Past projects 20
Qball Throwable Wireless Microphone
Funded Feb 28, 2019Thank you for supporting my classroom and students by donating to our project, "Qball Throwable Wireless Microphone." My students have had this in our classroom for 2 days now and they are loving it! They are rushing to class to speak into it and of course to toss it around.
The Qball has been a really fun addition to my noisy project-based science classroom. Students can hear and be heard. This has given students new motivation to improve their speaking and listening skills!
Thanks so much for your support!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Leffler
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and 3 other donors.Rocketbooks to Launch Science Notebooks Into the Cloud
Funded Nov 28, 2018Thank you for supporting the learning of my science students with the support of this grant. The addition of Rocketbooks to our classroom has already been amazing! We received these just a couple of days after the grant was funded, opened them in my 3rd period class together and had a look at our tools. The students were so excited!
Today the task at hand is to draw a sketch of a therapeutic toy that students will be creating in class later this week. First, my students got to choose their pen color. But when they received their Rocketbooks the room fell silent. These are the most thorough and detailed design sketches and annotations that I have received to date!
As students finished their design sketches, we uploaded them to Google Drive and shared them whole class. It was fun for students to see their designs in print! These Rocketbook design sketches led to rich discussion about creating their prototype.
Thank you so much for your investment in my science classroom! We will put these Rocketbooks to good use throughout our PLTW science curriculum this year!
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Leffler
Rube Goldberg Can Help Us Learn About Gears for PLTW-AR
Funded Mar 14, 2018Thank you for the new, fun and engaging Rube Goldberg kits, Mouse Traps games, Keva contraption block and Brackitz Pulley system. My students have had the opportunity to see the connection of VEX building and gear mechanisms to real-life examples as a result of using these materials in class. Because I have these materials many students have chosen to come and spend extra time building with these kits before and after school and during their lunch break.
It has truly been an opportunity for students to extend their knowledge beyond the classroom setting. They are pursing extension activities beyond our PLTW curriculum in their own time and that was the goal in providing these materials for my students: to create life-long learning inspiration.
Thank you for your generosity to my 6th grade students! You rock!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Leffler
Humans of (our new school)-next steps to our project
Funded Mar 2, 2018Thank you for your generous donation of iPads to our Project Lead the Way classroom. My students have gotten to work on their Humans of Ben Steele inaugural year documentary. They have learned how to use a green screen. Using an app called, "Do Ink" students are combining pictures and videos for their final entry about a person they interviewed from our school.
These devices allowed me to connect student interest to relevant learning in my science classroom. It has been inspiring to see students take the lead with these projects. Thank you for your generosity and for supporting my students and public education. You are SO appreciated!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Leffler
Growing Student Mindsets in Science Class
Funded Oct 18, 2017Thank you for your investment in my nearly 150-6th grade students. These books about perseverance and developing a growth mindset have been quite impactful already and I know that over time as these students experience failure they will remember that the lessons they have learned from these inventors and stories.
In our Project Lead the Way classroom students are solving real-world problems through grit and determination. They have designed foot orthosis' and therapeutic toys for children with cerebral palsy in the Design and Modeling Module. In Automation and Robotics, my students have built pull-toys, learned about gear mechanisms and are currently building drag cars with their VEX kits and learning to write code using RobotC to automate their vehicles.
These tasks require that students become comfortable with learning from failure and these books have provided much needed content for students to develop a growth mindset.
Thank you again for your generosity and investment in our classroom! You are very much appreciated!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Leffler
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose.org Community and one other donor.Spark My Interest!
Funded Mar 4, 2017Since the day these Sphero Spark+'s arrived in our classroom they have generated excitement for learning and "sparked" new questions and innovative ideas! They provide such an interesting avenue to for kids to learn new math concepts. The kids rarely even realize what is happening as they explore learning with a Sphero. We have impressed classroom (adult) visitors with all the possibilities.
My students have explored the lessons in the Spark Lightning Lab and even experienced some personalized learning as a result of having these robots! They are working on lessons like designing and building chariot's and mazes and they are excited to begin bridge building and painting with Sphero too!
