Past projects 7
SEL at MVA!
Funded Dec 18, 2024I give you my heartfelt gratitude for your generous donation of empathy charts, fidget toys, calm strips, yoga ball chairs, stress balls, and other thoughtful items to our 9th-grade classroom here in New York City.
Since the moment these items arrived, their impact has been profound. The fidget toys and stress balls have been especially helpful in providing students with ways to manage anxiety and channel their energy in a positive way. It's been remarkable to see how these simple tools have allowed some of our more anxious students to focus and engage with the material more fully. For others, the yoga ball chairs have provided much-needed comfort and an alternative seating option that helps them stay attentive throughout the day. These chairs have become an essential part of the classroom, providing students with a safe, flexible space to thrive.
The empathy charts and calm strips have fostered a greater sense of self-awareness and emotional regulation. Students are now more comfortable expressing how they're feeling and are learning strategies for managing their emotions in healthy ways. This has helped create a classroom environment where everyone feels more understood and supported, which is especially crucial as many of our students face challenges both in and out of the classroom.
As the teacher, I can't express how these donations have helped to create a positive, focused atmosphere. These items not only improve the physical classroom experience, but they also encourage mental well-being, giving students the tools they need to navigate their emotions, focus on learning, and succeed. It's also increased my student's advocacy; they ask for fidgets and stress balls when they know they have anxiety or stress to release. They are learning the tools necessary to regulate.
Your kindness has made an incredible difference in the lives of these students, and we are all deeply grateful for your support. The positive changes I've seen in my students since receiving these items are immeasurable, and we truly couldn't have done it without your help.
Thank you again for your generosity. The difference you've made here will have a lasting impact, and I'm excited to see how these tools continue to support our students' growth.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Pafford
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 8 other donors.Personalized Videos for Differentiated Learning
Funded Jul 13, 2020Having this technology has made a world of difference in my teaching practice. When I requested an iPad, the earphones with the mic, and the Apple pencil last year, it was with the intent to make personalized videos for my students to learn from and to have the ability to have a virtual white board, what I didn't realize is that I would be able to design graphics to personalize my Google slides and grade papers with handwritten feedback! Wow! What a difference it's made for me and for my students.
Each day in class I'm able to use the microphone enabled earphones so I can be clearly heard in class, and I am able to use the same tool to be clearly heard in the videos I make to help the students through their homework assignments. I haven't had a single student ask me to speak up or tell me that there was background noise or feedback on my end. This has really cut down on distractions and interruptions in my students' learning.
The iPad has been especially magical. I discovered several apps that have allowed me to design graphics for my Google Slide decks which have made the slides special and personalized for my students. This special touch makes the slides stand out and makes the students really take note of what they're looking at. It also helps with consistency, something that's especially important with my SPED and ENL students. I have also used the iPad as a second screen, something that I didn't know I needed until I started creating more and more interactive and technology driven lessons. Having two screens allows me to see the students AND the technology I'm working with. If I only had one screen, I'd be forced to only see the technology and I would miss out on seeing those important "ah ha" moments on the students' faces as the information clicks for them. Another unexpected use for the iPad has been using the Apple pencil to grade digital student work as if I were grading written work. I'm able to write on it in different colors and give students valuable feedback which will help them improve their grammar and writing right on the assignment. This is so much more effective than adding a comment on a Google Doc that they just "resolve" without thinking about or engaging with.
Of course I've also used the iPad and Apple pencil to do what I thought I'd do with it, which was to create videos for students to engage with and to create a virtual white board to use in class. Both of these tools have been invaluable so afar and I've even been able to have the students engage with the white board through Google's Jamboard.
None of this would have been possible without your generosity. I truly thank you for donating to my project, especially during this time of financial hardship. Your donation is appreciated by me and by all of my students!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Pafford
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 4 other donors.Ask Alexa!
Funded Mar 27, 2018Thank you so much for supporting my Ask Alexa! project. This has been such an amazing project and to have it fulfilled has been amazing!
Students use Alexa to ask how to spell words, remind them of classroom norms, and answer general knowledge questions. I use Alexa to set reminders so we can stay on pace during the lesson. I also set timers when doing independent work or small group work. She's been a great DJ! We play soft music during writing labs and exams. The students really love it.
I was able to introduce Alexa to the kids at the beginning of the year as a sort of classroom manager for us. They have been totally respectful of her and of our space when using her. Their favorite request is to ask her to play "Despacito" if we have a few minutes at the end of the class to pack up and straighten up.
