Mr. Shaffer's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 3

• Exploring Our Diverse World Through Picture Book Biographies

  Funded Nov 2, 2018

  Thank you so much for your generous donations. We have been able to add over forty new nonfiction picture books to our library collection. Together with other sources, we now have a very robust and varied collection of picture books for older readers.

  As we navigate how best to use our new resources, I'll tell you about our most recent effort. Two seventh grade classes are studying immigration and how it relates to Washington state. They will be creating their own nonfiction picture books. They spent three days in the library studying the many different styles and approaches to art, design, organization, text, and presentation that our picture books convey. All while learning about interesting people and stories!

  As our picture books cover artists, athletes, scientists, mathematicians, thinkers, makers, and more, I look forward to connecting with classes and teachers when their work might be supplemented with a read aloud or display.

  I appreciate your generosity in helping me remind middle school students (and teachers) of the value of the picture book as a form for connecting deeply with a subject.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Shaffer

• Collaboration and Learning with Chromebooks

  Funded May 3, 2014

  Thank you so, so much for your contribution to my Donors Choose project. The six Chromebooks you helped fund arrived at the end of last school year, and I spent the summer familiarizing myself with them. The more I explored them, the more excited I became for the new school year to start, and for these tools to be in the hands of my students.

  One of the biggest obstacles to technology use in the classroom is convenience. Even in schools with a great deal of technology access, it can be complicated and logistically tiresome to sign up for lab use, or check out iPads, or whatever. With your contributions, my students have technology literally at their fingertips.

  I am especially excited that my students have access to Chromebooks this year since they also, for the first time, have school Google accounts. We have already signed up for web-based learning tools such as Google Classroom, Khan Academy, and NewsELA. My students suddenly have more access to the incredible learning that can come from outside the classroom walls. Their eyes are opening.

  With your contributions, my students now have the opportunity to work independently (or collaboratively among six students) on our six classroom Chromebooks, or to work as groups, with a Chromebook at each table (this is particularly exciting), to build knowledge and understanding through shared docs and collaborative learning.

  I am so stunned by your generosity and support. Thank you for helping me connect my students with each other, and the world.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Shaffer

• Chromebook->Classroom->Collaboration!

  Funded May 7, 2014

  Thank you so much for funding my Donors Choose project. The addition of one more Chromebook in our classroom enables increased access to technology, wider use of online tools, and less "waiting" for computer use.

  My students love when we can use Chromebooks in the classroom. These simple, small machines have opened up new connections with each other, and the world. With our school Google accounts, students are now able to share documents with each other and me. They can work collaboratively on a single document with others, inside or outside the classroom, without having to crowd around one computer. Having Chromebooks in the classroom is changing the way my students interact with their world--I am able to guide their learning using tools that I was always able to use, but were not conveniently available to my students. Now, those tools are literally just a few steps away.

  Recently, during math, we were working with bar graphs. The task I set for them was to survey the people in their group, record the data in a table, and create a bar graph. We were just about to start when I suddenly realized--I have technology! "Wait! Let's do this on our Chromebooks!" It took us a bit longer, and there were many kinks to work out, but we ended up with a collaboratively developed Google Sheet of class data. We inserted a bar graph and analyzed it as a class. Before having Chromebooks in the classroom, I never would have spent the time to go to a lab to do something like this. But who really makes bar graphs on paper anymore? It may be bumpy and slow at first, but I am excited to open my students' eyes to the many tools they already have around them, and I am committed to helping my students turn technology use into second nature.

  Thank you again for your generous contribution.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. Shaffer

  This classroom project was brought to life by 100 Women in Hedge Funds and 5 other donors.