Mrs. W's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 18

• Every Response Matters!

  Funded Aug 12, 2021

  I cannot tell you enough how much the "answer paddles" have improved learning and assessment in our classroom this year! The plastic partitions at each student's desk have made visibility even worse than I thought it would be. If I am sitting at my desk / presentation station, I can't clearly see the faces of the students beyond the first 3. When students raise their hands, sometimes I can't see those either. With the paddles, I can ask every student to share their answers and/or ideas and hold them high. Up above the plastic barriers, I can clearly see all their responses and quickly assess for understanding.

  Students were excited to receive their own paddles and dry erase supplies. They also get excited every time we take them out during lessons. An unexpected benefit is that the shy students are not afraid to share with this method. It might take a few students a little longer to respond than others, but eventually, I get a response from 100% of the class.

  I'm also noticing that many students are still having challenges readjusting to learning in the classroom. They are reluctant to participate and often do not want to take an active role in their lessons. With the use of the paddles, students are more likely to stay focused and think on their own during the lesson, because they know that everyone is expected to respond.

  Without your support, none of this would have been possible. We are all very appreciative! My students wanted to thank you as well - so please be sure see the photos I shared.

  Wishing you Happy Holidays!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. W

  This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 2 other donors.

• Store It With Style!

  Funded Sep 1, 2021

  My students were absolutely ecstatic to receive the lovely storage bags for their electronic accessories! They definitely feel special having a nice, high-quality item to store items in their desks instead of using grubby Ziploc baggies. I wish you could have heard the "ooo's" and "ah's" when they first held the soft bags in their hands!

  I feel so much better knowing that their supplies are better protected and that they themselves feel much more like professional students when they use their laptops in class. Moreover, these storage bags are much more suitable for storing their headphones without causing any bending or warping.

  Thank you so much for making my students feel loved and important!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. W

• Let's Write on the Wall!

  Funded Aug 25, 2021

  My students were very excited to see the Writing Wall go up in our classroom! They love getting up to write their responses, and now, they frequently ask when the next question will be posted!

  Students seem to really appreciate having a place to share their thoughts, feelings, and opinions, in a way that doesn't require any public speaking. They also seem to enjoy reading each others' answers and comparing and contrasting with one another. It has empowered certain students who are usually shy or reluctant to participate in discussions or complete assignments. This is an activity they get excited about and look forward to.

  The first few questions were pretty much low-key and based on everyday topics. As we go on this year, I will begin to pose more high-level questions that require students to think more deeply about social issues and their own day-to-day actions. I am also going to allow students to suggest topics and questions that they would like to pose to the class, giving them even more control over these activities.

  I really love seeing the excitement and joy on my students' faces when they write and when they read each others' work. It's a great resource area and I know that the class will only continue to get more and more out of the "Writing Wall" this year.

  Thanks again for your generous support of my classroom and my students!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. W

  This classroom project was brought to life by Kleenex® Brand and 7 other donors.

• Summer Reading to Stay Sharp!

  Funded May 19, 2020

  Thank you so much for contributing to our Donors Choose Project. You are amazing, and our students appreciated it very much! Back in March, when our students suddenly had to stay at home, under the "Shelter in Place" order, it was not easy for them to access books. Students no longer had access to our Scholastic Book fairs, our monthly book orders, the school library, or the public library.

  With your generous donations, we were able to purchase the gift of a wonderful book for each student to keep. Students received these books when they picked up their belongings on the last day of school in June. The books were perfect because not only were they grade-level appropriate, but they were also re-teaching an important topic we studied this year, taking care of the environment.

  Thank you so much for putting these books into the hands of our students!! We won't forget your generosity!

  Sincerely,

  Mrs. Baskerville, Mrs. Boram and Mrs. Witmeyer

  The 6th Grade Teachers @Franklin School”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. W

  This classroom project was brought to life by FamilyAlbum and one other donor.

• Saving the Planet, One Bottle at a Time!

