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Mrs. Hardy's Classroom

  • Annandale High School
  • Annandale, VA
  • More than half of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

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Past projects 3

  • Mrs. Hardy's Home and "Games" Away From Home

    Funded Jul 29, 2019

    Thank you all SO much for your generosity! I am absolutely thrilled the project got funded and am so happy that I’ll be able to set the kiddos up for success on the first day of school! I can’t wait to try out all my new gamification ideas- I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes!! Thank you again!!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Hardy

  • A Home Away From Home, Continued, and Hopefully (Literally) Cooler.

    Funded Feb 26, 2019

    Thank you so much for the support you've given to my classroom! The fans were so helpful in helping me to make the room more comfortable! When I showed my students there were so excited and helped me to pick the best places in the room to put them. They really helped us to beat the spring and summer Northern Virginia heat!

    The classroom school supplies couldn't have come at a better time either. I was able to replace some of my psychology student's binders that were wearing out, which they appreciated. Also, the colored pencils, highlighters, and notebook paper definitely helped with our big SOL review in my world history class. The students did extremely well on their exam and we had a 93% pass rate, which was the highest overall pass rate for any World History teacher! They were so pleased with themselves and I was absolutely thrilled. We also made a "Battles and Conflicts" classroom quilt, with each student making a quilt square for one of the battles we learned about this year. They were so colorful and well done and I will be assembling the quilt to hang in the room next year for my new students to reference!

    Going forward, I will be designing a new classroom library for next year with flexible seating options for my psychology students to access. I am hoping to purchase new rugs for the classroom, as ours have been sufficiently worn down this year. I am also going to design a World History Word Wall, and plan to expand on the one that is pictured. I'm super excited to see what next year will bring!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Hardy

  • A New Type of Classroom: A Home Away From Home

    Funded Jan 24, 2019

    Thank you again for your generous contribution to my classroom campaign. The students and I are so appreciative of the funds needed for the new resources and we have been utilizing the items purchased with your donation daily. First, I used one of the bookshelves as a place for my psychology students to store their binders. I put it right by the door so that they can easily grab their binders as they head to their seats. Before, I was keeping the binders in storage bags on top of my wardrobe, and it was such an inconvenience for the kids to have to lug the bags down, and then all crowd around them to find their binder. This has really streamlined the process, and given me more instructional time. The two other bookcases I converted into school supply stations. They are the kids' "one stop shop" for anything they need- highlighters, colored pencils, markers, notebook paper, glue, scissors, stapler, etc. The light covers and lamp have also been great additions, and have helped me to create a warmer, more inviting atmosphere. On a personal level, they have helped me immensely, as I haven't had a single migraine at school since putting them up. The kids have used the floor pillows to get more comfortable during our end of unit movies in psych, for class discussions and my World History kids have been using them while working on group projects.

    When the materials first arrived, my psychology students were super excited to help put the furniture together- I've never seen a group of 17-18 year old kids be so into following directions and building things. (I've included a cute picture of my second period seniors working to build a bookshelf) I covered two of the bookshelves with cool contact paper to help protect the wood from the wear and tear of daily teenager use and I made cute fabric inserts to put inside the long bookshelf to give it a pop of color. The day after I did all that after school, the kids came in in the morning oohing and aahing over the classroom. They were extremely curious about the light covers and were even bringing their friends who aren't in my class in to see the room with the covers up. All of students agree that it makes a huge difference in the overall atmosphere of the room.

    Going forward, I'd like to continue to add to the "home away from home" theme in my classroom. I'm looking into alternative seating options and also the idea of creating a classroom library and large world map mural to help my world history kids with geography. My freshmen and I are hard at work preparing for their SOL exam, which will take place on May 6. I am holding large after school review sessions that are available to all World History I students, not just kids in my classes, so the stools and floor pillows will come in extra handy on those days in giving extra seats to kids who need help. We are hoping for another 100% pass rate this year! Keep your fingers crossed for us!”

    With gratitude,

    Mrs. Hardy

With my students coming from such financially disadvantaged homes, they often are unable to obtain to most basic of school supplies like notebook paper, pencils, binders, etc. I provide my students with everything that they need in an attempt to avoid highlighting their financial difficulties and to lessen the stress of having to ask their struggling parents/guardians for financial help. This has put a large monetary strain on me for the past eleven years and I am unable to keep providing the amount of supplies that I need to, in addition to completing this classroom project. I am working very hard to create a learning environment that is different from their typical classroom. I have tried to give my classroom a "home away from home" feel with rugs, comfy and different seating options and lamps. I want students to feel welcomed, comfortable and relaxed in my room and I have seen positive results thus far. My students have told me that coming to my room feels like "walking into a friend's house" and that it makes them feel more relaxed and able to focus. In my psychology classes, I have found that students are much more willing and relaxed to speak about difficult topics and it does truly create a sense of community within our room. While I have been somewhat successful in changing up the typical classroom environment, there is more that I would like to do to give it the "homey" feel that I'm going for. For a lot of my students, their own homes are uncomfortable, cramped, dirty and not a relaxing environment. I'd like to provide my students with a place that feels like their own and that they look forward to coming to.

About my class

With my students coming from such financially disadvantaged homes, they often are unable to obtain to most basic of school supplies like notebook paper, pencils, binders, etc. I provide my students with everything that they need in an attempt to avoid highlighting their financial difficulties and to lessen the stress of having to ask their struggling parents/guardians for financial help. This has put a large monetary strain on me for the past eleven years and I am unable to keep providing the amount of supplies that I need to, in addition to completing this classroom project. I am working very hard to create a learning environment that is different from their typical classroom. I have tried to give my classroom a "home away from home" feel with rugs, comfy and different seating options and lamps. I want students to feel welcomed, comfortable and relaxed in my room and I have seen positive results thus far. My students have told me that coming to my room feels like "walking into a friend's house" and that it makes them feel more relaxed and able to focus. In my psychology classes, I have found that students are much more willing and relaxed to speak about difficult topics and it does truly create a sense of community within our room. While I have been somewhat successful in changing up the typical classroom environment, there is more that I would like to do to give it the "homey" feel that I'm going for. For a lot of my students, their own homes are uncomfortable, cramped, dirty and not a relaxing environment. I'd like to provide my students with a place that feels like their own and that they look forward to coming to.

About my class

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