Past projects 20
The Robotic Age
Funded Feb 10, 2023Thank you for supporting my vision of introducing my students to the world of S.T.E.M. through coding. My students were excited to hear about the nice people that donated to the project that brought them cool robots. I was able to teach basic coding skills during my science lesson on the design process.
I put my students to a challenge. They had to work together, plan their coding, then executing their coding of the robots to reach its destination. I create a certain area within the classroom in which their robots had to reach that certain point or be the closest to reaching that point. It was enjoyable to watch the thought process of my students because they were determined to figure out the correct code in order to win the prize.
It was a proud moment for me because of one student that did not seem to be interested in anything until he saw these robots. The light in his eyes was amazing to see because I was able to unlock something special that was hidden. Thank you for assisting me to open a new world for this student.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Williams
This classroom project was brought to life by Black History Month Partners and 4 other donors.Brilliant Scholars
Funded Nov 30, 2022Thank you for the Phonics Daily Journals and the Daily Reading Journals. These two journals were essential to my students. They were so surprised to see their new journals. I explained to them how many people donate to our class project to better aid them with their reading skills. They thought it was impressive and extremely exciting to hear how special they were to receive such wonderful resources and support from so many people.
My students use them during our morning word work and during my small group intervention. The phonics Daily Journals allow my students to work at their phonic skills, such as CVC pattern recognition, digraph blends, and so forth. As for the Daily Reading journals, I used them during my guide reading time. I like how the journals are designed by weeks, therefore each day my students have a different activity to complete. The Daily Reading journal allows me to guide my students with their reading along with the vocabulary and emphasizing a particular skill we may be working on, such as B.M.E. (retelling). These journals will help my students so greatly with their phonics and reading comprehension.
Thank you greatly for your support.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Williams
This classroom project was brought to life by Houston Endowment and 3 other donors.STEM Life
Funded Oct 2, 2022Thank you for supporting my students and this project. They were excited to see all of the "fun stuff", as they called it. I told then many people support our class in order for us to have this "fun stuff". Even though they saw "fun stuff", I explained these resources are to assist them with the math skills and numerical fluency. Many of my students still struggle with their numbers, therefore these resources were essential.
The math kits were beneficial during my math intervention because I was able to provide each student with their own kit. Many of my students struggle with their numbers therefore these personal math kits allow me to provide the one-to-one teaching. As for the counting manipulatives, I was able to use them during my whole group lesson on ten more or ten less, my student had to add or remove ten from any number I wrote on the smartboard. Those counters were awesome because my students were so engaged within the lesson. They were able to use concrete objects to assist them with their counting instead of using their fingers. My boys loved using the bugs and dinosaurs for counting then after the lesson I allowed to free play with them. It was a fun lesson, and I was pleased to see all of my students enjoying themselves. Thank you for everything.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Williams
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Funder and 2 other donors.The Math Zone!
Funded Dec 1, 2021Thanks for continually supporting my students. These resources work wonders during my intervention time block, especially when I can explain certain skills and strategies to my struggling learners. They are so excited to use the manipulative during intervention the hands on activities that I create helps them to understand the concepts better. I was overjoyed during one of my sessions because one of my kids lite up and said, "I get it now!", you could see him make the AHA! connection. I almost cried tears of joy because this young man never wants to speak, and he was willing to assist another struggling student. I was so proud.
My students were so excited to see the new math resources, I even share some of the resource with another colleague. She calls my classroom the Williams' store because she often uses some of my resources in her class as well. As for my students they were thrilled to use them during workstations. They like playing teacher to the fellow classmates, it's too cute especially when my female students pretend to be me and use some of my expressions. Extremely flattering or little scary. I love my students enthusiasm.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Williams
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 2 other donors.Energized about Learning!
Funded Oct 19, 2021Thank you for supporting my students learning. They were so excited to see the magnetic letters, magnetic word builders and the Ten frame resources were a hit with my kiddos.
The magnetic word builders were essential to me because I was able to have used them with my Tier 2 and 3 students who are struggling with phonemic awareness. I was able to breakdown the different blends and phonemes with resources. The tactile experience assisted my students to understand how to break down the words by beginning, middle and ending sounds. It a true lightbulb moment, I could see some of the getting the concept. I truly love the Magnetic word builders it makes things a little easy during my small group instruction. It's a great resource to have in my teacher toolkit.
My students were pleased when they could use the resources during workstations as well. Thank you again for supporting my students. It is greatly appreciated.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Williams
This classroom project was brought to life by General Motors and 2 other donors.Dash Bot
Funded Aug 12, 2021Dash Bot was a huge hit with my students. They're eyes lit up when they discovered it was a voice activated robot. They were able to command the Dash bot to move around the desks as well as themselves. This was a science lesson was so cool for my students. They were truly engaging in trying to figure out other commands the Dash bot could accomplish.
