Past projects 14
All Set to Learn English!
Funded Feb 22, 2023I hope you'll forgive the delay in getting this report to you. It's largely due to some very good news: my district this year is piloting a new program dedicated to newcomer immigrant students in high school who are SLIFE (Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education), which I joined this year as the founding teacher.
Last year I had a single class dedicated to literacy intervention for SLIFE students, and this project was asking in large part for resources to support that class. This year I am teaching in a new school, in this new program dedicated entirely to SLIFE students, and the materials from the project are getting more use than ever.
They love the Dr. Seuss, of course, as I do, and my instruction benefits from having those bins to organize all the flash cards and resources like talking sticks and dice. But most of all we're benefitting from the gift cards to Teachers Pay Teachers, which allowed me to purchase a wide range of dedicated phonics resources to support kids at different levels of literacy. As a secondary school, these instructional materials aren't readily available. Thanks to your generosity, we now have what we need.
I wish you could see in person the engagement and joy in my classroom as students see their growth and progress in English, their pride at being able to communicate and express themselves as they want to, and for some, at being able to read and write for the first time in their lives.
I can't thank you enough for helping to make this happen.”
With gratitude,
Dr. Snyder
This classroom project was brought to life by A Northern California family and 4 other donors.Math Skills for New Immigrant Students
Funded Oct 12, 2023I can't thank you enough for choosing our classroom to support. This is a new program designed to support students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE). While their needs are great, their spirit and determination are even greater. They're very focused on learning English and math as quickily as they can, and your gift will go a long way in helping them reach that goal.”
With gratitude,
Dr. Snyder
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community & an Anonymous Partner and 2 other donors.Books & Word Games for New Immigrants!
Funded Sep 21, 2022Thank you! The new books have been a hit. The bilingual stories are among the first books to be chosen for free reading, and they're asking for more. Students can check out the books to take home as well as read them in the classroom, and former students drop by to see what's new, too. They get lots of use!
Many of my students have few books at home. Many arrived here in the US with nothing, and some are homeless. Having a classroom library at all is a new experience for most. These are books they have at their fingertips, to browse, read, and take home, and that's of incalculable value.
The games, too, help build their English skills and their love of language and word play. Learning while playing reduces the anxiety that beginner language learners often experience, and that helps them learn. Boggle is a favorite, and now we have enough sets that all the table groups can play at once. The Jenga sets allow me to create games that are targeted to specific language functions -- I code each block with a color and number, and then can create game sheets tied to the code.
Your support makes a great difference to me and my students. Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Snyder
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 2 other donors.Inclusive, Diverse Books for Immigrant Students!
Funded Mar 9, 2021We didn't get to use these books in person this spring as I'd hoped, since so few families decided to return to campus for hybrid classes -- but I was able to open the boxes and share some of the books with summer school students. It was such a joy to see students' eyes light up and see them smiling behind their masks!
This fall our classroom library will once again be in daily use. We'll be reading, talking about, and sharing our own classroom books once more, and it will be thanks to you and your thoughtfulness and generosity. I'm grateful and honored that you chose our classroom to support. Having books at my students' fingertips makes a real difference, and it wouldn't happen without the support of wonderful people like you. Thank you!!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Snyder
This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron and 5 other donors.Help Us Maximize Our Learning Time!
Funded Dec 2, 2020You've done it again! Thanks to all of you for helping make this project a reality. Having the right tools is critical for doing any job well, and no tool could be more central than a laptop when doing distance or hybrid learning. I knew this would save us a lot of the time that we'd been losing to freezes, crashes, and hanging pages. It did all that, for sure! But what that means for learning has gone far beyond lost time.
The pace of our lessons can respond to the students' needs instead of the needs of the technology. We don't have to fight to stay positive in the face of delays and hiccups, but simply concentrate on learning. Lessons are smoother, happier, and more engaging. All of that makes a giant difference in the quality of students' experience, and they deserve it. I know that soon we'll be back in person full-time, and your investment in my students will continue to pay off. Thank you for your support!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Snyder
This classroom project was brought to life by FamilyAlbum and 7 other donors.Support Immigrant Students' Online Learning!
Funded Jul 24, 2020Thank so much for helping make this project a reality for my students! I know they're getting more responsive, effective, and engaging instruction during distance learning because you. I'd planned to post this update much sooner, but the start of the distance-learning year was even more of a roller coaster than expected. Your gift has made all the difference.
With class sizes over 30 students, the monitor more than anything helps every one of my students to be seen, and keeps my focus on them instead of juggling and re-sizing too many too-small panels and windows. My lessons are smoother, more engaging, and more effective than they would have been without it.
