Mr. Preston's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 8

• Celebrating Language Learners!

  Funded Apr 30, 2025

  Thank you so much for encouraging my students as they come to the end of another year. They have worked hard and I am proud to see the growth of so many of them. We are optimistic that we'll have another successful year of reclassification (graduating from the English Language Learner program) when the test results come in. Thank you for your support.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Preston

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 3 other donors.

• You Made It! Reclassification Party!

  Funded Feb 25, 2024

  Thank you for your generous donation and support of my "Reclassification" celebration for Middle School English Learners who met the strigent criteria to be exited from English learner programs. The celebration - for students, their families, and involved staff - was a highlight of our spring calendar.

  As you may know, by the time English learners get to middle school, their chances of reclassifying diminish and they are often "lost in the vortex" of a system that has not served them well. Thus, they go to high school at a disadvantage and are excluded from college-level classes, thereby limiting their options. We work hard at our middle school to ensure as many EL students can achieve the rigorous standards of reclassification BEFORE they get to high school.

  I am delighted to let you know that more than a dozen students reclassified this year. Without exaggeration, this will positively impact their trajectory for high school and for life. Thank you for your support and encouragement in this endeavor.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Preston

  This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron and 2 other donors.

• Way to Go! You made it!

  Funded Jan 22, 2024

  I can't thank you enough for investing in my language learning students who are growing in their academic and cultural knowledge. Your generous donation will help them continue on this path of growth.

  We held a wonderful ceremony that honored the students who were reclassified from being English learners to being "Fully English Proficient." This is difficult to articulate the magnitude of this accomplishment. It will completely change the trajectory of the students' future as they enter high school. It will open doors that would not be open if they were still English learners.

  So your gifts were appreciated and the celebration was wonderful.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Preston

  This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron and 2 other donors.

• Engaging! Effective! Equitable!

  Funded Sep 11, 2023

  I can't thank you enough for investing in my language learning students who are growing in their academic and cultural knowledge. Your generous donation will help them continue on this path of growth. Interactive, language-based programs such as Brainpop ensure that all students receive the instruction they deserve.

  I've found that English language learners love to engage and learn; they just need a tool that works for them!

  I'm so happy to now have a subscription to the highly academic and language-rich BrainPop series. I have seen language learners grow in understanding difficult concepts when I have used this tools in the past. Their increased engagement leads to thoughtful and valuable academic conversations allowing them to grow in language skills as well as cultural and content knowledge.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Preston

  This classroom project was brought to life by Panda Cares.

• Woohoo! Your Accomplishment Is Huge!

  Funded Mar 8, 2023

  Thank you for your generous contribution to honor students who earned "reclassification" status during the past few months.

  Reclassification signifies that an English Learner student is now able to operate in all subject areas at the same level (in their English skills) as a native-speaker (or English only) student. It's really quite an accomplishment. What's more, they are now no longer labelled as an "English Learner" which regrettably many of them find to be a pejorative title.

  We celebrated with a ceremony/party for them and their parents and gave them the gifts that you so generously provided.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Preston

  This classroom project was brought to life by A Northern California family and 2 other donors.

• Jr. High Language Learners Love Novels to Help Their English!

  Funded Oct 22, 2022

  I am so grateful for your generosity in providing these books for my struggling readers. It has allowed me the opportunity to see them engage with classic texts with enjoyment and ease. Thank you!

  We typically read a chapter a day as a read aloud, then the students are given the task of answering a literature analysis question based on the reading. As these students are language learners, they are usually given sentence starters to help them form their response with academic English. Additionally, there is a word bank of high-impact academic terms that I require they use (they select two from about ten weekly words). This increases their writing skills and literary analysis skills.

  Again, thank you! It is a pleasure to partner with you to meet the needs of my students.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Preston

  This classroom project was brought to life by Seed to Read and 3 other donors.

• English Language Learners Love Reading Engaging Stories!

  Funded Oct 11, 2022

  I am so grateful for your generosity in providing these books for my struggling readers. It has allowed me the opportunity to see them engage with classic texts with enjoyment and ease. Thank you!

  We typically read a chapter a day as a read aloud, then the students are given the task of answering a literature analysis question based on the reading. As these students are language learners, they are usually given sentence starters to help them form their response with academic English. Additionally, there is a word bank of high-impact academic terms that I require they use (they select two from about ten weekly words). This increases their writing skills and literary analysis skills.

  Again, thank you! It is a pleasure to partner with you to meet the needs of my students.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Preston

  This classroom project was brought to life by Seed to Read and one other donor.

• Students Need Real Books During Online Learning!

  Funded Oct 26, 2020

  This has been a challenging year. For months, our students have been doing school from home and required to use online materials. This has presented some obvious and less obvious challenges for many.

  When you generously donated the funds to purchase high interest books (real paper and print books!), something changed in the lives and engagement of my students. They actually got to have a real book that wasn't on a screen. As importantly, your funds allowed us to purchase a variety of the most popular jr. high books, which we then shared with the students and allowed them to choose their preferred choice. After the selection was made, our team put aside five afternoons (after teaching) and mapped out each student's home address in our classes. We set off and delivered each individual book to the home of each of our students. It was the highlight of the year, after a long and isolated period of lockdown!

  We have since been monitoring the students' reading engagement through their weekly reading logs and are thrilled to see that the students are enjoying their books and growing in their reading skills.

  This really was a game changer!”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Preston