Past projects 2
Collaborative Learning Combination
Funded Dec 5, 2014Thank you so much for your generous donation to our project. This project allowed us to enjoy spending time together. The students especially loved the headphone splitters for sharing music and listening to audio books. The games were fun too! As a result, the students were able to work together and collaborate on projects and build strong friendships. For students with Autism, this is a huge feat and helps them to make progress in their daily life outside of school. We appreciate your contributions.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Stack
Projecting a bright future for students with Autism!
Funded Sep 3, 2014Thank you so much for your generous donation to this project. The projector has greatly and positively impacted our classroom in so many ways.
I knew that it was important for my Autistic students to be able to access the curriculum using visual supports. Autistic students have difficulty learning concepts that are abstract. They need to be able to see or touch what they are learning in order to really comprehend.
The projector is truly a game changer for us. With the addition of the projector, I'm able to show a short video clip, like the balloon being filled with gas from a chemical change, and instantly my students can see what is happening. The curriculum comes to life for them and becomes meaningful and memorable. When I taught the unit on food chains, one of the animals we talked about was a pika. My students had no idea what a pika was(and frankly neither did I) so we were able to google some images. From that image, the students could make connections("Hey, that looks like my hamster") and we were able to instantly improve their understanding as well as engage them with the material.
The projector is a valuable learning tool, but it's also great for building our social skills and working to overcome those deficits. Each Friday, the class and I play a group game to work on teamwork, communication, coping skills, flexibility, and respectful communication. By far, our favorite is "Meal or No Meal" which we play using the projector. We practice being good winners and losers, being OK when we make a bad deal, and we can enjoy laughing at the fun pictures of intestines. We had a big victory when one student, the birthday boy, picked the date of his birth(19) and we "won" $1,000,000!
We greatly enjoyed the special treat of being able to watch The Lego Movie as a reward for all of the good behavior and hard work in the days leading up to the Winter break.
Again, we can't thank you enough for your generous donation. The impact is felt here every day, and the kids say we are very lucky to have "kind strangers" who cared.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Stack