Past projects 6
Calming Area
Funded Feb 3, 2023Our New Calming Corner brought excitment and a beautiful new view in our classroom. The bean bags are colorful and refresh the environment as do the fidgets and bulletin board posters.
Students go to the calming corner after returning from recess or lunch if they have experienced something upsetting. They use the calming corner to reflect on the situation, their reaction, their response, and the actions of others. They then have an opportunity to speak to the teacher or they call on their peers to discuss the matter and engage in their own problem solving resolutions.
It is also a safe place to journal and listen to meditations or guided calming recordings. Students sometimes walk in to class in the morning with different emotions, and they use the calming corner as a place to speak to me, their teacher. The conversation may lead to them wanting to speak to a peer and that shifts their mood for the day and makes learning more accessible.
I'm excited to see how our calming corner will benefit many students for years to come!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Martinez
Mindfulness and Self Care
Funded Sep 24, 2021We are very grateful that you have donated to fund our project. The IPOD has allowed us to listen to podcasts and music. We have also used it to capture memories of our 2021-2022 school year.
The students love that we can enjoy music while outdoors and they like to find calm throughout the day when we listen to mindfulness apps and podcasts.
As a class we especially like its portability as well as how it can connect to a bluetooth speaker that amplifies the sound. It helped us practice for our Christmas performance, it enhances our theater, dance, and PE lessons. With applications to add students are also engaged in educational games. Once again, thank you for your generosity.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Martinez
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 3 other donors.Apple Ipad for STEM and Math Learning
Funded Feb 18, 2020I would like to thank your for your donations towards our Ipad. At this time the Ipad has helped to provide students with distance learning. It is being used as an additional screen so that students can see the teacher while there is a screen share. I also use the Ipad to stream many videos and game apps during class time that help keep students highly engaged and excited for learning. I am looking forward to taking the Ipad back into the classroom when the School site is back to regular operations. One way that the Ipad will be used is with several Star Wars robots that the students will learn to code and will use the Ipad to control maneuvers. I am more than sure that it will be an activity the students will enjoy. I also have downloaded several mathematics apps that the students currently engage with by shouting out answers, but once we are back in the classroom they will be able to use the Ipad to enhance their math critical thinking skills while playing games.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Martinez
This classroom project was brought to life by Verizon and 8 other donors.Printer Ink for Neat and Vivid Work
Funded Nov 22, 2019My students are in third grade and they are learning to insert images, scan photos, and use drawing tools to incorporate images into their writing pieces. In the past I was sometimes able to print their work in black and white and although it looked neat it wasn't as vivid as getting a colored print.
Students are motivated to print their work immediately after they complete and edit their assignments. They are typing their writing projects because they know there is printer ink available to get their final product printed.
We appreciate your generosity and would like you to know that none of our students have a computer at home and much less a printer. The ability to print their writing brings them joy and they experience a sense of pride and accomplishment when displaying their assignments on our writing bulletin board. Thanks again for your interest in our classroom writers!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Martinez
Bringing Robotics and Coding to an Inner City Classroom
Funded Mar 27, 2018Our Chromebooks are taking students through a sequential order of building a robot. It is helping them understand the world of engineering. The Chromebooks are also great resources to use for informational research. Students are required to write expository texts and many times the library doesn't have the information accessible for them, therefore they are able to find their sources Ondine.
Students were so excited to build "Milo." They were fascinated when they completed the building process and then they were able to move Milo, while controlling him with the chromebooks. They felt it was like a real person. The first group of students to use it learned trial and error as they worked through and didn't see the results they wanted; this helped them to persevere in tasks as well as problem solve collaboratively.
Every child in the classroom has been appreciative of the new technology that has been integrated into the classroom. The robot has endless hours of exploration and the chromebooks provide a multitude of opportunities for research, educational learning games, and it helps to prepare our students for a variety of demands the world has today.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Martinez
This classroom project was brought to life by Verizon and 2 other donors.Laptops Enhance Learning Experiences
Funded Jan 30, 2012The Toshiba laptop and Hewlard Packard Printer are excellent resources that have helped to enhance and improve our students' learning experiences. Students conducted independent research studies as also engaged in group study projects. They were able to use the information the found immediately since they were able to print out directly with wireless access to the printer. The students proudly displayed their writing projects after typing them on the provided laptop and printer. Some of our students were able to enhance their presentations for the classroom using the Internet, video clips, and data stored on the laptop. We appreciate and find our resources very useful.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Martinez
This classroom project was brought to life by Wasserman Foundation and 30 other donors.