Past projects 6
Reading for Diversity
Funded Sep 3, 2020Thank you SO much for your generous donations! I have already started recording videos of myself reading the books and I can't wait to start reading them live with the classes! I know these books, which are so timely, will generate important classroom discussions. I could not have done this without your support! I am so happy I will be able to use literature to help discuss important topics like diversity and safety issues (like wearing a mask.)
The book Little Spot Learns Online is the perfect way to start off the school year since we are currently remote!”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Brien
This classroom project was brought to life by Cartier Philanthropy and 2 other donors.Serene Sensory Spaces!
Funded Feb 22, 2019Thank you so much for supporting this project! My students have LOVED the bubble tube. It is a great tool to show them and help them look at while they are practicing deep breathing and calming their bodies down. They are also really enjoying the sensory mats, which is another great self-regulation tool. We have been using the scarves in group to practice moving our bodies, while also respecting personal space and learning about different emotions. The books and cards on Mindfulness are amazing additions to our relaxation groups and space. Teaching children coping skills and how to calm down their bodies is so important in our world today. I thank you so much in helping add some additional tools to my toolbox!”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Brien
Calm Down Corners in Every Classroom
Funded Nov 14, 2017What an amazing project you have helped me carry out! We are able to put Peaceful Places to be used as a calm down corners in all 50 classrooms, including in all specialist teachers rooms! We have spent the past month printing, laminating, cutting and velcroing to make the Peaceful Place Choice Boards, Emotions chart and Coping Skills Cards. This will be changing the culture of our school.
With your help we used the glitter to make calm down bottles. We have the marble fidgets, stress balls, crayons, slinky and play-doh as sensory tools, which are already well-loved by our students! This is a wonderful project that will benefit all students of our school. We are able to teach them life-long coping skills thanks to your generous support!”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Brien
This classroom project was brought to life by Born This Way Foundation and 3 other donors.Hope & Healing Through Stories
Funded May 24, 2017Thank you so much for your generous donations. I am so excited to be able to help my students with these books through bibliotherapy!
I will be able to show students that they are not alone with some of the difficult experiences they are facing.
When a child loses someone they love, it is so hard to understand and explain death. The Invisible String and When Someone Very Special Dies, Help Me Say Goodbye and When Something Terrible Happens are excellent books to help children who are grieving.
Maybe Days is a fabulous book I'll be sharing for my children who are in foster care.
My Daddy's in Jail and Far Apart, Close in Heart have been so helpful when my student's have a family member who has been incarcerated.
The Bear Who Lost His Sleep is already a big hit and an amazing story about worrying too much and teaching children tools to deal with this. I know this will be helpful for many, many of my students!
And The Lunch Thief is amazing to not only teach impulse control, but also empathy and what it's like to be homeless.
These are all difficult subjects for young children to understand and face alone. Through your support, I am able to share these important books with my students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Brien
Breathe, Focus, Relax
Funded May 11, 2016Dear Donors,
I am moved beyond words at your generosity in helping me fund this project! My students are already loving to take turns to gong the Tibetan singing bowl!
The books your donations have provided us with are letting us learn more deeply about what mindfulness is and I look forward to continuing this work with the students next year. "What Does it Mean to be Present?" is a beautifully illustrated book that we have already brought into a whole classroom wide lesson to begin to teach more students about the power of mindfulness and living in the present moment.
The children have already loved to engage in the mindfulness scripts in the book by Nicola Kluge. When a student comes to my office and needs to calm their body and mind down before talking, I can now put on the "I Can Relax" CD and let them listen to it with their own headphones. After they listen to one of the guided meditations, they are able to process their thoughts and discuss what is bothering them much more easily and calmly.
Louise Hay's teachings in the book "I think, I am!" are perfect to teach young children the power of positive affirmations in their lives. I will be using this book to begin discussions about the power of thoughts and intentions and how when we change our thoughts, the world around us can change. This book has beautiful illustrations but also gives concrete examples for children about catching negative thoughts and how to change thought patterns to think more positively in their everyday lives.
The book "Master of Mindfulness How to be your own superhero in times of stress" is a great learning tool because it also talks about changes in the brain and how to use mindfulness to calm your brain down when distressed.
With these new resources, I will be able to teach my students life-long skills to help them Breathe, Focus and Relax whenever they are faced with adversity!”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Brien
Kids Do Well If They Can!
Funded Jun 28, 2013As we begin the 2013-2014 school year, the students at the Brookfield Elementary School feel a great deal of excitement and appreciation to have new resources available to meet their everyday needs throughout the school year. One of the Brookfield students said it best, "This puppet is awesome and will help me use my feeling words to feel better!" regarding our newest addition to our puppet collection (Beleduc Hand Puppet, Turtle.)
Our new resources will be utilized with individual students as well as in small groups providing specialized instruction. Our goal is to increase the overall social emotional functioning of students within the school environment. This will enhance students global ability to self-regulate within the classroom, independently relax during periods of high stress, develop healthy friendship, and better manage the day to day stressors they experience within the community.
Our project with Donors Choose has provided tools that have been in great need to better meet the needs of our ever changing population within our elementary school. Our project equipped the Brookfield Elementary School with new avenues to improve teaching strategies, which in tern will benefit the functioning of students across all arenas.”
With gratitude,
Ms. O'Brien