Past projects 3
Our New Normal...Virtually Working in Person
Funded Oct 23, 2020Thank you so much for donating to our project. During this unprecedented time of panic, worry and concern, you have allowed my students to come back into the classroom and just be kids. We have been using both of our Air purifiers and headphones daily in our classroom. It is giving us the peace of mind to focus on learning and not allow the worries of this pandemic to distract us from our goal...HAVING FUN while getting an education.
My students were excited about the air purifiers but they were more excited to have their own personal headphones for daily activities and assignments. They were able to choose their favorite color and keep them at their desk for personal use daily. It helped me with daily assignments and activities because I could now assign digital videos and websites with audio without worrying about disturbing others that may be working on other assignments at the time. It allows the students to have a sense of independence as to what order to do their activities in the day without worrying about being disruptive to others.
It has also created a job opportunity for my students as we know have our own Purifier monitors who get to come in and monitor the purifiers and make sure they are up and 4running properly daily. The monitor comes in and turns on the purifier and then turns it off at the end of our day. This is a needed job since a lot of our daily jobs have been thwarted due to the no contact and sharing of materials rule that have been in place to ensure everyone's safety. This project has truly brought some peace and stability back into our class and that is something that is priceless during such a time as this.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Spinner
This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron and 2 other donors.We're Only A Click Away From Fun Learning!
Funded Oct 9, 2017Many believe that learning in schools is done by pencil and paper tasks. But this belief couldn't be further from the truth. Our kids today are computer savvy and love to do things at the click of a button or tap/slide of a finger. Well I truly appreciate the tablets because it has literally put learning in the palm of my students hands. Not only is there learning fun and interactive it is also portable. No longer are they stuck at a computer that only one person can use at a time, they can now team up and learn together. They are excited to go on assigned educational websites to practice math skills and watch educational videos to reinforce what we are learning each week.
My goal when I put this project together was to bring my students opportunities that would allow them to guide and facilitate their own learning. The Daily Science Journals and Number Talk game both lend my students the opportunity to process various concepts and to share their thought process which in turn helps other students around them to better understand and learn concepts. The Daily Science Journals focus on various 2nd grade concepts and provides the students with a chance to explore this concept through a reading passage, vocabulary and an application activity by the end of the week. I have seen the students get excited to share their work and have done better at demonstrating understanding of more complex concepts.
I want to take this opportunity to just say that my students are more engaged and truly excited to see what activity or concept they get to explore each week because of the wonderful materials you so generously funded for our class. I have seen an increase in participation and an improvement in test scores for some of my struggling students who need to learn in more engaging and fun ways.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Spinner
They Build It and They Will Learn
Funded Oct 23, 2017My goal when I put this project together was to get my students to find new ways to push their thinking and open up a new level of creativity. Thanks to your generosity I was able to do just that with my class daily. I use the Magnatiles, Science activities, and STEM books in small group settings weekly to reinforce our daily learning objectives.
My students are excited to hear me say that we are using the Magnatiles in stations to build 3D structures. I've seen the quietest kid speak up to share their idea to add to the group creation as well as the most uncooperative kid ready to share to make the creation the biggest and the best. The experiment of the week and Science activities are a hit with my hands on students and they are ready to explore a concept and share their findings with one another. The STEM books are great for my eager readers and the students have even started to explain to each other exactly what STEM stand for.
All of these wonderful tools have definitely helped my students to become more engaged and responsible learners. As a result I have also seen more unity in classwork and a willingness to share and help others who are struggling. My students have not only demonstrated better understanding of objectives, they have also become more eager to explore something new without fear of failure.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Spinner