I can't thank you enough for funding this grant for Sphero's. Rest assured my students are using them to their fullest learning potential! Thank you again!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Leffler
Rockets, Racecars, & Research: We LOVE Math & Science!
Funded Feb 19, 2017My students were thrilled to have these materials arrive at school! They have been busy studying the User Manuals for these kits and are eager to open the Hydropower, Introduction to Engineering, Wind Power and Physics Labs.
We are planning an outdoor classroom day to use our rockets and race cars as a culmination project for a year filled with science fun!
Finally, our classroom volunteer engineer is planning to come and help us with a bridge building project before the end of the year so the K'Nex bridge building set will be very useful for this endeavor. Thank you for all the awesome learning materials!
Thank you again for your generosity in funding this grant. My students' couldn't be more motivated or excited to learn because of these materials and I can't wait to see put them to use for additional after school and summer learning opportunities too!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Leffler
This classroom project was brought to life by Overdeck Family Foundation & Simons Foundation and 2 other donors.Kids That Build Robots! Create Thanks
Funded Aug 21, 2015Thank you for your generous support of our classroom project! We have begun to open and use the materials provided through this grant and my students are filled with excitement of all the possibilities!
The additional ipad mini's and spheros have allowed more students to become involved in using hands-on technology. When my students share the most exciting part of their day they always have something to say about the Lego's and Sphero's. Many students say, "I found out that I do like robots." with great surprise and awe.
It's going to be a wonderful year in our classroom and I'm so grateful for your generosity in bringing this robot project to life for my students!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Leffler
LittleBits for Big Thinkers!
Funded Dec 4, 2014Thank you for your generosity in supporting our classroom project for LittleBits kits! I have not seen this much excitement in my classroom (over science curriculum) ever! The kits have turned my students and students throughout our school during robotics club into inventors!
The addition of these kits has enabled me to put these invention materials into the hands of every student in my classroom and many students from Kindergarten to sixth grade who excitedly come to school early to use these materials. It has impacted their learning by creating enthusiasm and internal motivation to question the world around them and begin to see themselves as the ones who will design things to improve the daily lives of others.
To list the diverse uses of these Littlebits kits: Kids have created a germ-free way to drink from the school drinking fountain, flashlights and lighted shirts, microphones, optical illusions, bubble makers, air fresheners, light up roller skates, doorbells and buzzers, voice-controlled vehicles, glowing pillows, etc.
Thank you again for your donation! You are appreciated!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Leffler
Chromebooks for Classroom Productivity
Funded Dec 18, 2012Thank you again for your generous donation of a Chromebooks computer lab to my classroom. I cannot count the ways that this has made an educational difference in the lives of my students!
The day the Chromebooks arrived was Christmas in January for our class. Most of my students were at recess, which lasts 15 minutes, when we discovered the delivery at office. It took myself and seven students about that much time to joyfully tear into the packaging and unwrap thirty Chromebooks! The classroom floor showed our delight! We may have even popped a little bit of the bubble wrap! This is a day in my teaching career that I will always remember! The look on the faces of these 9 and 10-year old children when they opened their Chromebook for the first time was priceless! I have attached a picture or two to show you their excitement.
In the days that followed, we have used the Chromebooks for a little bit of everything. Students have signed into our online reading resource, Lead21, for additional reading practice and exposure, played relevant reading/vocabulary games, and taken short weekly assessments to check for mastery of weekly lesson objectives.
Currently, students are using their Chromebooks to conduct research on our reading unit, ÂPatterns in the Sky. Their topics of research range from supernovas to Martians to moon rocks. Without our new Chromebooks lab, it would be impossible to provide enough resources for children to research such individualized topics.
This lab has provided motivation to learn that I have never seen before! Students have increased their math fact knowledge, reading skills, technological literacy, and begun to take learning into their own hands.
My favorite thing to do is put a Chromebook in someoneÂsomeoness hands for the first time, adults, math coaches, children and then say, Take it home for the night! What a powerful tool!
I believe this lab is changing lives for the better! As a result, my students are comfortable with technology, have discovered how to learn from their mistakes, taken unprecedented responsibility for themselves and become life-long learners!
Finally, there is a little girl who asks me every single day, When are we going to write those thank-you notes to your friends who gave us these computers? I think that says it all!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Leffler