Past projects 2
I'm Sitting On Top Of The World (With Flexible Seating)!
Funded Oct 31, 2018Thank you for your incredibly thoughtful and generous donation. It was truly exciting to see the reaction of the students from both of my classes. I can't really describe with justice how their eyes lit up once they saw the wobble chairs, the swivel chairs and the high chairs assembled and ready for action in the classroom. Each one of them wanted to try each type of seat for a different reason.
"I'm short, Ms. Viquez," one of my littler ones says. "Can I try one of the high chairs?"
"Wobble chairs are cool!" another one pipes up. "I want to sit on one!"
Indeed, they wanted to try all of them!
We had a great conversation about companies and organizations like yours who do amazing work by giving back to the community because they want to make a positive impact on our students. They genuinely enjoy investing on the education of our future generation. They understand its importance.
I teach reading and language arts (through writing). These subjects are at times difficult and challenging to students. Spending two hours sitting on the regular chairs has been a hindrance to a positive and comfortable learning environment. Some of the students get bored and give up easily.
With the introduction of these chairs, the first notable difference was that they were eager to get to the classroom because they want to sit on a specific chair. Secondly, I've seen a significant uptick in classroom performance. They are much more amenable to mastering important skills such as listening, paying attention, and staying focused for longer periods of time. When the kids are either working independently or working as a group on a specific reading or writing assignment, I see them rocking back and forth on the wobble chairs, intensely focused, working and helping one another accomplish the task.
Having the flexibility and the option to easily move around has had a positive impact on their attitude toward school and class, as well as an improvement in their grades.
Not too long ago, after introducing the swiveled chairs, the students were taking an i-Ready reading test in the classroom. Every so often the children have to take a diagnostic test to see how well they are doing in reading comprehension and vocabulary. Before starting the test, I saw that one particular child, who has experienced great difficulty with reading comprehension, staying on task and focusing, was adjusting the chair to a specific height. Once she felt comfortable, she started the test.
At times I saw her rolling back and stretching, something that she would not be able to do safely if she were sitting on a regularly positioned chair. When she finished the test, I printed a report to see how well she had done and was thrilled to see that she had gone from a low second grade level placement at the beginning of the year to now a high third grade level placement. Her growth in reading was excellent.
This was just a start in introducing flexible sitting in the classroom. Since I've seen great results on active engagement and academic growth in this subject area, I want to go full-fledged and finish giving all the groups a flexible sitting opportunity.
As an educator that wants to see all her students meet their educational needs and goals, I want to continue giving my students the tools they need to be life-long successful learners as well as risk-takers. I believe that Chevron has played an imperative role in making this happen. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart in making this project, "I'm Sitting On top...," a successful one! I know for a fact that these chairs will not only help the 2018-2019 students but will continue to have a positive impact for those students who will continue to be part of Ms. Viquez's classroom for years to come.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Viquez
This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron Fuel Your School.Creating Creative Children
Funded Nov 15, 2013I want to start off by thanking you for your thoughtful and generous donation. It was incredibly thrilling to watch the reaction of the students, from both classes, and see their eyes gleam with excitement once I showed them the laptops. We had a really great discussion on how organizations, like yours, enjoy investing and being a part of their education and future. As soon as the laptops were taken out of their boxes, they were full of ideas on how these devices were going to be used in the classroom.
The students are taking full advantage of these electronic devices in and out of the classroom. During classroom sessions, the students are allotted time to use them when doing different subjects/activities. I teach reading, language arts (through writing) and social studies. During reading time, students who are struggling with reading comprehension or fluency are given extra reinforcement through interventions by doing online programs specifically meant for their areas of concern. During writing, which could at times be a boring and difficult task for the students, they can access the laptops for research, get ideas, and check for spelling/use the thesaurus. Though challenging, this has prompted the children to become more proficient in writing. I've noticed that their stories are more creative and they really enjoy helping one another come up with ideas while using the laptops. Even though they already took the FCAT Writing test, they still enjoy writing. Finally, during social studies time, they really enjoy researching about Florida and its early explorers. Recently we started a wonderful activity called, "Living Museum." In this "Museum," the children will randomly choose a famous figure that is somehow connected or correlated to the state of Florida. They are going to read about this specific character and will write a report. At the end of this assignment, the children will have memorized all about this person and they will share their findings by writing and reciting a two minute oral presentation. I am thrilled and can't wait to see how well they will do thanks to these added resources.
"Creating Creative Children" has been a successful project and that is all thanks to your generosity. The kids' enthusiasm goes well beyond the classroom walls. At times when they can not finish their work during reading, writing, or social studies, they can take the laptops and continue working with them in other classes. Up to now they have taken a fall, winter, and spring reading assessment and the overall improvement throughout each of these tests has been impressive. At the beginning of the year, the students were at a 70% reading comprehension level. Now, they are at 78%.
As a teacher, my most important job is to make these children be and feel successful. With your contribution, I've been able to provide them with additional learning opportunities in the areas of reading, writing, and social studies. Thank you for being an integral part of this project. Your resources will continue to have an impact on this year's students as well as the ones ahead.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Viquez