Past projects 9
We Need New AP US History Textbooks for Our Class!
Funded Aug 10, 2022We have been having a great experience with our new AP United States History textbooks! As a direct result of this project, each student has his or her own books, and this has really improved our ability to learn the history and work together in interesting ways using our books.
Most of my students are not used to working with textbooks - which might come as some surprise to adults who were used to having multiple textbooks in high school and college. For many reasons, textbooks have fallen out of use in a lot of schools in our city. In an AP US History course, we are required to use an approved textbook. But, one problem to solve is to obtain the books, and the next is to use them well and creatively.
With your help we obtained the books! This has given me the chance to "train" my students in using the textbooks effectively. We use them each day in class, and I have been scaffolding and guiding my students' use of the books, first by reading with them and then by gradually introducing independent and group assignments to the classes to increase their interest and active participation. Thank you for making this possible!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Grodsky
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 5 other donors.We Need a Wireless Printer for our Classroom Network!
Funded May 5, 2021We are back in school this Fall, with our masks on, and using a hybrid model of instruction, but our students and classes are engaged in regular classwork and activities together!
It is very useful to have a wireless printer in our classroom this year. Our students did very little writing in the past year and a half, and even less in class discussion and activities. Having a printer in the room provides us with a valuable tool for supporting writing activities and creating handouts for classroom activities. It also provides us with the ability to print, scan, and copy documents in a socially distant manner, because our other designated technology spaces are more crowded.
Students and other teachers are able to gain a positive benefit from the printer each day, and it is now integrated with our other in-class technology, which includes our computer cart, laptops, and a new SmartBoard. Since we are very device dependent, having up-to-date technology is amazingly helpful! Your generosity has made this possible!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Grodsky
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 5 other donors.Breathing is Fundamental!
Funded Sep 6, 2020It has been a challenging and difficult year, for us, just as it has been all across the City and the nation for the last 3 months. And it will continue to be a challenge as we progress towards June.
I have been using the materials in our classrooms, and it has made instruction safer and easier. Our rooms are limited in terms of ventilation, and on cold days it is hard to keep the windows wide open. The HEPA filters provide a solution to this, and the students are very appreciative not only with the filtration, but also with the more comfortable room temperature. The other "big hit" has been the rolling cart, which allows me to bring all my materials and supplies quickly into different rooms, and also makes it easier for me to bring myself and my materials closer to a student quickly, yet still maintaining social distance. Finally, having extension cords and surge protectors makes everything more flexible and mobile. We had a late opening and are "all remote" again, but as the year goes on we will continue to put these materials to good use with more students.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Grodsky
We Need A New Laptop To Power Our Smartboard!
Funded Nov 10, 2019It is with a feeling of great thankfulness that I am reaching out to you to let you know about how we are using the laptop computer that you graciously helped to fund for my classroom! We have been using it in various ways and it has worked out great!
The laptop is mainly being used as the "central processor" for our online and multi-media classroom projects. But, it is also useful for working with students one-on-one, for working with my student teachers and teams, and it always for maximum mobility, which extends learning beyond the classroom as well.
The laptop we have obtained through your generous support is very versatile. I can use it in class, and easily take it to our professional development meetings and/or meetings outside of school. It is very portable and powerful for its size. Armed with this device, we are now in good shape for instruction and a range of other needs!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Grodsky
History Books for Young Historians!
Funded Nov 3, 2017I would like to thank you again and update you about our successful project!
You may be aware that students today have to take a lot of tests, and that this process can be very stressful. It can also potentially be very boring! Teachers also have a lot of different responsibilities, and among those is the charge to create engaging instructional and learning opportunities for our students. As a United States History and Government teacher, I try to vary the activities we do in class a lot, in order to give students many ways to express their understanding, and also to meet the varying academic needs of all of my students.
The books that we received through this project were 3 types: illustrated US History Atlases, focused high interest short textbooks on key content topics [at a very readable level], and "graphic history" books, presenting key content in cartoon strip format. Each of these types of books can be used in different ways in small group formats, and can make the learning process more approachable and vivid.
My students who struggle with reading are particularly benefiting from the books, and all of my students find the atlases useful! It is great to have such useful resources available in class for the students to use.
Your support for our learning and academic success is working, and much appreciated!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Grodsky
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 11 other donors.History + Technology = Success!
Funded Sep 26, 2016I know it has been a while since I was in touch with you, the donors to this fantastic technology project, so I hope you are doing well this winter! We had a couple of glitches getting started but now everything is up and running!
