Past projects 19
Our Playground Needs Your Help!
Funded Sep 18, 2015Saying, "thank you!" does not even remotely express you how grateful we are for all this equipment! I know the pictures are super shadowy, but look closely and you will see how much joy and physical activity you brought to all these kids!
The basketball hoops and balls, the balance beam, and the cone catchers are all outside everyday for 3 morning and 3 afternoon recesses. That means that approximately two hundred 4-6 year olds are playing with it all each day! My students set up the equipment each morning and bring it all back in at the end of the day. Not only it everything fun to play with, but they are also learning a lot about sharing with others and the importance of taking care of special items.
The scarves and bean bags are in my room and we use them daily. My students favorite activity with the scarves is when they throw the scarf up then I call out a body part and they try to catch the scarf with that part of their body. I wish there was a way to upload video of all the laughter!
Again, thank you all so much! I am so touched by your generosity.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Heather Wilcox
iPad Minis for My Kinder Minis
Funded Sep 15, 2014Thank you again for your unbelievable support! The iPad minis are AMAZING! The kids are using them regularly. it is impressive how skilled they are with them with very limited support! I have found a some great apps that encourage handwriting, sorting, counting, and sight word reading. I have also found some games that students can play in pairs that encourage team work. We use the iPad minis during "Group Time" and they have helped so much. A small group of students works with me on writing (usually), another works with my aide on something creative, and the others get to use the iPads. Having the independent group engaged with the iPads allows me and my aide to work without disruption with our students.
Thank you again!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Heather Wilcox
Our Classroom Laptop Died :( Help Us Get a New One :)
Funded Oct 29, 2013You all are so amazing, thank you so much. This new computer was put to work quickly! It feels like I have my right arm back having a functioning computer in my classroom again.
The kids love to get me sidetracked with questions that I do not know the answer to, like today, "When was Davy Crockett alive?" We went about a month or so with me answering back, "I don't know! You will have to look it up at home." Now we are back to, "I don't know, let's google it!" This makes our learning environment much more entertaining!
The main use of this computer so far was just today, they began a movie. I know, I know a movie at school! They earn movies as prizes, it took them just over 2 months to earn their first movie. I read novels aloud to my students every afternoon after lunch and if the novel has a movie I buy it to watch. We read Shiloh earlier this year and watched the first 15 minutes of the movie today, projected from the laptop. They loved the start of the movie and the big screen viewing!
Thank you all again. The computer will continue to be used for years by the students that make their way into my classroom!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Heather Wilcox
4th Graders on a Train and a "Mission"
Funded Feb 22, 2013Our field trip was such a success! I just got home and I am exhausted and sunburned, but so happy at the same time.
Thank you all so much for your donations. Today was amazing for these students.
Please know that your donations helped close to 150 students enjoy Mission San Juan Capistrano today, but the pictures you see and my following comments are about my students.
We studied the missions of California throughout February and each student completed a report on one of the 21 missions. So my students were beyond thrilled with the idea of going on this trip (and on the train). A few students even compared their excitement to Christmas morning earlier this week! Let me tell you, this trip didn't disappoint. The audio tour (which you paid for) was a great way for the kids to wander around and learn about the mission in their language at their speed.
I could go on forever about how wonderful this experience was for me and my students, but I am running out of characters... just know that you will receive personal thank you notes from my students... through those you will really know how great this day was!
Thank you once again for helping me accomplish my best teaching experience yet! I could not have done it without you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Heather Wilcox
Thematic Manipulatives? Yes, Please!
Funded Jan 31, 2012I cannot even begin to truly thank each and everyone of you for donating to this project for my students. We received our thematic box sets just last week and we are already making great use of the first one!
We started our new unit titled Animals this past Monday. I was very excited to have the Wild Animal thematic box to help get our unit started. So far there are a few parts of the box that are major hits.
The finger puppets- There are 15 wild animal head finger puppets, the kids LOVE them! They have been building lego houses for and telling stories with the puppets.
