Mrs. Nemes' Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 9

• Boosting School Spirit: Exciting Incentives at the School Store

  Funded Jan 16, 2025

  I hope this message finds you well! I am writing to extend my deepest gratitude for your generous support through DonorsChoose. Your contribution has made a significant impact on our school store initiative, and I cannot thank you enough for your belief in our vision.

  With your funding, we have been able to create a vibrant and engaging school store that not only provides essential supplies and resources but also fosters a sense of community and pride among our students. They are excited to have a place where they can explore their interests, learn about financial literacy, and experience the joy of entrepreneurship.

  Your commitment to education and to our students' success is truly inspiring. We are incredibly grateful for your generosity, and we look forward to sharing the positive outcomes of this project with you as it unfolds.

  Thank you once again for making a difference in our school community!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Nemes

• Using Play Therapy to Provide My Students With Impactful Counseling

  Funded Nov 27, 2023

  I hope this message finds you well and filled with the same warmth and generosity that you've extended to us through your thoughtful donation. I wanted to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for your invaluable support in providing counseling supplies to increase play therapy.

  Your generosity has made an immeasurable difference in our ability to offer effective and compassionate counseling services. The counseling supplies you have provided – whether it be dolls, playdough, play therapy toys, or other essential resources – play a vital role in helping individuals navigate their journey towards healing and emotional well-being.

  It is often said that the tools we use can shape the outcomes we achieve, and your donation has empowered us to create a nurturing and supportive environment where individuals feel safe to explore their emotions, confront their challenges, and embark on a path towards personal growth.

  I am deeply grateful for your belief in our mission and your commitment to making a positive impact in the lives of others. Your support serves as a beacon of hope for those who may feel lost or alone, reminding them that there are compassionate individuals like you who care deeply about their well-being.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Nemes

• Every Kid Deserves a Safe Learning Space at School!

  Funded Feb 18, 2023

  Thank you so much for funding this project! Your contributions have helped me created a safe and more private environment for my students. Working in a building that services more students than can fit, we are limited space to work in. This year I share an office with both the speech language pathologist and a special educator. It can be not only distracting but create a feeling of too much open space to share personal information. This divider is perfect! It is light and can be moved and manipulated to best fit where I need it to. It is also a great spot to keep the basketball hoop.

  The table has been a welcomed tool into my office as well. In this picture the students are using it for reward time, playing a nice game of tic tac toe. During counseling sessions its been a great tool in creating visuals for my students to increase learning. They also enjoy writing on it themselves!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Nemes

  This classroom project was brought to life by Black History Month Partners and 6 other donors.

• Growth Mindset Toolset

  Funded Nov 30, 2022

  Thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart for donating to this project. A huge focus of mine this quarter is empowering a growth mindset in all of my students. My younger students loved The Beautiful Oops book and learning how art can transform. We were able to make connections into the classroom by learning that mistakes help us grow. My older students love the Book of Mistakes, allowing them to make the same connections. The growth mindset workbooks help guide me into the right steps to teacher a growth mindset, and the additional books help drive in those lessons even further. My students and I are beyond blessed and grateful for all of your support.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Nemes

  This classroom project was brought to life by an Anonymous Classroom Supporter and 4 other donors.

• Books and Games to Build Real World Skills

  Funded Nov 28, 2022

  Thank you so very much for your generous donations to help support my project. My students love the game Dont Break the Ice and I am able to connect social emotional questions to it in counseling by drawing dots on the inside connect to questions. My younger students have used Mr and Mrs Potato head to talk about where feelings exist in the bodies. They also love engaging in make pretend having the potatoes show different feelings. Lastly the new books have a refresher to my library and my students love each and every single one of them. Thank you so very much!!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Nemes

• Supporting Social-Emotional Growth Post Pandemic.

  Funded Aug 19, 2022

  This project has been such a big hit with my students so far this school year. The little spot puppets are always used throughout the curriculum on a weekly basis during sessions. My students also choose to role play with them for their choice time. Getting additional book sets for that cirriculum has allowed me to expand into other topics I normally wouldnt, which is allowing my students to learn skills they normally wouldnt.

  The Mr and Mrs Potato head allow me to reach a younger group of students talking about how each body responds to how we are feeling. They absolutely love it. As do my older students! The big winner with them is are the magnetic tiles, in which they often use during choose time and are highly motivated to earn.

