Past projects 5
Food is Fuel
Funded Aug 1, 2023I initially hoped that these snacks would last the first semester (until the end of January), but as I write this, we are actually already out of snacks (and I need to figure out how to get more!).
Based on the fact that we are only two months into the school year, it's clear that kids LOVED having plentiful snacks to choose from throughout the day. The pictures show that we kept a cart with all of the snacks stocked so kids could easily access them whenever they wanted. Kids loved helping me take the boxes of snacks from the front office up to our classroom, opening and putting the snacks into storage containers, and restocking our snack cart. It was a great way to build community in the beginning months of school. Students from other classes would come and ask for snacks too.
We all know how important food is to function and think well, and I believe it is ESPECIALLY important for teenagers because they are growing at such a rapid pace.
We are about to start our unit on Medea where students "remix" the script so it's set in a modern context and then perform the play in front of their families. I'll definitely need to figure out another snack source while they rehearse!
Thank you again for your generosity and support.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Paula
Clean Air and a Safe Classroom
Funded Sep 10, 2020In August, no one knew what the 2020-2021 school year would look like. The list of things we didn't know was extensive and ranged from big-picture concerns like how to engage students remotely to more concrete issues such as whether or not students could eat while in the building. As a staff, our brains bounced from worry-to-worry, all while trying to plan a curriculum that felt relevant to our students, particularly during a global pandemic and a precipitous moment in the fight for racial justice and equity.
In New York City, the start date of the school year got pushed back twice. Staff waited for announcements from the Mayor, trying to keep families and students as informed as possible. But while the Mayor determined when our doors opened, it was entirely up to our school to develop, organize, and execute safety protocols. This was in addition to the several logistical challenges we faced including reworking our schedules and rosters, ensuring all students were equipped with the appropriate technology, and adapting our classrooms to meet social distancing standards.
It was a colleague of mine who encouraged as many staff members as possible to obtain air purifiers. She did the research and shared how it was an additional safety measure we could take to further protect our students and teachers while in the classroom. To no surprise, air purifiers were in high demand, but Donors Choose worked with me to find and provide the ones I specifically requested as quickly as possible.
Although school is now fully remote, the two air purifiers I received through Donors Choose were instrumental in the six-weeks of SAFE instruction we had from October 1st to November 18th. In those six weeks, I was able to work with 15-20 students in-person for four hours straight, twice a week. Students built community with each other and got the social interaction they so craved. They went on a walking tour of the Bronx, tested the water quality of the Bronx River, read and annotated texts on the history of the Bronx, and engaged in student-led discussions. We made a Spotify playlist and had a special song for our Advisory: "It Was a Good Day" by Ice Cube. Sure, wearing a mask all day wasn't ideal. We missed taking breaks, running around in gym class, and sharing delicious snacks, but we were happy because we were together.
My school was randomly selected for COVID testing on November 18th (yes, the same day in-person instruction got shut down), and ZERO cases were reported. Clearly, our building's air purifiers played a crucial role in keeping everyone healthy.
With the arrival of the vaccine, I hope we are back in the classroom soon. We will wrap up this semester by reading "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone and working on our digital portfolios. When we return, I will continue to use our air purifiers to ensure that my students are as safe as possible.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Paula
Experiential Learning: Visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Funded Mar 14, 2019It was exhilarating to walk into our school building at 5:30AM on a Sunday and see a cafeteria full of students excited to jump onto the bus to D.C. Some students had stayed up all night to make sure they would get to school on time. Others set multiple alarms, and many called each other as reminders. The sense of community carried us through the 6 hour bus ride and kids got off the bus re-energized from naps and snacks.
Kids spent two hours exploring the four floors of the Holocaust museum. Students broke off by interest- some watched compilation videos from the time, others were stunned into silence by the sights of the shoes left behind by prisoners in the camps. Still more went to the museum's exhibit on Syria today, where they made connections between the atrocities of a modern-day conflict and the Holocaust.
