Past projects 23
Centers Fixer Upper
Funded Apr 17, 2017It has been an absolute miracle with all of these resources this project has provided! Small group work has changed over night, and continues to work its wonders into a new school year! The dry-erase crayons have been the game-changer our centers needed. The students are loving the dry-erase crayons. They make a huge difference when students are completing laminated centers. The crayons are easier to write with for many of the Kindergarten students, and it lasts longer than the dry-erase markers. It has made a world of difference for teachers to walk around and assess student progress! Our laminating machine has been a huge help to so many teachers! We have had countless workshops and meetings where teachers develop small group activities that fit the specific needs of their classes, and then within minutes of printing out the materials, the centers are laminated and are ready to be up and running in their classrooms the following period! The laminating machine is the gift that keeps on giving. All of the centers that we were able to create at the end of last school year, are up and running already for this school year! Some teachers have even laminated some of the covers of books that were falling apart and are now back in circulation within their classroom libraries - which only means that students are reading them independently and with partners during small group work! Another win win!
Thank you so much for investing in the children at our school. We are so fortunate to have had the opportunity to partner with DonorsChoose and create a bright future for our students. We can only hope that our students will emulate your kindness, generosity, and support in their own lives. Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gruffi
The Secret Life of Teachers
Funded Jul 25, 2016Hi Donors!
Thank you so much for your donation to our project, The Secret Life of Teachers. This school year has gotten off to a great start! The supplies we requested are being used regularly, and are appreciated by the teachers because it has been DIRECTLY helping our students!
The binding machine has been a wonderful addition to our building! We were able to create packets for Guided Reading supports the teachers could use for the students. Teachers are able to flip through the binded books during their small group lessons with the students. It has become so handy! We hope to make new additions to their resource collections!
All of the markers and pens have been so helpful during our professional development meetings. We were able to create mini workshops around what the teachers had felt they needed the most help in (setting up independent reading routines and structures). They were able to take notes and create their own charts for their classrooms with all of the supplies! That means, over 300 students have been taking advantage of all of the supplies given to us in this donation!!!
From the shelves, to the laminating pouches, to the sticky notes, we are well-stocked in supplies to give our students a well-stocked education! Thank you so much for all of your support in our efforts to change our students' lives one day at a time this school year. We are forever grateful, and hope to continue our work for years and years to come!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gruffi
We Need an INKling of Help
Funded May 25, 2016Although it's the end of the school year, there was much to be thankful for! We ended our school year on a high note with the help of your donations to support our printer's ink! While many things were winding down, we were just getting started! Our class was digging deep into a review of the work we did throughout the year in Kindergarten, but also began to unlock some of the work the students are planning on accomplishing in first grade! We were able to use the new ink to print practice problems and group work to support our "Getting Ready for 1st Grade" math unit! The students loved using the classroom manipulatives alongside their 1st grade problems. And for some of the students, we were able to print out some of the Kindergarten work we want to work on over the summer, and then laminate it so that it'll last as long as it could! This way, the students are supported both in and OUT of the classroom!
We really couldn't have done any of this without your generous donations and support! The ink is really so important for our classroom to succeed, and blossom! Thank you always!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gruffi
Kickin' Off A New Kindergarten Year!
Funded Sep 10, 2015Hi everyone! It has been such an amazing school year, and it was all thanks to you! The students love all of their new supplies! The notebooks are a "hit" and the students love using their individual erasers in them. I think by far their favorite "at their seat" item is their dry erase markers. We have been practicing writing upper case and lowercase letters every day. The students have been partnering up to show each other their "best" letter writing skills. It is really such a pleasure to watch them grow and learn!
The bookcase has made such an impact in the classroom. The students choose their "take home" books once a week, and help themselves to the books in their perfect bookshelf! Thank you so much for that!
It has really helped me so much having the swivel chair (a few of the kids have even gone for a "spin" on it as one of their "choice" activities to do during "Free Time"). I'm able to move around quickly during group work at the back table and get to all of my students especially during their Guided Reading groups. It has made such a difference! :)
We are so honored to have had your donations and all of your thoughts and well wishes for this new school year. Donors Choose has provided us with such amazing opportunities, one of which was getting to know you! Thank you so much for all of your generosity, we look forward to many more wonderful things to come from this school year!
