Past projects 3
5th Grade in 3D
Funded Aug 14, 2024Since the arrival of our 3D printer, students have been excited at the chance to use this new gadget. In class, students have the opportunity to earn points for doing the right thing and turning in assignments. One of the incentives they can spend their points on is to use the 3D printer - and they has been a huge motivator for students! Not only is it educational and exposing them to a new form of technology, but it engages their interest and allows them to explore their creativity.
I love using this as an incentive for students because it exposes them to something they may very well need to be proficient in as they progress in their education and future careers. While it captures their interest and is used as a fun tool in class, it is also teaching them to use programs that can enhance their technological skills. Whenever a student earns the reward of being able to use the 3D printer in class, they are allowed to search for the item they would like to print, upload the image into the design program that codes the image into a printable file, and then print it in class. The entire class can see the printing process take place during class as we move on to other lessons during the school day. Once the image is printed, all students can see the outcome and how the 3D printer works from start to finish.
My students and myself thank you so much for contributing to our 3D printer! Thank you for gifting my students with a fun and educational incentive in the classroom!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Dean
This classroom project was brought to life by The Gates Foundation and 3 other donors.Falling in Love with Books!
Funded Aug 10, 2021My students are enjoying the books that we received from your generous donations so much! In September, the students had the opportunity to read a realistic fiction novel called "Eleven" about the events of September 11th. They were able to be immersed in the experience through the viewpoint of a child their age who was turning eleven on September 11th and saw how the events unfolded throughout the day. It really brought history to life for them and they more deeply understood the tragedy instead of just being taught about it in school.
Currently, we are reading the novel "Wonder." This is such an amazing book for people of any age, but it is absolutely perfect for my 5th graders. It is told from the viewpoint of Auggie, a student with severe facial deformities, who has been homeschooled his whole life and is now attending in-person school for the first time. The students can relate to Auggie and all of the emotions he feels about making new friends, being nervous about being judged, and learning that it's what's on the inside that matters. This book is full of life lessons that my students will be able to carry with them forever. They are loving this book!
As the year continues, the students will be reading the rest of the books that were donated as well. They have already asked me how we got these class sets of novels and I explained to them that there is a website called Donors Choose and people from all over the country can read about classroom projects and make a donation if they choose to. My class was stunned that so many people wanted to help us get these books! Comments of "Awww, that's so nice of them!" and "Tell them we say thank you!" rang throughout my classroom. They really are touched by your donation and are enjoying the novels so much. I can't begin to tell you what a gift this is to help instill a love of reading in children. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping my students!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Dean
Hardcore Headphones
Funded Aug 18, 2018I cannot thank you enough for your kind donation to my classroom. In my classroom, we use a variety of tools to learn, and sometimes students work on different assignments in the same classroom. For instance, I may have a group of students in a small group with me, while another group of students work on math problems independently, and another group uses laptops to use a program called i-ready, or to do research for their S.T.E.M. projects. With all of this activity going on in the classroom, it is important that each student is able to focus on the task at hand. If students who are working on laptops are not using headphones, the audio will disrupt the other students in the class. The headphones also help block out any other noise in the classroom for the students who are using them to work on the laptops.
The "skullcandy" brand headphones are the perfect addition to our classroom, not only for the aforementioned reasons, but also because of their durability. In a classroom full of students who are working on different things at different times, and switching between centers when told to do so, it is very important that the equipment can hold up to being handled over and over again. In the past I have used earbuds or cheaper brands of headphones, but they simply don't last very long. Some students are able to bring in their own headphones or earbuds, but others cannot. Having this inconsistency in the classroom disrupts the learning environment when you are constantly looking for a working pair of headphones or asking other students if they can let someone else borrow their headphones. The classroom environment has been able to run so much more smoothly with the addition of these durable set of headphones.
In addition to the sound quality and noise-canceling abilities of these headphones, many students have also mentioned to me that they are very comfortable. It might not be something that we always think about, but when some students are using earbuds they can hurt their ears. Also, with cheaper and older sets of headphones, some of the padding that goes over the ears is either missing or torn. When students use headphones like this they typically don't finish their work because they are distracted while trying to adjust the headphones and make them comfortable.
These headphones have helped tremendously in our classroom and we are extremely grateful for you contributions! Thank you!!!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Dean
This classroom project was brought to life by Craig Newmark Philanthropies and 5 other donors.