Past projects 6
Let the Kids Create!
Funded Mar 27, 2024I’m so excited this project got funded, and my students will be over the moon to get started with these materials. Thank you so so much for your support! My talented and creative students crave non-digital outlets for their energies and now we will have the stuff we need to make it happen. I also appreciate the words of encouragement many of you shared with me, and of course your generosity. It means a lot!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Captain Jack
This classroom project was brought to life by LOFT and 11 other donors.Help Us Build Our Own Creations with Wooden STEM Kits!
Funded Aug 27, 2023These STEM kits have been a monumental hit! I run an after school program called WaterCrafts where students can create pretty much and craft project they can dream up. We started off the first session with every student attempting a project from one of these STEM kits, and it was an instant success. Students have built a myriad of little projects: carousels, cars, elevators, roller coasters, walking dinosaurs, automatic garbage cans... the list goes on!
Each kit comes with all the tools needed and detailed (although sometimes flawed) instructions. As a teacher it's a real blessing to know that everything they need is in the box and (if there's something confusing or contradictory about it wasn't MY fault this time haha). But really that's what it's all about: problem solving toward a challenge or goal. And the vast majority of students who have attempted the kits have FELT challenged, overcome the obstacles, and come back for more again and again!
I'm happy to say that my supply is still going strong and students still stop by to try new kits everyday, and that when these eventually do run out I will be coming right back to DonorS Choose to get some more. Thanks so much for your generous help!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Captain Jack
This classroom project was brought to life by The SONIC Foundation and 2 other donors.It's Not a Sailboat Without Sails!
Funded Apr 18, 2023Sewing is back in middle school, and we have you to thank! Throughout my Harbor Studies class, our Brooklyn Boatworks Boatbuilding program, and my WaterCrafts afterschool program, students are OBSESSED with using my three sewing machines. You've helped give us the materials to develop our skills, make sails for our boats, and a myriad of other creative projects.
Our Boatworks Launch last June was a huge success and meant a lot to our students. It's a moment when all our hard work pays off and we actually get to use our sailboats, but also when our kids get to see how far-reaching this amazing program is. Numerous schools come together in one big sailing event. As the NY Harbor Middle School, our school felt like we really belonged their, and we were proud representing out name and our mission. Knowing that we had taken our boat build a step further with sail construction really gave our students something to smile at.
We all learned a lot from this experience, myself included, and as we go through the process again this year. I can't thank you enough for helping us on the very first iteration, and we will continue to feel grateful as we replicate and develop this process for years to come.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Captain Jack
Our Sailboats Need Sails... Help Us Make Them Ourselves!
Funded Dec 6, 2022I can't thank you enough for helping us get this amazing piece of equipment, the Sailrite Fabricator Industrial Sewing Machine. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
At the risk of sounding a little melodramatic, a sewing machine is a very special thing! In this age of screen-time saturation, the word technology often refers to devices where the magic of human ingenuity is hidden from view. A sewing machine, on the other hand, carries its evolution on full display. Learning to use the machine is an education in itself and is actually a transfer of knowledge from one generation to the next.
As I had anticipated, my students are completely enamored with the experience of using the Fabricator sewing machine. First, they learned how to operate it. That's always the easy part. Now they are learning how to troubleshoot it when it needs adjustment or gets jammed. They have gone from sewing little practice pieces to making small items like pillows and tote bags, and now we are starting to work on constructing the sails for our two student-made sailboats. The sense of pride and investment is growing with each day, and I'm often able to stand back and watch them operate the machine and design their own creations without any help from me at all. I see them teaching each other and working together to solve problems on their own.
I know this machine will be an integral part of the classroom for years to come. It's become one of the focal points of my classroom and kids are all eager to get to the front of the line to be the next one to use it. The only problem is that they are hooked, and we're going to eventually need more of these! I can't thank you enough for helping to make this happen.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Captain Jack
This classroom project was brought to life by Optimum and 10 other donors.Game Show Buzzers Make Learning Fun!
Funded Nov 4, 2021Thank you so much for supporting our classroom by getting us this Buzzer System! I believe that students learn best when they're having fun and I've learned that giving my classroom a game show atmosphere is a great way to do this. This amazing light up buzzer system makes any content fun!
Sadly, a lot of our students are playing catch up on academics since the pandemic. My second graders, for example, hadn't attended regular in-person school between March of 2020 and this year. They were in Kindergarten back then! This has left many of them behind on their reading level, and our school has implemented a rigorous phonics curriculum to help them catch up. The kids themselves want to improve so badly too!
However, phonics instruction can sometimes be dry and repetitive. I do my best to incentivize their participation and keep them engaged, but it can be a challenge. But with a buzzer system like this, class is a game show and every kid is dying to participate! I can even see that they are decoding words more carefully because they really want to get points in the games.
Beyond my role teaching phonics, our school has a unique mission as it transitions to become the first Harbor Middle School in New York City. We're surrounded by water here in Red Hook, but most of our kids have little or no experience with the shoreline or the ocean. I teach a class called "Harbor Studies" in which we do hands on work with ocean animals and projects like building and testing model boats. These type of activities are generally very high-interest, but we also have to pause the fun and learn the concepts behind the wonder tool. For example, we don't just hold crabs and oysters from New York Harbor, we have to learn their interconnected roles in the NY Harbor food web. Again, this buzzer system is invaluable for these moments.
I am deeply grateful for your support and rest assured this item will be used extensively this year and for years to come. Thank you!
Since our school”
With gratitude,
Mr. Captain Jack
This classroom project was brought to life by Con Edison and 5 other donors.Learning Spanish is Better With A Buzzer!
Funded Oct 27, 2013I want express my sincerest thanks, on behalf of myself and my students, for helping us get the buzzer system for our classroom. By the time it arrived, my students had developed high expectations for what it would be like they have definitely not been disappointed.
The buzzers are a huge hit in the classroom. At first I started using them primarily to review the content of a unit before a test, but I realized that they were learning more from the review than from the lessons leading up to it. Now I use the buzzers pretty much once a week with each of my classes. It is always interesting to see which kids come alive during these moments, as they are often the kids who don't show that much enthusiasm during more typical lessons. Since I have a mixture of native Spanish speakers and beginners in my Spanish classes, I was anticipating some difficulty balancing the teams during classroom Jeopardy games. To my relief, this has not been a problem at all, since all students can keep their notes with them during the games. This gives their notebooks a whole new relevance, and they now have a strong motivation for taking good notes that they can understand and call upon for answers. This is an important skill that they need to develop as soon as possible to be successful in all their subjects, in Middle School and beyond.
Although it took some troubleshooting to work out the best arrangement, I now have the buzzers in a canvas bag that I can deploy quickly and hook up seamlessly to the computer and projector. The buzzers themselves are holding up extremely well under the rigors of much enthusiastic smacking by student hands. My students and I thank you, as will the students I teach in years to come.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Captain Jack