Past projects 8
On My Honor
Funded Jan 1, 2014Thank you, thank you, thank you! What an amazing and generous surprise! My students and I are so very thankful for your very kind donation. Putting a book into a child's hands opens up a new world to them. You've given this gift to my students. No more sharing taped up copies of a book, hard to read photocopies, or scrambling to the public library to get one of the limited copies. My students love getting to use their own copy of a book. They access the world inside with so much more ease and enthusiasm when they get to use an individual copy of an actual book.
On top of the very easy to see, use, and appreciate book, you've given my students something more. You've shown them that strangers care about them - about how they do and about their learning. This very intangible gift is something so important and amazing to see. Though you can't be there to see my children's faces (and mine!) light up, please know that we appreciate your donation to us and our learning!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Fennema
Laptop Learning
Funded Jan 28, 2012Wow! I was so hoping that this project would get funded, but wasn't sure that it would! Thank you so much! Your generous donations has put a brand new laptop into my classroom.
We use the lap top almost daily. It has become an essential tool for writing in the classroom. We connect it to our projector and use it to create class essays and model writing. The students love giving an idea for a topic sentence or detail and seeing it typed right onto the board. It even saves time and materials. We used to write essays on the board or on poster paper. It would be really hard to see and we'd run out of paper, markers, and dry erase markers for the board. Now we just save a file and that's it. It also makes editing so much easier! The students have a much easier time understanding things without crossed out lines and handwriting on the board.
The most biggest benefit so far has been opening up the Internet to my classroom. The students had no access to the Internet inside the classroom. Now I can project pictures found online as well as videos. Learning is so much more engaging now! The students love watching short informational videos that connect to topics we're learning in class. I love it too!
In addition to all of these amazing benefits, there's one more. You've shown my students that there are people in this world who believe in them and think they are worth the effort and resources that are required to educate them effectively. That alone is a pretty big deal. Thank you!
”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Fennema
This classroom project was brought to life by Wasserman Foundation and 39 other donors.Rock out our Science!
Funded Nov 16, 2011 Thank you so much for your gift! Your generous donations allowed my classroom to finally get mineral kits. Each kit comes with samples and pictures of various minerals. It's so hard to believe the difference that real, hands-on materials make on science instruction!
I think a quote from one of my students sums up your donation the best: "We're real scientists!" Before, teaching rocks and minerals was incredibly hard and frustrating, for both me and my students. We would use pictures, which helped, but it was really hard for them to understand and see that some were softer, some have a smell, some are shinier. There are many characteristics that can't be seen in a picture or video, and that proved really challenging for my students. Not any more though! Thanks to you, my kids get to test minerals, feel them, smell them. They really do get to be real scientists.
Budgets are hard, and effects are being felt everywhere. Thank you for donating some of your resources to my children. It's gifts like these that make learning more accessible and show kids that they are important to people besides their families, friends and teachers. Your gift show them that other people care. Your donation did more than just provide mineral kits to my students - you made science real and showed the students, and myself, a glimpse of the really wonderful people in our world. Thank you”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Fennema
This classroom project was brought to life by Wasserman Foundation and 4 other donors.Can Everybody See? Good!
Funded Apr 11, 2011Thank you so very much for supporting our classroom! Your generous gift has updated our classroom with a brand new document camera! This has impacted my class in a few really amazing ways.
It used to be so frustrating for my students to try to see materials and resources that were really meant for one person. Countless times I would walk around showing a beautiful magazine picture of the rainforest, or picture of the first state flag of California, or a picture from a science book of various minerals. Students could never really see it as well as they wanted or for as long as they wanted. If I made copies, they were black and white and the same problems persisted. With the document camera, this all has changed! I can project ANYTHING for my students to see! Whenever I want to show them how to do a particular assignment, it's no problem - I just pop on the document camera. No more trying to write a copy on the board and hope it's the same enough that most of the kids get it and then catching up with kids who are struggling later. Whenever I want to show a small rock sample during science, I just pop on the document camera and there it is - bigger than life for all to see! No more walking around pointing to one tiny picture in a book - now everybody can see it, with plenty of time no less!
The document camera has been a time saver and certainly a stress and frustration reducer for both my students and I. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Additionally, it's been nice for my students to see new technology. Many of my students don't have computers at home, so it's nice that they can see and use a new piece of technology.
Lastly, I'd just like to note one more time how much your generosity is appreciated. School budgets are really hurting right now. People can talk about whether the politics behind it are right or wrong all day, but it doesn't really help the classrooms. What you did though - sharing your resources with an actual classroom full of kids - does help. Thank you for your generosity. Your support truly helps and hopefully inspires others to do the same!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Fennema
Math Centers Make Us Strong!
Funded Apr 11, 2011Thank you so much for your generous help! My students love the math materials! I was so excited when I got the huge box of supplies in the mail. It was filled with wonderful goodies! Magnetic fraction circles, base ten blocks, money, cards for math games, a giant timer, mini timers, resource books, and more! It was like Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one!
My students love working with the manipulatives. I don't think I've ever seen students take to fractions so quickly as when they are challenged to actually show the equivalent fractions with the magnets we use. They love any math concept they can use the manipulatives for. It's challenged me to find more and deeper math concepts that can be shown with the manipulatives we have. They love them that much!
