Past projects 5
Comfortable Learning Environment
Funded May 23, 2019Thank you again for supporting our comfortable learning environment! My students love being able to sit at the tall table while learning. Each day students sit at the tall table to look out the window while working on daily assignments and activities.
Students were so excited to see the high table and stools. All students believe this is a "cool" way for them to learn each day.
Over the next year, I hope to continue adding additional flexible seating options to allow student more choice and comfort in their learning.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Paffrath
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 2 other donors.Books, STEM, and Flexible Seating Galore!
Funded Jan 11, 2019Thank you so much for contributing to our class project. My students were so excited to open the boxes full of great materials to improve our classroom. As soon as we opened the box, students wanted to start using the supplies right away.
Students were especially excited for the new yoga balls and "What Should Danny Do School Day" book. We already had a couple yoga balls in the classroom, but they are constantly a source of arguments for students because they all want to sit on them. The additional yoga balls has really helped students have more choices in their seating options without creating arguments. The "What Should Danny Do School Day" book was a favorite among students because we read another book in this series earlier in the year. Students were so excited to read and make choices to determine how Danny's day would go. We have had so many rich conversations about the choices we make throughout the day.
Students love being able to use the retro phones to record videos on our iPads without background noise. This has helped improve the quality of each of our student video assignments. In the next few months, students will have more time to practice math skills using the math games we received. In addition, they will enjoy having the opportunity to have more choice in their seating around the room. In the future, we hope to continue adding more flexible seating, math games, and engaging read alouds. Thank you again for supporting our classroom!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Paffrath
21st Century Learning With STEM Bins
Funded Dec 12, 2018Thank you so much for contributing to our class STEM project. My students were so excited to open the boxes full of great STEM activities. As soon as we opened the box, students wanted to start using the supplies right away.
Students were especially excited for the Gravity Maze activity. After teaching students how to use Gravity Maze, they immediately started trying to find ways to design the maze using the challenge cards. It has been great watching them try and test different challenges to get a marble from a starting space to an ending space! Students were also so excited to see another Bloxels set and more Legos. They love designing their own video games and building their own creations. I am blown away by their creativity!
As we move through the year, students will continue to have time to enhance their STEM learning through daily STEM choices. Thanks to your contribution more students will be able to use science, technology, engineering, and math skills to learn creatively. I look forward to seeing more creations and STEM learning over the next few months. Thank you again for supporting our classroom!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Paffrath
Teaching Compassion and Diversity Through Books!
Funded Jul 25, 2018Thank you so much for donating to our compassionate and diverse books project. My students were so excited when we first opened our box of books during the first few days of school. They could not believe that there were really people in the world who wanted to buy books just for our class!
We started reading the books during the first week of school. All of these books were used as whole class read alouds, where I read the story aloud to the whole class and we discuss along the way. As we read each book, I asked students to share their initial impressions and the lessons learned from the characters. I was blown away by students ability to show empathy and compassion for the main characters, while coming up with a general lesson. Some of the lessons students noticed were: you can do anything you put your mind to, be who you want to be, we learn from our mistakes, be proud of yourself, stand up for yourself, challenge yourself, show integrity, girls can do just as much as boys, and be a good friend. Students also gained ideas for STEM activities, like coding. In addition, some students now have a better understanding of how some cultures are different and how others were treated differently in our own country many years ago.
Our class was particularly drawn to the book "What Should Danny Do?" because of the ability to choose the correct or incorrect behavior choice for Danny and change the plot of the story along the way. In particular, I have a student who is still learning social/emotional skills of the average third grader. This student was drawn to the "What Should Danny Do?" book and even asked to share it with his Social Skills Group more than once! Many other students have been drawn to this book and can frequently be found reading it with a partner during independent reading or learning choice time.
We truly can't thank you enough for donating to our project and providing us with books that we can learn and enjoy each and every day!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Paffrath
Flexible Seating for Diverse Learners
Funded May 30, 2017Thank you so much for donating to our classroom flexible seating project! We are so excited to have the different seating choices in our classroom. When students arrived at Meet the Teacher Night, they walked into a classroom that looked different than what they had in 2nd grade. Students' faces lit up with excitement as they saw yoga balls, wobble stools, wobble cushions, and camp chairs. Parents were also thrilled to see the various seating options.
During the first 2 weeks of school, I rotated students through each of the seating options, so they could test out the different spaces. When students were given the opportunity to choose their own seats, I was impressed by their ability to truly choose a spot that would work best for them. Each student chose a space that would allow them to sit, stand, or wobble while still learning and focusing on their work. Throughout the day, students are given the opportunity to sit in a spot around the room that will help them be focused and on task. Students have done a wonderful job of thinking about which seating choice in our room will be best for that specific subject (ie: yoga ball during math time or camp chair during reading time).
In the future, I hope to incorporate more seating options for students, like yoga mats, bean bag chairs, and comfy pillows. I love watching my students use the flexible seating choices to help them stay focused on their learning each day. These flexible seating choices have created a comfortable and more positive learning environment for each student. Thank you for your generosity. It is greatly appreciated!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Paffrath