I would like to describe some of the ways that we have used the cart and the 30 Chromebooks thus far. First, for my Advanced Placement US History class, we now conduct several aspects of the class using Google Classroom, and students have been able to work on a variety of in-class projects using the Chromebooks, such as viewing and creating presentations, and researching information. In my regular US History classes we have used the Chromebooks to anchor small group activities which include analysis of primary and secondary sources and content mastery. In my 11th grade Advisory we have used the Chromebooks for college readiness and research activities twice a week. We also used them successfully for review for our New York State Regents exams in January.
It is an incredible privilege to have this cart and 30 Chromebooks in my classroom at all times. In my school, there are so few opportunities to use laptops or desktops and in the past it has posed a major constraint to my academic planning. Now we have the capability each day to go beyond the usual text-based lesson and support it with technology!
Thanks again for making this little miracle happen!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Grodsky
We Need A New Laptop To Power Our Smartboard!
Funded Feb 19, 2013Hello to all my generous donors!
It has been a very interesting and, in some ways, uniquely challenging year to be an educator in New York City, and I am so glad you have all been a positive part of it. For successive years, budgetary resources have been very limited and I have relied on DonorsChoose to help me gain important pieces of technology for my classroom to help us provide a vibrant and effective educational experience for my students.
What has made this such a unique year? A few major events have deeply contributed to creating, for my students, a sense of connection to all the triumphs and vicissitudes of the "real world." We shared together the Hurricane Sandy, the Presidential Election, various emotional news stories including North Korea's saber-rattling [which affected many of my students who grew up in the shadow of 9/11/2001], and finally the school shooting in Newton, Connecticut. In each of these situations we have used technology in the classroom to help our students to gain access to better understanding of the issues involved.
We also had a clunker of a laptop computer for most of the year, operating as the "brain" for our SmartBoard. No day was complete without having to reboot, update, and try to load over and over again. And a person has not lived until he or she has experienced a crash with the dreaded "blue screen of death" right in the middle of a 40 minute lesson with a full room of teenagers.
Though we received it somewhat late in the year, what all you have contributed to is our new laptop, a much better machine that its elderly colleague, who is now enjoying a much-deserved digital retirement, playing shuffleboard and attending classes with other "older" pieces of tech in a PC equivalent of Florida or Puerto Vallarta. Or, perhaps just the recycle bin.
In the last few weeks we have been working very hard together to help get ready for our students' state exams. The SmartBoard is used constantly as an aid to instruction - a lot of preparation and learning can be supported with video, PowerPoint presentations, images and documents, and other multi-media elements that are increasingly necessary in a 21st Century classroom. Now, the new laptop you have generously helped to provide is powering all of this.
Thank you so much once again for all of your amazing support! I could not do this without you and people like you! I look forward to posting my next project on DonorsChoose in the near future!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Grodsky
Please Help Us Get a Portable Hard Drive for Our Media Cart!
Funded Oct 4, 2011Thank you so much for your generous donation to our project! We are, piece by piece, building our multi-media video cart. We started with an empty cart, and then we added a great projector. Now, with your help, we have the portable memory capacity to support a multitude of projects going into the future.
Having the ability to save a large capacity of video, audio, and text files is going to enhance our capability to store and revise student multi-media projects.
In addition, it gives us the ability to download and use a wide variety of large video and media files and create a library of them. This has recently been very helpful for my students. Most recently, as we were studying the Constitution, students were able to enjoy a great learning experience on the idea of "Checks and Balances" because we were able to download and view a series of video archive files about the resignation of President Nixon and the Watergate scandal. Students were able to use the files to help them with their research and understanding. As a result, this experience was a successful and interesting culmination of our unit on the Constitution.
Without you and your generous help, this would not have been possible! ”
With gratitude,
Mr. Grodsky
Help Us "Project" Our Love for History!
Funded May 3, 2011It is my pleasure to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your generous donations to our class project and to let you know about some of our recent successful experiences.
Since we received the projector, we have really put it to good use! Throughtout the year I had to, at best, borrow a projector shared by a third of our faculty, so it was very difficult to use it consistently as a teaching and learning tool. Once we got our own, I was able to use it more frequently.
My students were all facing their State Regents exams in American History this June. I think they were pretty nervous about the exam. But, with the projector, I was able to add a lot of visual information and understanding to their preparation. As we watched high quality video pieces such as "Eyes on the Prize" and others, I could see the confidence of my students growing. It was easier for the students to write,to discuss, and to retain information with the additional video support.
Our results were excellent! While it is not exactly parallel to make comparisons across disciplines, I can say that, of the content area exams, my students had the highest passing rate, and many students received high individual scores. Our pass rate was 30% higher than the Global Studies results from the previous year and this year as well, and also 30% higher than the results on the other 11th grade exams. The projector played an important part, especially in the last few weeks, which were crucial.
None of this would have been possible without your generosity! We are contending with even worse budget cuts next year. My students need the help and you did a great thing to provide it!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Grodsky