The sentence-constructing curriculum I purchased helped translate some of my most effective in-person learning activities to the digital realm. I still adapt and re-write to make sure that my students' specific needs are being met, but the hours saved in not having to re-invent that wheel are hours that I am putting towards typing out more individual feedback on student work, and doing meetings, emails and calls with my 120 students and their families.
Being able to stand up and write on the whiteboard is especially helpful for my newer immigrant students — the full-body gestures and physical writing communicate in ways virtual whiteboards can't. And because the monitor is substantially bigger than a laptop screen, I can still see what I need to see: faces, raised hands, new messages.
My students come from some the most vulnerable and high-risk groups in our community. Many of my students are working full time to help pay the rent while also trying to finish high school. Many have suffered Covid-19 infections in their families; one of my students was hospitalized. Many are living doubled-up with relatives or homeless. As they struggle with these serious, adult-sized challenges, they're also learning a new language. Through it all, they make it to school through Zoom every day and they do their best. Their dreams are big and so is their determination.
I'm honored to teach them, and honored you chose my classroom to support. Please know what a difference you've made. We are all truly grateful for your generosity. Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Snyder
New Immigrant Students Need New Books!
Funded Mar 7, 2020Thank you! As you can see from the photos, we were lucky enough to get the books and open the boxes before the pandemic shut our school. Looking at the pictures now, all I can see is the lack of social distancing... but I also remember the joy and excitement in the room. It was a wonderful, happy day. We didn't know it then, but the next day was the last we'd have with each other for many months.
Nearly all the books went home with students, and I was so glad to know they had them during the next months of lock-down and distance learning. They read every day and wrote reading responses, and some told me about later passing the books on to friends, siblings, or cousins. Most of my students have few if any books in their homes, so to have these to read and to share was invaluable.
Your generosity got those books into my students' hands and into their homes. That so many of the books were ones they'd specifically requested made it all the more important and meaningful to them, and to me. We can't thank you enough!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Snyder
This classroom project was brought to life by A group of anonymous donors and 6 other donors.New Immigrant Students Need Kleenex and Whiteboards!
Funded Oct 24, 2019Thank you so much for helping get these essential tools and supplies into our classroom! The shiny new whiteboards have been getting a lot of use, now that we have enough for everyone in the room to use their own. They're definitely a favorite of my students. It's a rare day when we're not using them multiple times for vocabulary work, a language game, or any one of dozen other activities. The boys who unpacked the box of whiteboards wrote you their own thank you notes on the boards, in English, Arabic, and Pashto, as you can see in the photo. That was their own idea.
The tissues, hand sanitizer and wipes aren't as exciting as whiteboards but they sure help students stay healthy and comfortable so they can concentrate on learning English. Knowing that there will always be a box of kleenex on the counter when you need it matters.
Thank you for choosing our classroom to support. Please know that you've made no small difference in helping these students learn and grow. They're grateful to you, and so am I.”
With gratitude,
Dr. Snyder
This classroom project was brought to life by An anonymous classroom supporter and 4 other donors.New Immigrant Students Need Inspiring, Relevant Books!
Funded Sep 23, 2019What a difference books make! These books arrived in our classroom and nothing has been the same since.
Very few of my students have any books at home. Having books at their fingertips, right there, just for them, is a new and important experience. I expected it to make a difference, but I really underestimated how big a difference it would make.
My students are reading more than ever before. You can see in one of the photos all the library cards I make to keep track of the books I've checked out to students ¬– not just how many there are, but how many have already been passed from one student to the next, in just the couple months since they arrived.
They love having more books in their home language, and especially having more bilingual books – those have been very popular. The poetry books have also been a runaway success, and the war and adventure titles. And they're asking for more!
Please accept my heartfelt and very enthusiastic thanks for helping make this possible.”
With gratitude,
Dr. Snyder
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Funder and 8 other donors.Chromebooks for Newcomers New to Computers
Funded Mar 19, 2018It's amazing what a difference having Chromebooks available for students to use every day, at any moment, has made in our classroom. In my ESL classes students can use language learning apps and sites that have reading in English at their level. In my social studies classes they can translate or access information in their home language to help support their learning. They're exploring geography with Google Earth. They're dropping by during lunch and after school to use a Chromebook to catch up on work in other classes or just explore. Having these Chromebooks at our fingertips has really been a game-changer.
My students simply love using the Chromebooks. Very few of them have computers at home, and the experience of having a computer to support learning whenever they want is transformative for them. For my students who have never used computers before, this is especially important.
My students are so eager to learn. With your donation, you've made much more possible for them, and I can't thank you enough.”
With gratitude,
Dr. Snyder