Past projects 43
Organizing for Empowerment
Funded May 6, 2024I want to thank you for supporting my classroom! We're pretty excited to put these bins to use next year. It will help keep us organized in TWO classrooms! We're so blessed to have the headphones and the bins.
The procedures we had for keeping student work where it needed to be were not that great. Students sometimes would lose work or start an assignment multiple times. With our new filing system, I think this is going to help.
We also got headphones to help us with our new approach to teaching through Modern Classroom. Up until now, we've been asking students to bring their own. And now it's going to be so much easier. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! I cannot say that enough.
You are my heroes!”
With gratitude,
Ms. EVANS
This classroom project was brought to life by General Motors and 6 other donors.Urban Classroom Farming
Funded Nov 28, 2023The school I work at is a different kind of school, one that invites and celebrates students who are not successful in the traditional setting. They sometimes get very distracted by their outside lives and can't really focus on what we're supposed to be doing here.
By adding growing to our classroom, we have not only our students' attention, but the attention of students outside our classroom. We've had discussions about growing in soil vs. hydroponic growing, about fertilizer and how it helps and harms, about growing practices around the world and about possible projects we'd like to undertake as a result. They are excited to come in and grow plants, to learn about the process and to tweak it to get new results. It's a scientific party!
None of this would be possible without your donations. I appreciate each and every one of you. My sincerest thanks for helping me get them interested in science!”
With gratitude,
Ms. EVANS
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 4 other donors.Bring Color to New Students' World
Funded Nov 5, 2023Thank you for your generous donation of school supplies for our students! These resources have immediately been put to good use during class time, such as for socio-emotional learning activities. Students are excited to add color to drawings that support their vocabulary acquisition.
Students also have benefited from using colored pencils to decompress from their hectic everyday lives. This is so important when students are facing challenges that come up as one tries to navigate the world while simultaneously translating.
We will also be putting together small gifts bags with the supplies that were funded to give to newly enrolled English Learner students as they start their journey here at their new school in the United States.”
With gratitude,
Ms. EVANS
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community & an Anonymous Partner and 7 other donors.The Write Tools for School
Funded Sep 21, 2023Thank you so much for funding this project for SLIFE students at my school! The notebooks and pens have been incredibly useful in all of our English classes and have given our students one less thing to worry about purchasing on their own. As soon as any student walks through our door, we immediately share these gifts with them.
The supplies are utilized every day by both students and teachers, and now we even have extra resources for students to keep if they need them for their other classes. They are always thankful that their teachers provide them with the supplies they need to be successful in school.
I appreciate your support once again!”
With gratitude,
Ms. EVANS
Digging the Garden Life
Funded May 9, 2023We received our tools just as the school year was coming to a close. It was beyond amazing that we had enough tools to put every garden club member to work and then some!
We had been relying on donated tools that sometimes had shown some wear: a rake and a shovel broke in the fall while we were trying to put the garden to bed. Even weeding is a task that students are happy to take on, now that we have the U-hoe! And for that, we have you to thank.
The first project was to clean out the weed-covered bed in front of the school. We are so grateful to have the shovels and hoes we need to expand our program a bit. We will think of you every time we go out to put our hands in the dirt!
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”
With gratitude,
Ms. EVANS
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Foundation and 8 other donors.Say It Once More, With Feeling!
Funded Nov 18, 2022Sitting at home during the lockdown has created almost a generation of students who are still re-learning how to do school. Many sat at home with cameras turned off and without speaking during class for more than a year. And although we've been back for a full year, students still struggle with being able to speak in front of the class in a scholarly way, especially if they are English learners.
This project has helped me to start getting my 6th-graders out of that shell. We actually had to do the recording twice because I misread how to use the camera! But we have been able to talk about projection, how they carry themselves, and the ability to try again when the product doesn't match one's expectations. We're creating an e-portfolio that we hope to carry into next year. The skills they will learn will be invaluable.
I'm starting this project this week with my 8th-graders as well. I can't wait to see how much change we can effect even in the short time we have left. Here's hoping!
Thank you again for your hand in this work. Without you, it wouldn't be possible!”
With gratitude,
Ms. EVANS
This classroom project was brought to life by Panda Cares and one other donor.Environment-Friendly Assessment
Funded Dec 31, 2022Thank you so much for getting an iPad for me to do paperless assessments! I was so excited to have this as part of our reading program. It has been so helpful. I tend not to have the papers I need on hand, so the iPad and app have been a lifesaver!
I also found it really helpful during our Holocaust unit. I found an app that lets students explore the lives of Japanese internees in Canada in 3D. That was a pretty cool use of technology, where they could see the camp and interact with the people in it.
I am so grateful to have supporters like you to help my class run more smoothly and to give us opportunities to explore what wasn't available to us in the past. You are amazing.”
With gratitude,
Ms. EVANS
Flexible Seating for Circles and Reading
Funded Sep 20, 2022Thank you for your donations to my flexible seating project! The stools have come in handy as we move around the room and talk to each other in ways our desks never allowed before.
It's so easy to grab a stool and pull up to a student's desk to listen in while they're reading, or for three students to grab seats to work together in a group. It's been a boon for conversations and collaboration.
I'm grateful to have this flexibility, and to also have seats that can be stacked in the corner, ready to be used the next time we're in need.
Thank you so much for your support of this project!”
With gratitude,
Ms. EVANS
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 4 other donors.Keep It Together: Binders Build Good Habits
Funded Sep 20, 2022Once the word was out that I had binders, people came. Students who never brought anything to class showed up and let me know that they were in need. Even kids who had been carrying around broken binders just so they wouldn't look out of place or get in trouble with teachers were asking. And then my colleagues started showing up with asks. They went fast.
This project has been the greatest gift for students who have just been "getting along" or who have just not been taking things to class because they don't want to look poor or seem out of place. I know this will have a lasting positive impact on students in years to come. Middle school is an awkward time. Not being able to afford the tools that everyone around you seems to have makes it even more so. And being able to hand these kids these binders, instead of giving them giant white three-ring binders that those on tight budgets normally show up with, has been amazing.
I am so grateful to have supporters like you provide my students with what has become a (very expensive!) essential in our building. Please know that your donation has brought more than a few smiles to grateful children's faces!”
With gratitude,
Ms. EVANS
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 4 other donors.The Right Tool for the Job
Funded Aug 11, 2022I have a classroom housed in a portable--a trailer--outside the building proper. Students at the beginning of the year would drift in whenever they got there, but ever since I introduced this topic and told them they would be building these benches, they are showing up, on time, ready to begin.
In September, we started unpacking the drills just to see what they can do. They worked with a carpenter to learn how to measure surfaces, how to identify all the parts of the drill, and how to drill guide holes at given intervals.
Next week, we're going to start working with screws, and then we will measure and cut the wood for the benches. In the meantime, students are producing something to introduce students who will be joining us to what we've learned to this point. Choices range from bilingual picture books to posters with infographics. I'm excited to see where this will go!
Thank you so much for helping me bring this project to life. It has made a world of difference to my students!”
With gratitude,
Ms. EVANS
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 11 other donors.