Past projects 5
Mrs. Nichols Year Long Notebooks!
Funded Aug 8, 2023The impact of this project has been indescribable. When I compare this year with the last couple years, I have way fewer instances of students saying, "I left that in my locker." or "I think I lost that paper; may I have another?" which would often cause delays in class and even leave me scrambling to make extra last-minute copies. Even the students have said that, were it not for these binders, they don't think they would be able to keep all their materials together like they have.
In a perfect world, students by middle school would be able to do all of these things already. But this is a post-pandemic world, and we all have some work to do to adjust. Throughout the year, and through the use of these binders, I have watched my students go from, "Where does this go again?" to "I know exactly where my papers are and what I need to do to be prepared for this class in this moment."
These binders were a trial for me. I needed to adjust something I did previously with composition notebooks to meet the ever-changing needs of my students post-pandemic, and your help was such an important part of that! With your help, my class ran more smoothly. My students have learned how to organize a binder for not just my class but really any class, and now they have an excellent resource to take to high school with them to help them with their future math classes! These binders are definitely a project I plan to keep doing in the future after seeing how amazingly they have worked this year! I genuinely cannot thank you all enough for your trust in my project and your help in funding it!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Nichols
This classroom project was brought to life by Kleenex and 7 other donors.Kindness Rocks!
Funded Feb 28, 2022Our student council at DuPont Middle School was so excited to find out that our project was funded! When they saw all the rocks and painting supplies they could not believe their eyes! They were so overwhelmed that people donated money so that we could do this for our school!
Sadly, we were only able to have one painting party with student council last year with that group of student council kids. We have just recently chosen the next group of student council kids and are prepping to have our first real meeting! At our first meeting we will plan our first painting party. It is my hope that after 2 more painting parties we will have enough rocks painted to begin piecing together the garden.
Once we have enough rocks painted we will create a garden of rocks outside our school. Those rocks will be painted with kind words, saying, and images for our students to see, take, and replace with some of their own. Last year's student council officers wanted to make sure this was something that lasted for a while in an attempt to create a culture of kindness at our school!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Nichols
Learning Math in Style
Funded May 5, 2020What a YEAR! Due to some of the items I requested being out I used the contribution you made to help make this year with COVID a little easier. My biggest purchase was a cart. This year, due to COVID, my middle school students stayed in one classroom and teachers rotated so that we could maximize class time by not having to sanitize each and every desk multiple times a day. I, unfortunately, did not have a cart at the time this decision was made. Once I saw that my items requested were unavailable, I used the money you all had donated to purchase, as my students call it, the "mac daddy" of carts. This cart has helped me and the students stay organized from class to class during this very difficult time. Some students even brought me stickers that they felt described me or things that I liked, (so yes, a lot of math stickers), to help decorate it.
With the money left over I purchased some new decorations for next year's students. After this year I plan to completely move on from the pandemic and create a classroom that is bright and cheery to inspire students in the future. Without your continuous help and support of my classroom I don't know what I would do. Throughout my various projects I have been able to really create something special here at DuPont Middle School in Math 8/Algebra 1.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Nichols
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 12 other donors.New Desks for DPMS 8th Grade Math Students!
Funded Sep 6, 2018First, I would like to thank you for the support of our classroom. The students couldn't believe how many people pulled together to get us new desks. I will never forget when the desks came in the football coach had his players moving them into my room after school. My 8th graders on the football team were so excited as they were moving them in. When the all the students came in the next day they were so excited to see that the new desks had arrived! They were also excited to have book boxes to keep their materials in as opposed to having to slide them under their desks!
Right now I have the desks grouped in twos, which I was unable to do before with the old desks due to the number of students and the space I have in my room. I have also been able to group them in quads and many other fun ways. The desks and chairs are light weight and easily moved unlike the old desks so I have no problem rearranging my room frequently to meet the needs of the lesson that day. We are getting ready to take a collaborative quiz I call a "placemat" quiz in algebra. Doing this before was difficult because I couldn't get enough desks together to spread out the big paper the students needed. Now I have plenty of room!
The next goal my classroom has is to pump these desks up! We are going to lift them to give some students more room underneath by doing some diy pvc pipe extensions. We have also been given the green light to paint the desk tops with whiteboard paint so that every student will have a whiteboard as a desk top. In math, this is such a cool thing. Students can get bored doing the same thing every day, so it is fun to mix it up by allowing them to do something they typically haven't been allowed to do and write on the desks. The whiteboard paint will allow the desk to function exactly like my teacher board.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Nichols
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 23 other donors.Rewarding Students With a Comfy Place to Learn
Funded May 9, 2018Thank you so much. When students came in to the classroom on the first day they were so excited to see the flex seating that was available. There first question was "What do I need to do to sit in those chairs?" Now I have students not only working harder in classes, but consciously trying to make kinder, more thoughtful choices! I have also noticed that students come in and feel comfortable. It makes my classroom environment so much more conducive to how they want to learn. Thank you for helping me to enhance my learning environment with the addition of these flex seating options.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Nichols
This classroom project was brought to life by General Motors and 3 other donors.