  Funded May 15, 2020

  Thank you so much for your generosity in making a significant contribution to the 6th grade classes of 2019-2020, at Franklin School in San Jose, California. Our classes each researched and wrote persuasive essays and Google Slides presentations about human impact on the environment this past year, specifically pertaining to the impact that plastic has on our planet, and especially on our oceans. In their letters and Slides presentations, students asked their families and our community to stop using single-use plastic water bottles and to reduce their use of single-use plastics. They offered well researched and cheaper alternatives to buying single-use water bottles, such as the Brita water filtration system, so that families could have a less expensive, bottle-refillable system that would also help to reduce plastic pollution and waste.

  Your donation made it possible to provide each sixth grader with a reusable water bottle as some students did not have one before. Additionally, the water bottle was green and we printed the words "Franklin School, 2019-20" on them with adhesive lettering. After filling them with candy and a farewell note, we gave them as gifts for Sixth Grade Promotion. We hope that students will always keep this gift and when they use it, that they will remember what they learned about the importance of reducing plastic waste. We hope that students will use their reusable water bottles instead of single-use ones, therefore saving thousands of pieces of plastic from needlessly entering the oceans and environment.

  Thank you so much for your kind and generous gift, and for making a difference in the lives of children, our community and the future of the planet.

  Warm Regards,

  Mrs. Baskerville, Mrs. Boram and Mrs. Witmeyer

  Sixth Grade Teaching Team

  @Franklin School”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. W

  This classroom project was brought to life by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and 2 other donors.

• Class Library: Let's Go Graphic!

  Funded Mar 2, 2020

  Thank you all very, very much for supporting our classroom library!!! This purchase of a large collection of graphic novels gives my students more access to the kinds of books they want to read, but with the kind of content I want them to read about.

  Graphic novels are the most popular kinds of reading material with students these days, but too many are simple comics and silly stories. They often have limited vocabulary and students gain little by reading them, other than entertainment. Rather than continue to argue and plead with students to read more "real books," I have selected a good number of nonfiction graphic novels: science, history, and biography. I was also able to purchase several more graphic novels that are adaptations of "classic" literature. I hope these will inspire the students to one day read the "real book," too.

  Better still, many of the graphic novels were available in hard-back format, meaning that they will last for many years of students to enjoy. I could never have afforded such a wide selection of high-quality graphic novels for my classroom library without your generous contributions. Thank you, again, from the bottom of my heart, for helping me obtain the kinds of books students love to read!!!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. W

  This classroom project was brought to life by A group of anonymous donors and 8 other donors.

• Organizing for Back to School!

  Funded Aug 28, 2019

  I am writing on behalf of both my students and myself to thank you for your amazing generosity and support this school year! The new organizational furniture is all set-up and being used daily to help keep students' materials tidy and easily accessible. You can see in our photo, named "Student Desk," how cramped and small the students' desk cubbies are. After placing their math textbooks, many subjects of notebooks, pencil boxes, and earphone pouches inside their desks, they cannot possibly fit all of their ELA and ELD materials inside.

  I hope you can see the dramatic changes in our "Before" and "After" photos. For the ELA shelf, containing students' English Language Arts Textbooks and "Close Reader" Workbooks, it is very clear that we started with a challenging situation to organize, in a very open space. Now, I can provide the neat cubby spaces, so that each team can easily retrieve their own stack of materials quickly and without any extra fuss! In addition, the 3 extra cubby spaces in the unit have provided exactly the right amount of room to store each teams' "Annotation Kit" - a pencil box that contains different highlighters for color-coding, post-it notes, and page-markers / page-flags for "Close Reading" work. When the students first saw the unit assembled and full of materials, they said things like, "Wow!," "That's so pretty, now!" and "That's going to be so much easier!"

  But the story doesn't end there... Due to an unforeseen snafu with the cubby unit not being sent with all the cubby trays, Amazon ultimately issued a complete refund, but let us keep the furniture unit since I had already assembled it. As a result, Donors Choose informed me that I could purchase additional "organizing furniture" for this project. I immediately thought of the workbooks and materials for the group of students I work with during our regrouped ELD period (English Language Development). Last year, I had organized all their materials, again by team, in large trays. However, the workbooks were always sliding and falling over and becoming bent, or warped. To fix this situation, I was able to order another cubby-unit - this one longer and shorter, so that it would fit on the back counter, under some cabinets. I was a bit nervous that this piece of furniture might be too large, or the cubbies might be too narrow. But in the end, this unit was also perfect for our needs. There are 9 groups during ELD period, so the 10th cubby provided an ideal spot for providing extra pens for the student teams to get, as they need replacements. I think you will agree when you look at the "Before" and "After" photos of the "ELD Sets," that this made a wonderful change to the look of the back workspace. It is so much more tidy and professional in appearance, and the students in ELD have reported that it is much easier for them to gather a stack of materials at once, rather than trying to handle the trays as well.

