with higher numbers.

  Thank you again for all your support!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Brus

• Teachers Need To Learn Too!

  Funded Oct 30, 2017

  Wow! What an inspiring and amazing experience! The minute I set foot in the school, I knew I was in for a special and magical day. All the traveling educators were greeted with loud playing music and students cheering and welcoming us to their school. The students' excitement to learn and to have us there was so genuine, and I could not wait to start the day. There were three main parts to our day: classroom observations, workshops with the teachers, and presentations from the co-founders, Ron Clark and Kim Bearden. The classroom observations were so inspiring because we got to see authentic, engaging, and magical teaching in action. Students were singing songs and chants to help them remember advanced concepts, they were dancing and celebrating other students' success, and they were standing on tables and chairs to get their points across to others. The smiles on their faces and the excitement in their voices showed their love of learning and their enthusiasm to continue to learn more! The workshops with the teachers provided more information about each teacher, why they teach the way they teach, and take home messages for the traveling educators. It was amazing to hear from one of the teachers, Hope King, a teacher that I have followed on social media since I started teaching six years ago. She taught us all about engaging lessons and how to keep the engagement levels high throughout the day. Lastly, hearing from Ron Clark and Kim Bearden about why they founded the school and how to keep the passion alive left me feeling rejuvenated and ready to return to school.

  One of the highlights of my trip was becoming "Slide Certified." In the Ron Clark Academy, there is a huge, blue, curvy slide. But it's not just any slide - it's a symbol that when you slide down, you are becoming part of the revolution to change the teaching profession as we currently know it by incorporating some of the strategies that we learned about at RCA. Another main highlight was the classroom observations and seeing how the teachers and students interacted. While observing Ron Clark teach, I was blown away. He was teaching trigonometry to fifth grades using the beats of classical music and hand motions. No one was talking, but everyone was engaged in ways I've never seen and learning how to do very complex concepts. They then discussed answers and misconceptions, but the entire discussion was very student-led, something that can be hard to do.

  One of my biggest takeaways was when Ron Clark said that in most schools, we teach to the lower or average students, often placing our higher students on the back burner. At RCA, they teach to the highest students and the expectation is that all others will rise to that level. Students often meet or exceed that challenge, learning more and more. Since returning to my classroom, i have begun to teach more difficult things to my kindergarteners. For example, although most of my students are working on consonant-vowel-consonant words (CVC words), I have begun to incorporate blends, something that my higher students are ready for but haven't had the chance to practice yet. Almost all of my students are now able to write the blends that they hear in words. Another large takeaway for me was making my lessons more engaging and exciting by incorporating songs, chants, dances, hand motions, and cheers. I have always incorporated these into my teaching, but I want to take it to the next level.

  I am so thankful to have had this opportunity, and I can't wait to continue to impact the lives of my students.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Brus

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 2 other donors.

• Food for Thought

  Funded Aug 28, 2017

  Thank you also much for your generosity and thoughtfulness in providing snack for my kindergarten class! Being a late start school, schools ends at 4:00, so having a daily snack eliminates afternoon hunger and allows us to continue learning until the end of the school day. Snack also gives students an opportunity practice strong social skills such as manners in an authentic way. Saying please, thank you, and cleaning up are all vital skills for success that my students are building each and every day.

  My students are always so excited to have snack every day. Fruit snacks are the most popular, without Goldfish crackers being a close second. They were very excited to see the boxes, and they enjoy having a variety of snacks throughout the week. We have also been sharing snack with the other kindergarteners so that they can continue to learn and get smart.

  I continually tell my students to work hard so they will get smart. Having snack allows them to continue working hard at school all day long. As we continue to learn letter names, letter sounds, high frequency words, numbers, and shapes, we will build on this foundation to begin to learn to read, write, add, and subtract.

  Thank you again for everything you have done for my class. We are so grateful to you!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Brus

  This classroom project was brought to life by Life Essentials Supporters and 5 other donors.

• We Are Artists!

  Funded Dec 21, 2016

  We are so grateful for your generosity and thoughtfulness in helping us get art supplies for our classroom! My students and I have loved being more creative and incorporating lots of different art into our classroom. We have used the water color paints to to talk about pigments, construction paper to make winter trees, and paint brushes to mix primary colors to make secondary colors. The blocks and play-doh are classroom favorites during our free choice time. Although not used specifically for art, my kindergarteners love being imaginative with these two items. They routinely make castles and tall towers with the blocks, exclaiming with excitement as they add more and more blocks. The play-doh is always used to make pretend food, instruments, and shapes as students talk and laugh together.

  My class was very excited when they saw the boxes arrive to our classroom. They loved the unveiling of our new supplies and tools. Their smiles were so big, and they couldn't wait to begin using the art supplies. Every time I say we have an art project to work on, they cheer with excitement. It's very apparent that they don't have these supplies at home so having them at school is such a gift.

  We will continue to use the supplies every week during our art time. We are currently working on making butterflies and learning about how butterfly wings are symmetrical. We painted half of our butterfly, and then we folded it so both sides would look the same. These will go on display so everyone can see them in our school. I am also researching projects for St. Patrick's Day as well as spring-themed projects and art projects that are about Arizona.

  My class and I are so thankful to have the opportunity to create freely, and we can now create so much more. Thanks again!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Brus

• Don't Let the Students Stop Reading!

  Funded Nov 5, 2012

  The moment I told my students about how there were some generous people out in the world who decided to gift us many new Mo Willems books, there were cheers, screams, and students jumping up and down. The excitement grew exponentially when I pulled out the new Mo Willems tub for all of the new books to be kept.

  For about 15 minutes, my students poured into them; many of them reading the words. They also laughed with each other, showed each other pictures, and traded to be able to see all of them.

  Every day during literacy centers, these books are a popular choice for students to read during a center in which they can look at books in the classroom library. From my guided reading table, I can often hear students reading the words, putting emotion, fluency, and expression into each word that they say.

  These books that you have given to my students and I are such a blessing and will touch many more students with each passing year that I am a teacher. It is so wonderful and inspiring to hear students cheering over books and reading the words with such enthusiasm, especially coming from students who don't have many books at home.

  Once again, thank you for your generosity and please know that your donation has made such a difference in the lives of my students and for my future students.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Brus

  This classroom project was brought to life by Build-a-Bear Workshop Foundation and 3 other donors.