Love always,
Mrs. Gruffi's Kindergarten Class”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gruffi
INKing Our Way Into a New School Year!
Funded Nov 16, 2015Thank you all so much for your amazing donations for the ink for our classroom printer! We have been SO busy this year, especially working in centers! We uploaded our pictures of the centers we love the most, practicing our letters! It is so great seeing the students working independently, with partners, and in small groups all with the help of the ink you provided with your generous donations! It's the gift that keeps on giving, because we are only part of the way through the year and we have so much more to look forward to! One of the other wonderful things that the ink has provided us is the ability to print out books. We were fortunate enough to have gotten a donation for a bookshelf with another Donors Choose project, and now we have books to stock it with!
Our class really can't thank you enough. We appreciate all of your love and support, and are so lucky to have you as a part of our classroom family! We promise to continue to "wow" the world with all of the work we are able to do with the help of your ink!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gruffi
This classroom project was brought to life by an anonymous donor and 11 other donors.WANTED: Tech Savy Kindergartners
Funded Dec 30, 2014Hi everyone! We are so pleased to announce that we are writing this thank you note on our new, and very amazing laptop! It looks perfect as we display it up on our SmartBoard!
Our new laptop has changed our classroom completely. We are able to do all of our work on the SmartBoard with vivid colors, and plenty of high-quality animations. Our school's curriculum programs offer websites that support our learning and keep us engaged, and with our new laptop, we are able to keep up with all of them!
It's not just our SmartBoard compatibility that has helped our classroom grow. Mrs. Gruffi was able to hook up the laptop to our classroom printer, and now we can INSTANTLY print any resources we think would help better our learning! For instance, we absolutely love our Poetry Notebooks. Every time we share a new poem with the class, we put it in our Poetry Notebooks to help enrich our Independent Reading skills. With our new laptop, as soon as we find a new poem, we print it out and put it in our notebooks! Talk about instantaneous learning!
Some of us have even been able to go on the new laptop and begin practicing our typing skills. This is something that we have only been able to do in our technology class, and now we are able to do this as we publish our writing pieces! And it's not just the typing we've been working on, but our classroom website! It is so fun to upload those same poems that go inside of our Poetry Notebooks onto the class website so we can have it anytime we want.
We can't wait to find more "stuff" to do with our new laptop! It has endless potential and possibilities in the classroom and beyond! Mrs. Gruffi has been using it to update the Kindergarten website (ps76kindergarten.weebly.com) and to do all of her work for the Kindergarten grade (she's the Grade Leader)!
We cannot begin to tell you how lucky we are to have you, donors, in our lives. You have changed our classroom and learning for good, and we will always remember this! One day, we hope to be just like you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gruffi
Toning Up!
Funded Dec 21, 2014Hi to our dearest donors! We cannot begin to tell you what a world of a different our toner has made in the classroom. Our classroom printer is up and running, and boy have we been busy! First, came our Social Studies centers. Each table rotates during Social Studies to complete different activities about ourselves (our unit is All About Me). So, while one table is making a puzzle about all of their favorite things, another table is completing a graph about hair and eye color! This has been a favorite in the classroom, and with the toner, we have been able to bring it alive! One of the other joys of having this toner has been the ability to print out pictures that support all of our learners. For instance, when we create charts in the room, Mrs. Gruffi is able to take a picture of it and print it out and give us a personal copy of the chart. This has been especially helpful for the English Language Learners, who can get all of the information covered in a whole group setting at their seats during independent work! We cannot begin to tell you how important you are to our classroom, and that you have been life changers! Keep a look out for our pictures, we took a lot of them during Social Studies! You are all so amazing, and we hope to be just like you one day!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gruffi
This classroom project was brought to life by Kia and 5 other donors.Out with the Old (Rug), and In with the New (Rug)
Funded Aug 12, 2014It is with great gratitude that I say Thank You for your kindness for this project. When I put this project up, the reasons were all laid out - the classroom rug was old, stained, smelly, and just plain old falling apart. I knew that a new rug would be the perfect addition to the classroom, especially because we spend about half the day working on it. But, I could have never have guessed that the new rug would be just SO beautiful. The classroom has changed in the most dynamic way - the colors, the smell, the durability, everything about this rug screams NEW and AMAZING!