Following small group explorations, the students regrouped to hear a Holocaust survivor tell his story. The auditorium was silent as students learned about the network of people that coordinated to keep a single child alive. As some students shared later, the way he described his experience changed the way that many of them thought about this part of history. The sense of relevance and proximity of this moment was something we could not have reached within the classroom.
Students are still talking about how privileged they were to meet a Holocaust survivor at the end of the museum tour. While we'd been studying the Holocaust for four weeks by the time of the trip and had read numerous texts, watched documentaries and looked at photographic evidence meeting a survivor humanized the experience in a way that no text or film could do.
The students enjoyed walking through the Holocaust museum and were able to make connections to material they learned during the Holocaust unit. The students were impressed by the amount of artifacts and information provided by the museum and it inspired them to deepen their understanding on the unit.
As historian Gideon Greif explains, survivors of the camps often say that it's nearly impossible to depict what life was like. Writer and Auschwitz survivor K. Tzetnik even describes the camps as "another planet." When we visited the United States Holocaust Museum, students took another step toward understanding that other planet.
The final exhibition for our unit was a research essay where students created their own question and researched all their sources independently. For many students, the trip to the museum became a jumping off point for their research, as well as a visual reference while they were writing. Seeing, touching, and hearing multiple sources of information was incredibly impactful to students' depth of understanding.
Additionally, last week we started reading Night by Elie Wiesel. In the beginning of the book, Wiesel describes being forced onto a cattle car, and many students connected this moment to their chilling experience of walking inside the replica of a cattle car at the museum.
It's been over a month since we returned from our trip, and students are still talking about their experiences. Many are even asking, "Where are we going next year?" While we haven't yet decided, we've certainly concluded that leaving to learn opportunities are essential to building student understanding and empathy.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Paula
Build a Library and They Will Read
Funded Oct 28, 2015By middle school, most students have already made up their minds about whether or not they're a "reader." At times, this decision can make it nearly impossible to encourage students to just pick up a book and read. However, a huge factor in beginning to change the minds of students who have firmly declared that they "hate reading" is to have a selection of engaging books on a variety of topics readily available.
The new texts in our classroom have indeed changed some of the minds of students who previously refused to even open a book. Now, if there are any new additions to our library, students compete over who gets to read them first. Students have especially enjoyed the book "Yummy," which elicited compliments like, "I didn't think I would like this book, but it's actually really good." Furthermore, some of my struggling readers have greatly appreciated "The Magic Tree House" series, which meets them at their level, but doesn't make them feel like they're reading "baby books."
Students who I don't even teach ask to borrow books from my classroom library! Overall, the donations toward our library have definitely encouraged kids to seek out texts. They're curious about what they could possibly read about next, and it's more than a joy to be able to watch their curiosity grow. It's important to note, however, your donations extend far past the physical books you provided-- with your generosity, students are beginning to change the way they view themselves academically. Thank you for providing the opportunity for my kids to believe in themselves.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Paula
Enrich our Learning Through Another Lens!
Funded Feb 13, 2015Our document camera has certainly taken our classroom learning to the next level! Although we've only been able to use it during the last couple months of school, I have noticed a huge improvement in student engagement and learning, and I am so excited to use it all next year and for years to come. My students often comment on how helpful the document camera is in telling them "where we are" in our lesson and our reading.
We use our document camera every day for a variety of activities and purposes. Beginning with our daily Warm Up and ending with our Exit Ticket, our document camera holds everyone accountable. My students have found it most useful when we're reading together in class because they can actually see my annotations-- I've noticed it's also been helpful for my ELLs and students with special needs because they have another type of visual scaffold to support their learning. Additionally, I've been able to use the document camera for visual writing prompts or to efficiently show the entire class an interesting graphic. Like I said- there isn't a day that we don't use it!
Overall, this project has greatly boosted my teaching and my students' learning. As I mentioned, student accountability has increased since there's always a visual cue to remind them what we're doing. As a teacher, I've been able to add a whole level of differentiation that was not possible before the document camera. With this technology, I've been able to engage students who previously struggled to follow along in class.
I am so grateful for this project as I can observe the tremendous difference it's made in our classroom on a daily basis.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Paula