Past projects 9
Active Sitting for Active Learners
Funded May 10, 2018Thank you all for once again giving to my classroom! The students will be so excited! I once had a student compare my room to a Dr. Seuss book, because of all the colors and fun furniture. I can think of no better way to create a classroom than one that brings students joy just by looking at it. It's the little things that help our students be ready to learn and active seating is one way we can enhance that. Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Miller
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 8 other donors.Come to the Table! Collaborate, Innovate, Investigate!
Funded Sep 3, 2016Thank you once more for your kind (in some cases repeated!) and generous donations. For once, I have to claim the first change in the room for myself - the change in noise level! Gone are the constant, jarring, shifting scrapings of all the individual desks. While I know this has furthered my sense of calm, I can tell the kids' positive response to it as well. There are far fewer minor spats during the course of the day.
We have spread out and the kids love it! We can bring numerous laptops to the table without worrying about losing one down a gap, all our work tools and posters now have space, and no one is bonking their shins on countless metal legs under the table. Students and teachers can sit together to collaborate or workshop. I have yet to hear someone complain that someone is in their space, as the lines between the desks have vanished. Students just naturally shift and without visible or physical boundaries between them to tell them the work space has shifted, things in the room are a lot more peaceful.
These large tables have worked out so well, I can't wait to get to the hands-on-projects part of the year where the kiddos can really test the limits of the tables!
Thank you again!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Miller
This classroom project was brought to life by Quill.com and 3 other donors.Class in Motion - Creating a Smarter Learning Space
Funded Aug 25, 2016Thank you again for your generosity! The kids are loving the new chairs! It took us a little while to get adjusted to the moving chairs, but combined with yoga and mindfulness exercises we are rocking the chairs and getting the work done.
When we first opened the boxes, the kids were thrilled. Before we only had four Hokki chairs, but now there are enough for everyone to have one. Everyone was allowed to test out one of the chairs before stating their preference, and they were quick to give the chairs names based on their appearances - the Hokki chairs are "toadstools" because of their thin center and rounded top, the yellow ergoErgo™ stools resemble crinkle-cut fries and have been dubbed the French-fry chairs, and the big Vidget chairs and tables are the cubes, though technically (and I remind them every time!) they're more like rectangular prisms.
We are now quite comfortable with the chairs, and our next step will be learning how to transition from the table with our Vidget chairs/tables to create independent learning groups. Sometimes it seems like a long journey, but the kids are loving it. Thank you so much for your donation and kindness!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Miller
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 16 other donors.ELLs on Laptops - Cross-Grade Collaboration & Communication
Funded Aug 26, 2015The Chromebooks have been a huge success in our classrooms. The laptops have provided near-constant learning opportunities for our students, whether it's reading up on current events or peer-editing each other's work. Having these additional laptops in the room has been an immense boon working with our English Language Learners.
Before the addition of these laptops we would break into groups to allow each student to have a turn on the laptop. Now the students are able to keep the laptops at their table and transition to their writing, editing, projects or research simply by "waking up" the laptop, versus switching from the computer center to another.
The progress each of the students has made as a result of being able to do most of the writing and editing - independently and collaboratively - on the laptops is immense and we can't wait to see how far they go.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Miller
♫ Sing It, Learn It, Rock It - Learning With Music ♬
Funded Mar 30, 2015My kindergarten kids' eyes grew wide when they saw me pull each instrument from its bag. They were thrilled at the instruments they'd be able to make music with. I myself was excited to hear as many students naming the instrument as I had students ask, "What's that?" My favorite part was watching students mime the gestures they'd make with the instrument while doing a little dance. They were clearly ready to perform!
We started using the instruments in our daily "Sounds and Letters" alphabet review to separate the syllables. It provided a simple introduction to the instruments and helped us find rhythm in different places. We've moved on to providing sound effects in stories, songs and poems, and we will soon begin to expand our rhythmic horizons to accompany each other in song.
The instruments have helped my kids in ways I hadn't predicted or considered - they've become better at following instructions - as they must when listening for the beat. Also students otherwise quiet and shy have become more outgoing and are more willing to reply and speak at greater lengths, one of the big goals for young English Language Learners. I can't wait to see what other benefits the instruments give us and am already looking forward to having the entire school year available to incorporate them come September.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Miller
Accessibility and Writing for All!
