Past projects 6
Emotional Stabilization and Sensory Regulation
Funded Aug 14, 2024Thank you all for your generous donations. We received the lights and right away students were excited to see them in action. We used a measuring cup to see how much water the tubes would hold. The students made estimates and were challenged using their fine motor skills not to spill the water as they took turns filling the tubes. Once we got them filled, the students all took turns clicking the buttons on the remote and making color selections.
One tube was placed in our calming corner where students watch the tube, as they are soothed by the quiet hum, colors, and swimming sea creatures. This has been a classroom favorite for sure!
The second tube we placed at our carpet area. Students are engaged at the carpet area by the light turning on. They will sit at carpet during free choice and play with fine motor toys as they imagine many of them swimming in the ocean. At times students will try to count the sea creatures, bubbles, and track the animals with their fingers. These tubes have been such an asset to our room.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Darby
This classroom project was brought to life by The Gates Foundation and 5 other donors.Gross Motor Stimulation!
Funded Mar 21, 2024We are utilizing this rock wall everyday in various ways. Students look forward arriving and having a little climbing time. It is a preferred activity for sensory breaks, where they race to climb to the top.
At the end of the day they participate in joint play activities while climbing on and hiding in the various areas.
Mostly, the kids are delighted to have such a sturdy and nice climbing structure to play on. Even when it is wet or too hot to play outside. They are enjoying hours of building big motor muscles and working collaboratively while having fun!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Darby
Learning With Animals
Funded Dec 27, 2023Thank you so much for your generosity! My students have been loving using the animal manipulative counters to learn more about math. They have been added to their sensory bins as well. The colors and textures attribute to some fun sensory experiences. The students were so excited when the boxes came. They all worked together to open the items. We will continue to learn with these items for years to come.
Some of the ways we will continue to use the items will be to build fine motor skills and work on our pincher grasps. We will use the animals in conjunction with some other tools to create patterns. We will continue to learn about sorting and categorizing items. We will build with the animals in our 10 frames during math. The kids are so grateful for this fun new way to learn. Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Darby
Communication and Organization!
Funded Dec 25, 2021Thank you for your generous donations to our classroom. Since we have received our products we have made some tremendous strides in our learning. All of our students have now mastered the art of phonemic awareness.
We are thrilled to announce that one student is making connections he never thought possible and is so proud of himself. This is thanks to your support from afar.
Additionally, we have made great strides in organization which has allowed our staff to have more time to work on professional development and become a more cohesive team, supporting our students with consistency.
Finally, our students have loved playing reading games with the cool rocket ships. They don't even know they are reading!
Thank you for making learning fun!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Darby
Discovery Learning in a Seat!
Funded Jan 16, 2021Thank you so much for all your generous donations. This project has sparked new conversations about career paths, and organic life structures. You have bridged the gap for students who needed the visual context for learning new math concepts. You have made small group instruction possible again through multiple sets of manipulatives. You have encouraged research and discovery of new creature features and gave students the ability to see in real life what some of those features are.
You have given many antsy students' choice in sensory items and the ability to move beyond the traditional chair and desk arrangement. Students love trading in one sensory item for another trying them all out.
Finally, you have given me tools to make teaching less stressful. Each student is able to have a writing folder in front of them with all the essential tools right there! In these covid times that is so important for equal access and ability to organize and collect writing for each individual. The next steps for us in 4th grade are test prep and mastering fractions with all the new tools you gave!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Darby
Wiggle and Learn
Funded Sep 20, 2019Thank you so much for believing in the dream of a flexible learning environment. Other staff and students continue to walk by and comment about how much the light filters have changed the atmosphere of our room. Students appear less irritable and do not complain of headaches. Everyday students get to class as soon as they can to get to use one of the wobble stools. Most of all students have been given some choice over their day.
The bean bag chairs and stools have created a center of community. Students love to sit in them to play games, work on their Chrome-books, or just read together. This interaction is so valuable! In addition to the quantifiable benefits of relationship building to the students as a whole, we are located in a rural area so this daily positive interaction at school becomes more vital.
The students were thrilled every time a package would arrive. We did an unboxing of the packages together. They would tell the other students on the playground about all the things perfect strangers gave to their classroom.
The biggest benefit I believe would be the wobble stools. We have long days as we are on a four day schedule. Asking nine and ten year olds to be still and produce quality work is nearly impossible. However, with your help they are working hard as they wiggle around.
The next step for our classroom would be to ask for more wobble stools. The benefit and excitement for all the students far surpassed my expectations!
I cannot express enough how much your donation has helped my current and future students!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Darby