Past projects 14
Flex Seats to Flex Our Brains
Funded Apr 4, 2025They’re still wiggly, these wee scholars, but now with your help they’ll be able to get comfy and get to some serious learning. If you’ve heard that it takes a village, well, I’m just glad you chose to be a part of our little village here!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Landau
Vamos A Leer - Together!
Funded May 8, 2024One student says "I felt happy when I saw our new books because they are in Spanish, and sometimes I don't know how to read some English words. I was excited to read them!"
Another student says "I felt happy because I like to read in Spanish!"
Another student says "I was excited because I don't speak Spanish but I want to learn new Spanish words!"
With your help, I was able to fill a hole in my classroom library. As the books kept coming, I wish you could have seen the students' eyes widen and their cries of delight as they realized we had a whole new library section. Whether these Spanish-English books represent their home language or a brand new learning opportunity, you have helped bring such joy to our classroom!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Landau
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 3 other donors.A Book for Every Shelf, a Shelf for Every Book
Funded Sep 21, 2023I don't want to say having this new bookshelf for our classroom library totally changed the students' lives, but...it kind of changed their lives in a small yet appreciable way! With our new set up, we have enough space for all our fiction books to spread out, the nonfiction and nonfiction (science) books have been separated for ease of access, and our genre labels are clear and easy to find. The students can do their weekly book shopping with confidence that they'll find what they're looking for.
Also important, even if it doesn't sound like it on the surface, is that this new bookshelf looks nice. When students see a well-maintained classroom, they feel more confident in themselves and their teachers, and feel a sense of pride in their community.
Also, we're not finding splinters inside books anymore, so that's a plus.
We couldn't do this without you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Landau
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 17 other donors.Attracting Magnets
Funded Feb 16, 2023When my students entered my classroom and saw magnet stations set up, there were actual shouts of joy. We already had some magnet materials, but the kits you helped us get were organized and included ready-to-set-up experiments with instructions so that the kids could really explore!
Learning the words "attract" and "repel" is one thing, but actually seeing magnets float because the repelling field is that strong is on a whole other level! Next year, we'll be able to use the stations throughout our magnets unit.
We couldn't have done it without your help! Thank you for helping to inspire the next generation of scientists.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Landau
Small Groups, Big Results
Funded Oct 15, 2022Wow! What a difference just a few items can make in the classroom. With the headphones you helped us purchase, we can get on our favorite reading programs and all work comfortably, instead of 27 devices adding to the noise. The students really like the different colors and the fact that they got their own pair to keep!
The stools you helped us get are already making our day so much easier. Instead of trying to figure out how to get chairs through the narrow maze that is our classroom, students can simply bring themselves to my small group table. No one is distracted by chairs scraping and squeaking across the room, and we squeeze back a few precious minutes of learning.
I couldn't do what I do without you. I described how you helped us to my students today, and they want you to know they think you're the bee's knees (I may be paraphrasing)!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Landau
Charged Up!
Funded Sep 1, 2022My students use their tablets every day. We have programs that make their reading and math practice feel like games, so they're having fun while they learn. We're learning how to type and how to responsibly use the internet. All of that needs tablets charged and ready to go each morning.
Last year, we had the charging tablet spread out around the walls of the classroom, creating tripping hazards (for me, it was me, I'm very clumsy). With the cart, we have a single location for the tablets and enough space for all of them too!
My favorite thing about this charging station you've helped us get is watching the students who have the class job of Technology every week. The students themselves helped me organize the tablets in the cart and come up with efficient systems to deliver them to the students each morning and collect them for charging at the end of the day. I feel more ready for this year than I did before, and your help is so appreciated!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Landau
Wiggly Worms Are Learning
Funded Mar 10, 2022When you look at the pictures of my students using our phenomenal new fidgets and flexible seating, you may notice that a few of the shots are of the same assignment. This assignment is the perfect example of why we needed these fidgets: The students were excited to work on it, but it was a long, independent packet using skills they'd only learned for the first time earlier that week. They're allowed to get up and use the fidgets as necessary without asking permission first, and in this assignment I noticed several students using them. They weren't playing or distracted - the fidgets were helping them focus, exactly the way you would hope they would! The flexible seating makes the carpet more comfortable, and a number of students use the wobble seats on top of their chairs to help them with their excess energy.
The fidgets and wobble seats are a small part of my classroom, but in the few weeks we've had them, they've proved their worth! Thank you for everything you did to help my students focus!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Landau
I Say, You Say, We Say
Funded Dec 10, 2021You helped bring a really fun and engaging resource into my classroom! On the first day we used these handheld whiteboards, the students were so excited to hold them up and share their answers. I had to remind them to wait until everyone was done to hold them up because they just couldn't contain themselves!
So far, we have used these whiteboards to do quick checks for understanding. In a recent grammar lesson, they saw a series of sentences that were either fragments or complete. On one side of their whiteboard they'd written a check, with an X on the other, and we were able to fly through the activity! We've also used the whiteboards to write sentences on - they're the perfect size for a one sentence answer.
I have so many more plans for these wonderful little whiteboards! The handles mean we can write opinions and then form clusters around the room to discuss, or take them outside during science. With the two sides, we could write an answer on one side, and then move around the room to write a response on another student's whiteboard! Thank you for your help in getting my students engaged!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Landau
This classroom project was brought to life by Clark Foundation & Marriott Foundation and 2 other donors.Books in These Unprecedented Times
Funded Mar 31, 2021I've been building my classroom library for about seven years now, always with the classic teacher motto in mind: "Beg, borrow, and steal." Okay, I didn't steal any books! But over the years my library has been cobbled together through donations of used books, used books purchased at Friends of the Library sales, and receiving boxes of used books from other teachers. The books in my classroom library are clearly well-loved!
There is something special about being the first kid to crack the spine of a book, though. There's something special about the shiny new covers. There's something special about having a complete series on its own special shelf, and that's what you helped me get for my students.
Chapter books are a tricky thing in third grade. Not all students are ready for them yet, but most of them want to try. By helping me get some of the most popular series out there, you've helped my students who are desperately ready for chapter books, and you've helped the students who want to challenge themselves. These books are used for independent reading during the day, and soon will be loaned out for students to read at home. Looking at my shelf right now, there is at least one book of each series off the shelf in a student's desk, and there's only one Dogman book sitting there now. Reader, they do love Dogman.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Landau
Brain Boosters
Funded Feb 13, 2020Yep - stratonimbus clouds. They gave way to stratus clouds, which don't rain, but the playground was soggy. Did I get groans when I announced indoor recess? I did...until a few eyes lit on the brand new bin of LEGOs. And oh, donors, did I start getting some smiles.
At the end of recess, the teacher on duty told them today was the best indoor recess they've ever had. Hands went up immediately to play with LEGOs, mancala, and chess. It turns out I didn't get enough chessboards, but disappointed friends soon became eager onlookers and kibbitzers to the game. I'm going to order another.
Indoor recess is always going to be louder than a teacher on her lunch break wants, but there's loud and then there's chaos. We were loud today, and joyful, but we were not chaotic. Everywhere around the room, students were taking turns, laughing, sharing, and bragging over their creations. When class started again, we had no trouble transitioning our brains or our bodies. You have helped me transform a teacher's worst nightmare - indoor recess - into a brain boosting dream.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Landau