The lesson was about the design process and how it takes several steps of plan before you can achieve the task you are trying to achieve. I put them in teams, and they had to plan out the destination for the bot to across the room and back. It was intense to see how each team was working together to achieve their given task. They planned, diagram it out, and redesign those plans until they got it to work correctly.
I enjoyed seeing their thought process during this entire lesson. I assisted little but they were focused on what they need to do. It was a fierce, yet friendly battle amongst the teams.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Williams
This classroom project was brought to life by Infosys Foundation USA and 2 other donors.A Powerful Mind
Funded May 18, 2021Thank you for supporting my students learning. The Hand 2Mind Versatiles are wonderful for my small group/intervention block. It allows my students to tailor they're learning through self-correction and hands on activities for certain skills we are working on. I thought it would be difficult to implement but when I watched the online tutorials for teachers it explained everything I needed to help engage my students learning. I especially liked the color code answer key to ensure my students can monitor and self-correct their own learning. The Hand 2 Mind Versatiles for literacy is an amazing new tool for me and my students. Thank you again for supporting my students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Williams
This classroom project was brought to life by hand2mind and 2 other donors.Dynamic Resources
Funded May 18, 2021Thank you for supporting my students and I each time. These materials provided me the opportunity to create a safe and comfortable environment for my students to be productive scholars. I can't wait to see their reactions to my new room especially since this will be the first time back into the classrooms for face to face instruction. They will be able to interact with these materials during work stations. I will be using them during my small group / intervention sessions for my students.
Today, August 23rd, was their first day back into the classroom. They were excited to see the new resource materials and they couldn't wait to use them. I hated to disappoint them on the first day of school, but they understood why we couldn't use the materials. It was little funny to see their reactions about not being able to use the materials on the first day back. They were all right with the decision.
With a grateful heart and a few sad kiddos we thank you again for supporting my Dynamic resource project.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Williams
This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron and 4 other donors.The Pursuit of Knowledge
Funded Apr 23, 2021First let me say, Thank you to all of the donors. The Pathfinders Summer Institute 2021 was an AWESOME experience for me. This was my second time attending Pathfinders. I learned a great deal of coding during that week. Some days it felt a little overwhelming and my brain was a little fried, but Carol and Steve were very helpful and supportive. I appreciated the Jr Botball challenge program.
Within my class, I was capable of coding my Wombat to use its sensors to follow the black line on the mat and once it went off the line it needed to find the line again using the front sensor. Through coding I was able to program my Wombat with certain commands to park in the garage, then move backwards out of it as well, that was one of several tasks we had to accomplish in the class.
One of the highlights was winning a gift card for the Social Media contest they were having during the week. They also had Are you Smarter than a 5th Grade? competition, I hate I missed but the contestants won prizes, as well. Another significant moment for me was the My Story booth this allows teachers from all backgrounds to share their stories about what they learned and enjoyed about the conference. This was a new addition to the conference that would be used to inform new teachers about Pathfinders.
The JrBotball program is ideal for any student, I would start with the basic step of coding it is a gradual process of beginners. Before coding information, I would guide my students on building the Wombat then introduce simple coding terms and symbols. By the end of the year, they should be able of writing their own code. They will love learning how to code, writing their own code, and controlling the robots every move.
To reiterate Pathfinders was a wonderful PD experience.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Williams
This classroom project was brought to life by Infosys Foundation USA and one other donor.Riding the Electrical Circuit Train!
Funded Mar 29, 2021Riding the Electrical Circuit train was a fabulous ride for my students. My students' reactions to the Snap Circuit Electric light project #1(this project allowed my students to see how an electrical light switch works), DC Motor project #2 (showed my students about direct current using a motor controlling a fan) They truly loved project number three. The reactions on their faces were priceless.
Lastly, I demonstrated the Sound Activated Switch project #3 , in which the song Happy Birthday was playing through a speaker. They were so amazed. Within this lesson, I discussed what were insulators and conductors. I also explained the differences between the two. After the lesson, I allowed my students to recreate those same projects I had modeled. Some of them were afraid to try but I told them," if you follow the design process correctly then you should not have any problems." I also stated, "It's ok to fail as long as you learn from your mistakes and try again." The only failure is not trying to solve your problems. It was exciting to seeing the immense joy upon their faces. Thank you supporting my students' learning.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Williams
This classroom project was brought to life by Infosys Foundation USA and 3 other donors.