Mrs. Zink-Seip's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 9

• Creative Juice Is Vital to Their Growth!

  Funded May 3, 2022

  I'd like to thank you for funding my project for my speech and language students. I look forward to seeing the creativity my students exhibit as we incorporate these materials into our sessions. What a fabulous way to end the school year. I will post pictures from all stages of the project(s).”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Zink-Seip

  This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 3 other donors.

• Culturally Diverse Materials Need ASAP

  Funded Dec 1, 2021

  Without you, and all the very generous donors that have contributed to my speech program, I would not have the materials needed for my students to excel. Theses materials will boost their self-confidence and allow them to think and work creatively. We are all so excited to get started.

  THANK YOU VERY MUCH!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Zink-Seip

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 3 other donors.

• Technically, We're Still Learning

  Funded May 15, 2021

  The materials you helped fund truly assist me reach my students in a more efficient manner; leading to more academic success in a time where backward slides were happening frequently. I am not tech savvy to say the least! Remote teaching was difficulty enough on its own and was made more challenging after a medical diagnosis which led to life changing surgery and six month recuperation prior to returning in February. After searching YouTube for tech assistance I discovered items such as the Lume Cube Broadcast Lighting Kit, document camera, computer graphic tablet and microphone could help me broaden the content I used with my speech and language students.

  The Lume cube brightened the environment, as well as myself, so my students could clearly see materials I was holding up to the camera. This was really important when working with proper placement of the articulators during sound production. My students needed to see me clearly so they could precisely see what they should look like when trying to produce specific speech sounds. I used the document camera to display worksheets or pictures I had here in front of me and couldn't download/upload to the computer. The graphic tablet allowed me to virtually write on those documents/pictures or those on the computer screen. Your generous support of this project made a significant impact on my students and I can't thank you all enough!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Zink-Seip

  This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 7 other donors.

• Food for Thought

  Funded May 20, 2020

  First I must apologize for the tardiness of this note. At the end of the 2020 school year I was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Treatment meant the complete removal of my stomach in late August 2020. I took a health sabbatical, from September to February 2021, to allow myself the time I needed to heal. I have adjusted to my new normal and I was not cleared to work in person, so I provide speech and language therapy remotely to my students, as I did last year. Now, a year to the date of surgery, I am preparing to head back into the speech therapy room. I realized I did not complete this section in the spring like I did the other project. Although belated; truly sincere! I'm so excited to see my students!

  The area where I work in Queens NY was one of the worst hit by Covid 19 and job loss. Parents were scrambling to make ends meet and parents had to make difficult decisions. Snacks and excess was all put to the side. Your generosity allowed me with the opportunity to give these snacks and drinks to my students. I was not able to take too many photos while distributing the goodies. I presented the snacks along with the toys and games of another DC project from the same time period. They were so appreciative!!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Zink-Seip

  This classroom project was brought to life by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and 3 other donors.

• Can You Hear Me Now?

  Funded May 8, 2020

  First I must apologize for the tardiness of this note. At the end of the school year I was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Treatment meant the complete removal of my stomach in late August. I took a health sabbatical, from September to March, to allow myself the time I needed to heal. I have adjusted to my new normal and recently returned to work. I was not cleared to work in person, so I provide speech and language therapy remotely to my students, as I did last year.

  When I requested headphones for my students last year, I thought that we would use them to get us through the 2019-2020 school year. Those four months were so difficult as families and teachers worked with others doing their things around us. I had children with multiple siblings sitting near each other so a parent could manage all of them. Many of my students didn't have a quite environment to work in until they received the headphones. You made it possible for my students to learn amid life altering events. In fact, a student of mine had four siblings sitting all around the dining room table working at the same time. I had two students move before I was able to distribute the headphones, so I gave that family two additional units.”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Zink-Seip

  This classroom project was brought to life by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and 5 other donors.

• Time Out From the Stress of the Day

  Funded May 8, 2020

  I can't begin to tell you the difficulties my students are having while they try to cope with all that is going on. The materials you purchased for them will allow them to simply be a child again even if it's just for moments at a time. A MILLION THANK YOUS!!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Zink-Seip

  This classroom project was brought to life by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and 7 other donors.

• Just the Basics for Day to Day Maintenance

  Funded Dec 10, 2019

  I can't adequately thank all of you that supported my third project in the past two years. I had a project go unfunded earlier in 2020 and was hesitant to try again, let alone post two projects back to back. Although all projects that get funded are wonderful, you decided to help us with the day to day basics we need to get through the year. These materials should be funded by the city or school system; but they are not. They usually come out of my pocket (as is the case with most teachers).