It was so delightful to see the student's show their excitement before they entered the classroom on the day of the rug delivery. The students knew that the rug was on its way, and once I explained that it was finally here, they almost banged down the door to see it! Some of the students walked around the rug because as they explained, "It's just so pretty to step on!" The first time the students sat on the rug, they felt it with their hands, elbows, fingernails, exposed legs - they couldn't get enough of it! It's even sweet to see that still, as the rug is a few weeks old, some of the students will explain to the others to keep their shoes clean so that we don't track dirt on the rug.
It's not even just the cosmetics that have really changed the classroom, but student engagement has been so high each and every day. The students pay more attention, are focused, and keep the rest of the classroom even cleaner than it was before!
Thank you so much for giving our classroom the opportunity to have this experience and new rug. We will forever treasure the rug and keep it as clean and fresh as we can for many years to come!
Love,
Mrs. Gruffi's Kindergarten Class”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gruffi
Brown Tables, Brown Tables, What Do You See?
Funded Aug 23, 2014Hi everyone! It has been a few weeks with the new tables in our classroom, and they have made SUCH a wonderful difference!
First, when the tables came in, the students were in awe of the size of the tables! They couldn't believe how big the boxes were. The conversations between the children were great, "Can you believe how big the boxes are?" "What are we going to DO with tables that big?" "They are bigger than my BED!"
Then, once the tables were all set up the students couldn't WAIT to start working on them. One of the tables was set up by the computer area. We were able to put the Math Centers on top and begin partner work on them. It was an incredible incentive for students to finish their math work before playing games on them, and it also gave the students a private area to do work with a partner.
Next came the questions and propositions. "Mrs. Gruffi, are we using the tables today?" "Can we use the tables for Reading today?" "Can we use the tables for Math AND Reading?" "Mrs. Gruffi, the tables look lonely today. What about letting us do by our selves work today on them?"
And there really is NO "last" or "finally," because these tables will be forever changing the dynamic of the classroom and challenging the students to be the best they can be for their education and futures.
Thank you so much for your kindness. We are blown away by your generosity, and hope to return that in the work we do throughout the year.
Love,
Mrs. Gruffi's Kindergarten Class”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gruffi
This classroom project was brought to life by Gates Foundation Back To School and 6 other donors.Odds and Ends...No! Beginnings!
Funded Sep 5, 2013Hi everyone!!! What a way to "kick-off" our school year!!! We received all of our supplies and boy-oh-boy, was this exciting. The room was filled with boxes for all to see. The students gave guesses as to what was in each box. We had just read the poem, "Jack Be Nimble," and even got to pretend to be "Jack" and "jump over this little box". What a fun way to incorporate kinesthetic learning into the classroom! But wait! It wasn't just the boxes that were so exciting, it was the supplies in them that made it even BETTER! Opening it up was like a school holiday! It was everyone's birthday that day and we all got to celebrate what a great school year it was about to be!
I can't WAIT to upload the pictures of the crates that we made into storage and seats. It is the "Hot Seat" for the classroom and everyone can't wait to get a turn to sit on these seats! They have been PERFECT for storage, storing all of our books that are "out of season," and aren't included in our library yet! We've even used them at the back table for small groups, and have stored materials needed for our small-group instruction!!!
But wait, that's not all! The wikki stix are just as exciting as highlighter tape! It is such a treat to see these kids get so excited over finding letters and sight words in our shared reading poems and texts! When you see a room-full of children smiling over sight words, you know you've got a good thing!!! :)
Thank you so much for your donations to help put this project to life. Our classroom is full of smiles, constantly, and it's because of these supplies and your generosity to making our classroom a better place!
We can't wait to see what else we come up with for these supplies. Thank you so, so much for your kindness and support in our learning! We love YOU!!!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Gruffi
This classroom project was brought to life by NEA Foundation and 6 other donors.