Funded Dec 15, 2014Thank you so much for your generous donations to make the laptops and special chairs possible. The students were thrilled to receive the new laptops - it's been several weeks and the students still argue over who gets to use them! - and they were more than a little perplexed about what to do with the Hokki chairs. However, once the kids tried them out, they were totally wowed.
The laptops have been enormously useful in motivating the students to not just write their work once, but to improve it and add their own personal style to it. We are in the midst of a research project to create not just habitats for pollinators, as well as informational material to raise awareness in the community. The laptops enable the kids to separate around the room into groups, conduct their research and later return to the writing area to complete whatever writing needs to be done in documents or presentations. Later on in the project they will use the laptops together with the other computers in the room to create multi-media presentations to show in the schools and on the local TV channel.
The Hokki chairs have been immensely helpful in redirecting the excess energy of my squirmers. Ironically, the one student who inspired the Hokki chair project, whom I thought would benefit most from the chairs actually ends up being most distracted by the seat, so I will have to devise another plan to meet this child's needs. Aside from that one child, the seats have been a huge success - their status among the students even permits me to use them as reward for those who have finished their work, or behaved exemplary to read or draw while sitting in the chairs.
Mostly, I thank you all for showing my students the beauty found in the kindness of strangers.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Miller
This classroom project was brought to life by Disney and 17 other donors.Scientists and Engineers - Girls Can Too!
Funded Sep 6, 2014Thank you all so much for your generosity in helping raise funds to buy these books for our kids.
These books arrived shortly after I had begun reading a different book with my class. The clamor to abandon the books we were currently reading to read the new ones was immense. As every good teacher should, I insisted we complete the work we were on but as a lover of books, I gave them opportunity when they had finished their work to check out the new books.
As a teacher I want all my students to excel and I so I was a bit concerned that my boys might be turned off from reading about only "girl" scientists and engineers. It's been immensely gratifying to see their "Aha!" moments stem not only from the wonders and curiosity depicted in the book, but especially from the stories that highlight the fact that women weren't always allowed into institutions of learning. Conversations about STEM now naturally include conversations about fairness and equality and I thank you for helping to bring that to our kids.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Miller
Family Time, Talk Time
Funded Apr 22, 2014The first thing my students asked when they received the materials was, "What's a dictionary?" Then as soon as we opened the books, they were engrossed. They pointed out pictures and helped each other read the words and definitions with huge interest. They even noticed the pattern, that all words that started with the same first letters were on the same pages and after awhile were able to tell me the purpose of a dictionary themselves, which for kindergarten ELLs is a spectacular connection.
The students received a mini-lesson in class on how to use the dictionaries, whether it's for homework or for fun and the families received a letter with ideas on how to use these new learning tools for building English and home language skills.
Students who were previously less inclined to share a story or participate in conversation will now tell me of news events or connections to other stories because it was "... just like in the dictionary!" In class they pull down the the class-copies from the shelf to look up their word and describe their most recent connections. One student who had been quiet for most of the year showed me the picture of the tornado and described how he had heard about them in the news the day before. The high-interest, content-related images in the book help to boost academic conversation and build prior knowledge and I can't wait to see how the effects of rich conversation ripple up, as the kids progress through the grades.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Miller
This classroom project was brought to life by 100 Women in Hedge Funds and 3 other donors.Digital Inkwells: Engaging The Struggling Writer
Funded Jan 24, 2014The students were thrilled and stunned to receive the Chromebook laptops so quickly after I had posted the request. I had warned them it might take awhile to receive the laptops, so this just added to their excitement. One question in particular kept popping up - why did these strangers give us these laptops? Many of my students don't often experience the kindness of strangers, so it was nice to be able to prove what I've been telling them all along - there is kindness in the world.
As soon as the laptops were set up I shoehorned them into whatever lesson we were working on so the kids could use them right away. My 1st graders created paragraphs about penguins and illustrated them as well - 1st graders who normally quail at completing a single sentence! All our 3rd and 4th graders were tasked to decorate the hallway with reports and graphs about the Olympics. My 3rd graders wrote a short, illustrated essay about the history of curling and the Olympics. The 4th graders created a presentation that they illustrated with pictures and graphs to show the medal count of the competing nations.
Students who previously were loathed to write, quarreled with their partners or teammates to be able to type first. I caught others stalling with their hand-journaling long enough to ensure they got to use the new laptops. Ultimately it all resulted in more writing and better quality writing, as the students are now far more likely to edit and refine their work - if it means they get to use the computers! And I get better writers out of the deal! All around, a success!
Thanks you so much for your contributions!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Miller