The animal cube- This is a six sided dice that has a different animal on each face. I taught the kids to roll the dice with a partner or small group. Whatever animal the dice lands on you have to say the name and/or something you know about that animal. It is so cute watching them play this game with each other. There are only 6 animals, but no one is bored yet!
The mystery animal box- This box is full of animal picture cards with clues on them. I choose one students to come with their eyes closed, they get to reach in and choose a card. I read the clues and the student guess what animal it could be. They are really getting exposed to many more animals than the Language Arts curriculum provides. It is great!
I am really looking forward to exploring the other Thematic Boxes as we continue through the year. Again, thank you all so much.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Heather Wilcox
This classroom project was brought to life by Wasserman Foundation and 24 other donors.(Not Too) Extreme Kinder Classroom Makeover!
Funded Jan 31, 2012Wow, over 25 wonderful people donated to this project for my classroom! That is so amazing! Thank you all much!
The bookshelf and table have made a huge impact on our classroom environment already!
As you can see from the photos that bookshelf instantly became stocked with our February themed books (Groundhog, Valentine, and President's Day plus Black History Month). Having this shelf is great for 2 reasons. First, students are able to see the front cover of a book, which helps them to get excited about what the story will be about. Second, it helped create more space in the classroom and I am in the process of setting up 2 computers in that space for the kids to use.
My aide should probably write the "thank you" for the table, because she is SO grateful! She works so hard and is so good with my students and this table has really allowed to do her job even better and more efficiently. She has already made pattern headbands (see photos), painted, and journaled with small groups at her new table!
Again, thank you so much. I love what I do and I love knowing that others support me. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. Heather Wilcox
This classroom project was brought to life by Wasserman Foundation and 28 other donors.Help! Someone Stole Our Playground Equipment!
Funded Dec 9, 2011I wish you all could have seen the 24 adorable faces of my students when the custodian delivered the HUGE boxes to our room earlier in the week! We were in the middle of a math lesson, but I could tell that their excitement was taking over, so we took a break from our work and opened the boxes.
They were very excited about the new bean bag toss and the balls, but the bike was the highlight! One student asked, "You found out who stole it?" I explained that this was new bike to replace the other one and that many kind people (you all) helped to buy us all these new things. Another student chimed in, "We need to say thank you!"
So, on behalf of myself and my 24 recess loving, bike riding, bean bag throwing kindergartens THANK YOU SO MUCH! You helped to bring more joy to our playground.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Heather Wilcox
This classroom project was brought to life by Wasserman Foundation and 13 other donors.We Loved Our Listening Center So Much, It Broke!
Funded Nov 24, 2011Our books on CD have arrived and wonderful!
It is funny getting all these new materials with kids that do not really grasp (thank goodness) the idea of money, lack of funding, etc. They are excited to get new things but their excitement doesn't always match mine. It is a great feeling to be supported my family, parents of my students, strangers, and large foundations. My job is not easy, but it is wonderful and I would not want to be doing anything else with my life.
We have not listened to all of the books yet. It will take time to get them all through the weekly rotation of the listening center but I am so happy that I will be able to change the book each week. Students have already been asking, "When will the ______ book be on?" So I know they will check the listening center first thing every Monday morning.
Thank you again. I truly appreciate you.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Heather Wilcox
This classroom project was brought to life by Wasserman Foundation and 5 other donors.Kinders Want to Write and Wipe!
Funded Nov 19, 2011Again, I cannot begin that truly express how grateful I am for your donation to my classroom. Seeing my students so excited about their new boards and markers is wonderful. We have only had the white boards and markers for a few days, but they have already become a staple in our learning. Students ask me first thing, "When can I get my board out?!" They also moan when I ask them to erase it completely and put it away.
We have been using the boards are for letter writing (as you hopefully saw in the pictures), high frequency word writing, blending activities, and writing numbers. Tomorrow we are going to use the colored markers for the first time to draw a traffic light, which will correspond to our transportation unit.
I have said it a million times, but thank you thank you thank you! You have helped me complete my daily goal, which is simply to make my students excited and happy at school. ”
With gratitude,
Ms. Heather Wilcox
This classroom project was brought to life by Wasserman Foundation and 3 other donors.