  The kinetic sand and tools has allowed me to build a comprehensive calm down corner for my older students. This sand helps them calm down and refocus for class. I could go on and on about the positive impacts but would rather just thank you again so much for all of your support and help! My students and I thank you so very much!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Nemes

  This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 9 other donors.

• Rebuilding Foundational Skills in Our Students!

  Funded Jan 8, 2022

  I want to start off by thanking you again for your contribution to helping my students and school. All of the supplies we have received have really helped tap into a deeper understanding of emotional regulation for all of my students. The calm down timers are used weekly with my students who are learning how to give themselves a break to calm down. The huge stress knot helps students feel safe, when in COVID times a hug may not be available. Just the other day, one of our nonverbal students grabbed the large knot and started playing catch with the SLP, and was laughing so hard and smiling so big, something we rarely see from him.

  My younger students are loving using the playdough face mats, to gain a hands on learning experience with emotions, which is really helping engrave these skills into their brains. Since the packet came with five of each, I was able to allocate some to the school social worker to use with her students as well. I just started seeing two additional groups this week, and the anxiety and mindfulness books, as well as the little spot series, have been life savors. It eliminates the planning element and supports the students in an easy and effective manner. I have add little spots all over my office to reinforce Zones of Regulations.

  Lastly, I have been able to share some of the learning games with my special educator to use with some of our more challenging kids. We have students who shut down with regular paper and pen style learning, and these "games" have really helped us tap into their learning potential in a new and fun way.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Nemes

• Teaching Students Calming Strategies in a Crazy World!

  Funded Jan 15, 2021

  I want to start this letter by thanking you again for your sincere donation. Its amazing how a little support can go such a long way! Myself and my students are so grateful!

  Since receiving my resources I have been able to support the transition of students as they return to in person learning. I have been able to use the breathing balls class wide with all students, as well as the breathing cards, to help assist these students in remaining calm in a rather unique learning environment. On the flip side, I have been able to drop breathing tools at some of my students houses, so they can use these during services or class lessons, as well as other times within the home environment.

  The students reactions to these tools has been great. They are excited and much more engaged in lessons. They appear to look forward to the learning new breathing techniques each week. Additionally, the fidget tools have really assisted some students in maintaining their focus.

  Our next steps are to continue to support students school wide, as more students return for in person, as well as specific students with needs in the home environment. These tools really help connect the students, as well as teach them important tools to use throughout their lives.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Nemes

• Self Regulation Tools for the Classroom and Beyond!

  Funded Feb 28, 2019

  I am beyond grateful for your generosity and support towards my first ever Donors Choose project. Working in Baltimore City our students face so many obstacles before even arriving at school, that they often have a hard time focusing and learning. My goal with this project is to help my students learn how to use different tools to help them understand different strategies that best help them self-regulate their emotions. Your donation has already reached several of my classrooms, as well as several individual students of varying needs.

  To reach our entire school, we have implemented Mindful Moments, which occur weekly on Wednesdays and utilize the "50 Mindfulness Activities" over the loud speaker. Our entire pre-kindergarten through second grade classrooms participate, including classroom teachers and paraeducators. This mindful minute is then shared with teachers, so they can utilize it throughout the week. Additionally, my intern and I have run weekly whole class lessons to our Pre-kindergarten, Kindergarten and first grade classrooms. We have read them stories about different characters struggling with their emotions. Following each story was have used tools, such as the expandable balls, spheres and hand fidgets, to help students learn to breath.

  Since October we have been working with classroom teachers to utilize Yoga/Mindfulness following lunch and/or resource periods. Students are naturally more hyper following these less structured time periods. Rather than have fifteen minutes of quiet time, we introduce them to yoga through Yoga4Classroom cards. With the addition of more decks, we can reach more teachers with this support. Our ultimate goal is to have student-led yoga within classroom to help student re-focus, so they can continue learning in the afternoon hours.

  Lastly, there has been significant individual impacts for the students I work with one-on-one. I work with students who have attentional difficulties, developmental delays, impulsivity control issues and Autism. These students have been able to learn how to identify different levels of uncomfortable feelings and how to effectively use tools to calm themselves down and refocus. They love practicing deep breathing, and one student is able to generalize this skill into the classroom using an expandable ball. Additionally, students who need to release extra energy are allowed to utilize the breakroom in which the can jump on the trampoline for a specific amount of time and return to class ready to learn. It's amazing seeing how these tools truly help the students of my school self-regulate so they can be ready to learn.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Nemes

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 2 other donors.