Past projects 4
Opening a WINDOW to the WORLD!
Funded Sep 23, 2021Thanks to your help and generosity, this year my students have been enjoying a wonderful 75" TV in the Music Classroom. This TV has been life-changing in the way these kids are experiencing music and media and it has revealed asa very powerful tool that has enhanced our classroom instruction.
The TV is permanently on throughout the classes: we use it all the time and it has allowed us to display more content in the classroom and have a more interactive approach to the lessons. For example: because now we have the TV, I can use the computer projector to leave the agenda for the day permanently displayed throughout the classes, while using the TV for different things: from showing video or slideshows that put the music into context ,to display vocabulary or images that help everyone to understand the contents of the class. We also use this TV for practicing music sight-reading: I have connected an Apple TV to the Tv and I can project any material that I have in my computer. Because the TV has been installed, just behind my desk it allows me to interact very easily with any content I want to present to my students: I can zoom in and focus on specific group of notes, I can present the scores that they have to practice with their instruments, I can show clips of instructional videos. It definitely has enhanced our classroom experience and their understanding of any content that I want to present to them.
My students are amazed wth the quality of the picture and they have expressed many times how understanding some concepts have become much easier for them.
Dear donors, when I presented this project to you I wasn't even grasping all the possibilities and opportunities that having this device in the classroom has offered for my students. It truly has become a window to the world and it has opened new ways for my students to relate and understand the wonderful world of music.
We are very happy with what we have been able to achieve, thanks to your generous support and we will be forever grateful. THANK YOU!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Garcia Pelaez
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 23 other donors.Music is KEY: Keyboards for Home Practice
Funded Sep 16, 2020THANK YOU!!! Thanks to you, many of my students, that didn't have access to a musical instrument at home, are enjoying a brand new keyboard that will help them to grow as musicians. With those keyboards, my students will be able to improve their playing skills; they are also becoming an essential took to work in their songwriting projects.
You need to know that those keyboards have been delivered to students that didn't have any instrument at home. Although I have tried to be creative since we went on distance-learning mode, I haven't been able to tackle instrument instruction until I had every single student in my advanced classes equipped with an instrument. It was a matter of EQUITY, a problem that many of the students in my community have faced more acutely, since this pandemic started. Now, thanks to your help and your generosity, we have been able to close the gap and instrument instruction has been re-started, even though we continue in distance learning mode!
Since the first moment that my students receive their brand new keyboards, they have been ver to show me, in our ZOOM sessions, all the songs that they remember from the times we were together in class, but also all the new pieces they were practicing! For me, as their teacher, this donation has brought new life into my lessons and I am deeply moved and inspired by the re-born enthusiasm of my students.
Now, I am in the process of creating video-lessons that help my students advance with their keyboards; I am also planning to have them use the pianos connected to their computers, in songwriting and composition projects that I am sure will help them grow as musicians. We will also use the keyboards in our upcoming virtual performances and I am still envisioning all the many possibilities that, thanks to your donation, have been opened to us!!!
I am deeply thankful for your support. I really believe that music is more necessary now than ever, and I am consider myself a humble mediator that looks to unleash the inspiring power of music in the lives of my students.
I definitely wouldn't have been able to achieve this without your help and for that, I am deeply thankful!!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Garcia Pelaez
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose 20th Anniversary Fund and 11 other donors.Let's Rock & Grow!
Funded Dec 20, 2014I always like to wait for a while to write you this THANK YOU letter, so I can explain you with detail how your contribution has impacted our classroom... At this moment, I can already tell you that the resources that we got thanks to YOU are changing the whole dynamic of my music classes and that my students are totally excited with the new activities that this project has opened up for them!
When I present an idea to DonorsChoose.org, I get very excited about the possibility of getting new resources for my students: who doesn't like getting new things for your home/work/family...? On the other hand, I also feel the responsibility of making sure that the contribution I ask you for is something that we really need, something that will enhance significantly our classes and something that our school cannot afford by herself.
This project has been one of the biggest challenges of the year, because it is opening new doors and because it entails a lot of changes in my daily class routine. After the excitement of getting all the materials , the difficult and challenging part was to incorporate them in the daily activities of the class.(Just let me tell you that the Drum Set and the Dj controller were, of course, the stars of the party, but the headphones are constantly praised by the students and the picks and strings are always needed)
During these months, I have been creating lesson plans and materials, so the students that are interested in drumming can start improving their skills. It has been a slow process, but, at this moment, I already have a group of students that are making big advances because they can practice on the drum pads and the drum set it is being used on a daily basis (in combination with an iPad that we connect to it) to practice the drumming patterns of the songs we are going to present at the end of the year school show.
I am also introducing some students to some basic Djing skills. It is interesting to see, how some of the students that have been more engaged with the controller are those that until this moment haven't shown a special interest for any of the instruments that I teach in the class. I really believe that in a Modern Music program, Djing is skill that needs to be acknowledged and this set has allowed me to start putting into practice these beliefs. I feel a little like a pioneer in this field and I am sure that the project will continue attracting more students and spark new ways of creativity. I am craving to see how it unfolds and grows!!
Definitely, all of this wouldn't have been possible without your help! With this letter, I wanted to share with you all the joy and excitement that these materials have brought to our students and my school in general. We are deeply thankful for your help and I want, myself, to assure you that I will make the best use of these resources to continue spreading the joy of making music among my school community. THANK YOU!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Garcia Pelaez
Keep This Beat Alive!
Funded Sep 15, 2014THANK YOU so much for helping us with this project for our Music Class!!!
The day we got the Drum Set, I spent the evening putting it together because I wanted the students to get their hands on it as soon as possible. They were so EXCITED when they saw it! They couldn't believe that people that don't know them personally were so sympathetic to help us making this happen: that was also a very good lesson for them!
The news about this new drum set run fast around our community and many of my ex-students came to check it out! They say that they wish that they had something like this when they were in my class!
During these months that we have had it in the classroom, this drum set has helped the students to practice their percussion drills without disturbing the rest of the class. They love the different sounds that they can use when playing and me, between many other things, I love the metronome that comes with it because it has helped me to push the students in getting an steady beat.
These days, I am invested in creating new lesson plans that help the students develop their percussion skills to a further level . Also, some students have started to stay after school to practice with the drum set. We are getting ready for preparing our Spring Show and we want our new equipment and what the students are learning with it to shine in the performance!
You can be sure that it has been with your help and generosity that we are being able to do all these things and WE REALLY THANK YOU FOR THAT!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Garcia Pelaez
This classroom project was brought to life by an anonymous donor and 3 other donors.