  Finally, again because of the fortuitous Amazon refund, there were enough funds left to purchase an item I have wanted to have in my classroom for many years: a paper organizer for large-format construction paper. Construction paper is notoriously difficult to store and often requires a very deep, or very wide cabinet. Without separating shelves, the paper must be kept in a large stack, making it very difficult to handle. The pages can get bent as certain colors are selected and "slid" out for use. With this new organizer, I can keep all the paper colors separate and also easily accessible. For the first time ever, I feel I can allow students to get their own construction paper during crafts and poster-projects, without any fear of the paper being bent or ripped by the children. When one of my students, Michelle, first saw the organizer, she exclaimed, "Oh, it's so beautiful to see the paper like that! I wish all the teachers had a shelf like that." I couldn't agree more!

  Donors, in case you don't know, typical classrooms can be quite dreary and have very limited space, which poses many challenges. Your generous donation has allowed me to make a few simple changes in our classroom, which have made our space more easy-to-use, as well as being much more lovely to look upon. Just having more furniture made of real wood, rather than the typical "steel case" school furniture, has made our classroom feel more light, open, and natural. Furthermore, this good-quality furniture will last for many future years of students and their materials. I simply cannot tell you enough how much it means.

  Thanks again from myself, and all my 6th-grade students, now and for years to come!

  Wishing you all the best in 2020, and beyond!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. W

• Mrs. W's Wonder Kids!

  Funded Feb 1, 2019

  Thank You for the generous donations of UNICEF "Kid Power" fitness-tracker bands!!!

  In case you haven't heard anything about the "Kid Power" program, it is a wonderful way for students to take action to help other children around the globe! Students wear their bands every day at school, and all their "steps" earn "Power Points" which are then converted into R.U.T.F.'s. RUTF are "Ready to Use Therapeutic Food Packets" - a medical nutrition source for children suffering of acute and severe malnutrition. This process is very empowering for students, because it literally allows them to DO something to help the world. They are feeling like true "Global Citizens" who are making a real difference. I have now gone through this program with my classes for 3 years, and each year I can really see how excited the children are to be really helping other children in the world. I can also see how proud the children are of themselves, and their classmates, at the end.

  Our UNICEF "Kid Power" Team is called "Mrs. W's WonderKids," and I truly think you will understand why. I'll spare you the math it took to figure things out, but in the end, my class did choose the goal of saving 6 lives by the end of "Kid Power Month" in May. That will take 900 RUTF (150 per child saved), which will take 9,000 "Power Points" (which will take almost 22,000,000 "steps"!). Thankfully, we have some special staff members and parents who are also participating with our team, and helping us to reach our goal. The students invited our Food Services Lead Supervisor, a Custodian, our Librarian, our Principal, our PE Coach, our Classroom Aide and another teacher. Together, we all make one giant team, working in collaboration, encouraging one another to stay active, and celebrating our achievements. The process builds individual confidence, and also builds the community bond.

  Additionally, through this program and it's associated lessons and resources, provided by UNICEF, I can strengthen the connections to the health and social studies curriculum. Students are learning about malnutrition versus good nutrition, the importance of daily physical activity and fitness, and also learning about other nations and cultures. Overall, it definitely broadens my students' horizons and keeps them thinking about their global impact, in many ways.

  I have truly enjoyed being a part of this program with my students, and when I learned that the "Power Bands" could no longer be fully-funded by UNICEF, I was very worried that my class this year would miss-out on the opportunity. "Power Bands" cost quite a bit, more than I can afford, and more than most of their families can pay. Your donations have literally "saved" the program for my class, so that we can go out and "save" actual lives!

  Thank You for Helping Our Team Help Children in the World!!!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. W

  This classroom project was brought to life by US Fund for UNICEF and 2 other donors.