Moving forward we'd like to use Alexa to a greater degree in the classroom. There are many helpful apps that we can download to her and use to help in case someone needs a moment to refocus, if we want to play a game during advisory, or allow the students to set reminders for me to grade a test or check on a homework that was turned in late.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Pafford
This classroom project was brought to life by Ripple.Odds and Ends
Funded Apr 10, 2017Thank you so much for fulfilling our donation request. With over a hundred students using our room it can be hard to keep it looking tidy and clean. Having a clean and tidy environment helps us keep pride in our school, our classroom, and our work. Being in the city many schools have dilapidated desks, broken chairs, and writing on the walls. It makes the kids feel like they are not worthy of a nice space. Giving them the tools they need to keep the classroom in order gives him ownership of the space and shows them that with teamwork we can keep our space worthy of what they deserve. The students regularly stay after school to sweep the classroom, wipe down the desks, and vacuum the bean bag chairs and rug in the classroom. They love our space and want to keep it looking great!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Pafford
LGBTQ+ Library For Our School
Funded Jun 13, 2017As the president of ACTvF's GSA, I anted to thank you for your donation. Having an inclusive library is important to our school because we're able to read about LGBTQ+ people in the world and learn about their perspective. Having these books available to our student body helps our LGBTQ+ students feel included, loved, and seen! Students now have the opportunity to not only read fictional stories that include LGBTQ+ characters, but we can also read about our LGBTQ+ history in the non fiction books that were included in our request. We plan to create some book clubs where we'll read the books in the library during GSA so we have a safe space to read and discuss the issues in the books. Some of our students have found it difficult to find books that have to do with LGBTQ+ in our local library, and we live in NYC! Now these books are here in our school and we can borrow them whenever we'd like. Thank you so much for supporting us!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Pafford
Clean and Comfy
Funded Feb 15, 2017Thank you so much for funding our project. It means a lot to us that you all took the time to look at and donate to our student-lead ask. In our classroom we have alternative seating and Ms. Pafford allows us to use aromatherapy to help us focus and learn in class. We've also learned that we need to take pride in our classroom. Having a broom helps us to take care of messes in the classroom when they happen so they do not take away from our peers' learning environment later in the day.
The new bean bag chairs are so nice! We love how comfortable they are. You can often find us curled up in them when we are reading a good book during independent reading time. We also like to utilize them during group work so we can have like a little meeting place to ourselves. Sometimes it is just nice to sit in them for class especially if you're having a bad day or feeling uncomfortable, they are like sitting on fluffy pillows and it is so nice.
Ms. Pafford got us a diffuser so we can add aromatherapy oils to the air. We also put aromatherapy oils on our desks so we can get the best results from it. We have aromatherapy cards that tell us what each oil does. Our class favorite is peppermint. It wakes us up and keeps us energetic. The oils you funded for us are great. The orange scent is popular and so is tea tree. Tea tree smells comforting.
You wouldn't think that a broom would be important in the classroom, but we use it every day. Before when we needed a broom for a quick clean up we had to call the custodian and the mess would be there until they came to clean it up. Having the broom allows us to be responsible for our own messes and allows us to keep our learning environment as clean as possible. We learned about empathy in our last unit and we know that it isn't right to leave something worse than you found it. If we drop the hole punch or pencil sharpener we can easily take care of it without Ms. Pafford having to stop teaching and without disrupting class.
Our biggest take-away from this project is that we were able to put together items that we needed for our classroom and present it to the world. We feel we were successful in asking for these items because the project was funded! We asked for what we needed and you heard us! Thank you for validating us and our classroom. We really appreciate it.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Pafford
Starbucks Setting: Alternative Seating in the Classroom
Funded Aug 15, 2016Dear Donors,
Thank you so much for helping my vision come to fruition. I will admit that I was nervous about implementing alternative seating, but I felt strongly about giving students a choice in their seating. I also believed the research that showed that students who choose their seat are able to focus better than those who cannot choose their seat. I explained the different seating options to the students (yoga balls, resistance bands, standing desks, under the desk cycle) and told them that they had the ability to choose the seat that best fit their needs each day.
Every day my students come into our classroom and find the seat that will work best for them. I have gotten feedback from parents thanking me for understanding that students have different needs and that a one size fits all approach does not work with seating. Students in my classes love our room and they feel comfortable being in the classroom. Kids in other classes want to be in our class, they see the how cool it is to have options. The kids in my class easily shift from standing desks to bean bag chairs in the reading nook all while getting their work done. It is great that they are able to listen to their bodies and make decisions for themselves.
They are learning to listen to their own needs, understand the academic responsibility they have to themselves and their education, and understand that they play a role in their learning process. I'm really proud of them and I'm proud that I have people who support me in trying something new. Thank you all so very much.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Pafford