  Since you helped me with the basics I was able to get life necessities for some of my students. I was able to get a backpack full of craft activities, pjs and a blanket for a student that lives in shelter. I was able to sponsor a student to build her own bear when her family didn't have the funds to send her on the class trip. In addition I was able to purchase Christmas presents for a student and his siblings when he was curtain that Santa was most definitely going to skip his house. I didn't do all of those things alone; you did it with me because if you didn't generously support my classroom I would not have been able to give these students a little joy in their lives.....so Bless you all!

  The cleaning supplies have been extremely important as the situation with the Coronavirus continues to intensify. The students have heard various levels of information and come from homes with varying degrees of concern. Some students have discussed their concern and appreciate the Clorox wipes so we can wipe away the germs after each session leaving the workspace clean and healthy for the next group that comes in. They like being helpful in this manner; it seems to make them feel like they are in control in some way. I was in desperate need of the broom. The custodian who usually takes such good care of our room was injured while working and has been out of work for five months. Let's just say that his replacement doesn't think that sweeping the floor in our room is necessary. The buildup of dust was irritating my allergies and the asthma of some of the students. It was a delightful surprise when one of my more quiet students found a sense of confidence when allowed to be responsible for sweeping the floor. It's something that he does at home and it enables him to feel like he is doing his part in the classroom.

  The markers have allowed us to be creative during sessions again. The children love using markers; both on the paper and dry erase board. Ok, I may have been way off on the dimensions of the dry erase board we needed in the classroom, LOL. However, I am personally so ecstatic to have a board that I can write on and actually erase! I love it! Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you!! Blessings to all!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Zink-Seip

  This classroom project was brought to life by Perry and Donna Golkin Family Foundation and 2 other donors.

• Finally, I See Myself in the Materials

  Funded Dec 9, 2019

  I had an idea that the children would love of taking pictures of themselves and printing them for the purpose of recreating some of our material but I was delighted with their response from the beginning. When the printer was delivered the children were surprised by your generosity. One student asked, "What did we do to deserve this?" Another asked; "What can we do to say thank you?" Alexa stated; "Whoa, this is better than Christmas!" This process allowed us to expand vocabulary with words like donor, generosity, kindness, anonymous, gratitude, pay it forward, duplicate, similar, modify, and replicate.

  The first thing we did with the printer was to make a simple copy from a workbook. Previously I would have had to take a photo of the page via a scan app, send it to my email, retrieve it from my email and then print it wirelessly to my neighbor's printer, retrieve the paper from the room next door so I could finally distribute it to my students when they came in. Shortly after receiving the printer we looked at some of the picture materials we have been using year after year and the children did some thinking about whether we could replicate the photos around the school exactly or if we would have to modify them in some way. I have included a picture my fifth graders took modifying the picture of a girl telling the audience "Shhh, don't tell!" as she took a cookie out of the cookie jar. In their picture two students decided take a basketball out of the gymnasium locker without permission. The body language was the same and made a perfect example of how we could amend the pictures to center around the school environment.

  When it was time to print a photo from a printer they are so intrigued; especially the younger ones. The giggles and excitement that escaped them while they eagerly awaited the picture was delightful to witness. Our experience didn't stop there. The laminate was then introduced to them. They identified things around the room that were already laminated and they compared the printed picture to a laminated picture. They then brain-stormed ways that lamination would enhance the pictures we printed. They realized that it would not damage easily if someone tried to bend it or spilled water on it. One of my fifth grade students suggested that we could now use the dry erase markers (donated to our class via another Donors Choose project) to make thought or speech bubbles like the store bought material had on them. She was so insightful that she realized lamination offered me a variety of ways to use it during sessions.

  My students enjoy coming to speech but writing has never really been something they look forward to as is poses the most difficulty for most of my students. Now they are coming up with such creative ideas and have a renewed interest in story writing and storytelling.

  My heart is overflowing with such gratitude. I can't thank you enough. You have given my program such a vital tool in making learning interesting and fun. Blessing to all who donated!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Zink-Seip

  This classroom project was brought to life by An anonymous classroom supporter and 9 other donors.

• Total Access to Communication Apps!

  Funded Mar 27, 2018

  I am so grateful for your generosity. Students today are so accustomed to being richly stimulated with technology of all types; be it smart phones, Pads, video games or computers. In therapy it is very difficult to get them motivated to use worksheets and verbal instruction. By incorporating the three Pads into my program I can keep them actively engaged. This is especially true when using an app for a program called Lively Letters. The app allows the student to engage the program on three advanced levels we were not previously able to incorporate in the therapy sessions. They love hearing their own voice recorded! It also tracks their progress for them. Non readers and poor spellers were able to become readers and better spellers with the original version of the program. I am truly excited to see the advancement they will make with the additional access. Thank you once again. It is in giving that we receive....so I wish you many blessings!”

  With gratitude,

  Mrs. Zink-Seip

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