Mrs. Serrano's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 4

• Safe and Sound Performance Space

  Funded Jan 14, 2023

  The dance students and families and I are so thankful to everyone who donated to make this project possible! Now our stage will be the safest performance space possible for dancers to show off all styles of dance such as ballet, tap, modern, jazz and more for years to come.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Serrano

• Dancing Needs To Be A Wireless Experience!

  Funded Oct 2, 2020

  I want to send a sincere thank you from the K-8 dance students who needed wireless headphones to move and learn freely. My favorite quote from a 3rd grader after I asked how they are working, "They work great! I even had to use the bathroom but could still hear you and didn't miss anything!"

  With all the accommodations families have had to make to help their children learn remotely, this was a great option for students who couldn't afford new technology or that works better for their subject area. Many students had access to headphones, but not wireless ones and would get tangled in the cord or disconnected. Some students could not afford the extra expense but were still in need.

  Thank you so much! The great thing is, they can also be used in school and at home after remote learning ends.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Serrano

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 7 other donors.

• Help Us Create the Best Remote Dance Environment!

  Funded Aug 24, 2020

  I was very concerned about teaching remotely, and teaching dance remotely, where I rely a lot on visuals and sound to instruct, brought on additional anxiety. How am I going to inspire my students to dance when they aren't in front of me? How will they hear instructions and the music? How will they see what I am doing?

  Well, I am happy to report it wasn't as challenging as I anticipated. Thanks to your generous donations, the airpods allow my students to hear my instructions as well as the music and they are not competing for volume of either. Something I didn't even realize would be an added bonus was that I can also hear the student's questions more clearly through my airpods and I don't have to stop the flow of the class to pause the music!

  Since I have been teaching remote, I have moved my living situation. I have had to set up my remote teaching spot in lots of different rooms with different lighting. The portable and easy to use ring light ensures a clear picture no matter what room and light situation I am in.

  My students and I are so grateful for this upgrade to our remote dance experience! Thank you for all your generosity! Your donations are being put to use every class and every school day.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Serrano

• Guiding Readers While Staying Organized

  Funded Aug 5, 2016

  Dear Donors,

  Thanks to your generous donations, our classroom is more organized and guided reading and literacy blocks are running much smoother than ever before! As you can see in the photos, there are bins for each guided reading group where I keep plans, materials and books for the specific groups. On the top shelf I keep two caddies (one for me and one for assistants and parent volunteers). These hold general materials that are needed to teach any kind of small group lessons like dry erase markers, glue sticks, crayons, colored pencils, spinners, ear buds, etc). The top shelf is also where I store other important supplies I need to be readily available like Sharpies, magnetic roll, post-it notes, Clorox wipes and differentiation cubes.

  On the bottom shelf I have three bins where I store phonics and sight word games used in guided reading lessons, as well as poetry and vocabulary units. I can switch these out each month. On the side pocket charts I store "whisper readers" or Tubaloos so students may hear themselves reading as I check to see how their fluency is coming along. I also store all our concept, letter and word sorts for our "Words Their Way" program. I store picture cards for interventions in the bottom pockets.

  Since the cart is light and rolling, the pocket chart on the back is used for sentence studies and pocket chart games and activities. Currently we have a picture sound match game that students can play with a partner after the guided reading lesson.

  Now that there is a specific place to store all these literacy components and supplies, I have cut down on my prep time searching for and assembling for lessons. Cleaning up small group instruction materials takes 3 minutes or less! This leaves me much needed time to focus on planning instruction for my students so they can be as successful as possible.

  There are 3 project examples pictured that were produced with the use of our new cart. One is a reader response activity based on the popular ABC book "Chica Chica Boom Boom." The others are nonfiction science and literacy projects. One is part of our weather unit where students made samples of cumulous, stratus and cirrus clouds. The other is an artistic variation of the life cycle of a pumpkin. The last two projects are displayed currently, just in time for parent-teacher conferences!

  I cannot thank you enough for your generosity. Hopefully you are able to see the difference you are making in a classroom that has limited funding and resources. Thank you donors!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Serrano