The timers have revolutionized my classroom. Everybody knows how much time is left when we use our big Time Timer. It works so well that it has become the envy of the school. Two other teachers went out to buy their own after seeing how well it works. Students actually ask me to set the timer to mark different events (when we get to do math, when we get to do centers, etc). I've noticed that they use their time much more effectively now that they can actually SEE how much is left. There is an added benefit that I didn't anticipate and that is understanding elapsed time and time terminology. Students used to be so confused by "half past" and "quarter to" and other terms like it. No longer! The Time Timer made it really easy to show the students what that actually meant.
With the state of many budgets as they are, especially in charter schools, teachers and students have to rely on the generosity of others to help fill our classrooms with extras and sometimes even with the necessities. Thank you so much for filling that role. As a donor, you've ensured that my students - and others like them - have access to dynamic, engaging, and welcoming classrooms. Thank you for helping us!
”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Fennema
General Classroom Improvement Desperately Needed
Funded Jan 14, 2011Thank you so very much for your generosity! My students have absolutely loved and benefited from the classroom improvements you have provided. Your kindness has supported and enhanced our classroom environment in ways I could not have expected.
First, thank you for the speakers and mp3 player. It has been an absolute joy and wonder to see my students respond to music in the classroom. It really has opened a whole new world for my students. Students are being exposed to a huge variety of music. Turns out, first graders love Paul Simon! Who knew? While they don't absolutely love classical music, they do all agree it makes them 'think better' (first grade speak for focus more). I also feel like music has relieved stress that I didn't even know existed in the classroom. Music helps us all to be accountable. It sets very clear expectations. Students now know when the Mission Impossible theme song comes on, they have one minute to wrap up. When "Your My Best Friend" plays, they have three minutes to talk to a partner about what we're learning. When Motzart's "Serenade #13 in G Minor" starts, they have five minutes to work silently. My voice has been largely replaced by music cues for most of our daily tasks. Students know exactly what to do, when to do it, and how long they have. There is no uncertainty. The best part is, it's done in a beautiful and and pleasant way. That is a gift to both myself and my students.
Let me also personally thank you for the callous preventing, time saving, mess collecting pencil sharpener. Gone are the days where I dread hearing, "Mrs. F - my pencil broke!" Students now simply trade their dull, unsharpened excuses-for-pencils for fresh, ready to write, sharp pencils. You wouldn't believe the difference a sharpened pencil makes. No more pencil shavings on the floor, no more obsessing over dull pencils, and most importantly no more wasted time! Simply put: thank you, thank you, thank you for simply making pencils a non-issue in my class!
As a last note, let me just thank you for showing my students that there are people in the world who are giving and kind. They had a hard time wrapping their minds around the fact that somebody who doesn't even know them would give their money to support them. I think this helps set the foundation to help them become caring world citizens.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Fennema
This classroom project was brought to life by American Express Members Project and 5 other donors.Science Without Materials? No Way!
Funded Oct 1, 2010Thank you so much! The science materials have been a HUGE hit in the fourth grade! I knew the magnets, wire, thermometers, and other materials you purchased for our class would go over well and encourage learning, but I didn't expect how wonderful it would really be.
The students have benefited in a few different ways. The first way is completely tangible. For them, science is finally real. They can touch it, they can experiment with it. They can understand it. The students needed little direction when I brought the magnets out. They discovered repulsion, attraction, and magnetic fields on their own. Instead of trying to paint a mental picture to help them understand scientific phenomena, I was giving them words to help them describe things they had discovered and experienced for themselves. There was no coaxing or coercing to get a student to focus. I didn't have to sing and dance to compete with daydreams - they were totally engaged because materials makes science interesting. Thank you for this.
The second way my students have benefited is less tangible. My students feel valued. Kids are very perceptive - especially fourth graders. They know that their school might not have as much as others. They know they don't have enough books or materials. When somebody gives from their own resources to help them learn - they feel valued. They know people care about them and their education. They know that people expect good things from them. Why else would somebody spend their own money on them?
I believe wholeheartedly that science education is important for my, and other, students. Thank you for making quality science education possible in my classroom!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Fennema
Document Reader
Funded Sep 21, 2010I want to take a moment to thank you again for your very generous donation. My students have truly appreciated your gift. My students were amazed that somebody they didn't even know would give their own money to support them. You provided them with a concrete example of being cared for, of being worthy, and of having expectations. After all - why would a stranger spend their own money on them unless they are worth it?
Aside from that, who knew that a small piece of technology would make such an impact? Students LOVE using the camera. Students are taking on new roles. Some are taking on that of a journalist covering the school events. All are using the camera to document science projects. Turns out, mold and fungus grown in class terrariums is very photogenic. Some students are taking on the role of artist. There are many debates over what makes a "good" picture. I love that my students have gotten excited about things happening in and out of the classroom. It's what learning is all about. The camera you purchased for my classroom makes it that much easier.
Lastly, and unfortunately, I need to end this note with an apology. My school recently underwent some serious reorganization. Teachers and resources were lost. Schedules were drastically changed. Due to this, my students wrote their thank you letters to you before they were able to have a lot of time using the camera. Students are continuing to use the camera, and thoroughly enjoying it. I apologize that the really great things they are doing with the camera will not be fully shown in the letters the students wanted to, and did, write to you. Hopefully the pictures that will be attached will convey some of the exciting things the students are doing.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Fennema