Ms. Burks' Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 7

• Classroom Furniture Flexibility

  Funded Oct 11, 2023

  Wow, what a difference your donations and the materials purchased from them have made. Students use these materials daily and have thrived with the flexibility they offer.

  The wobble stools are a popular item to add a variation from sitting in a standard desk during group work. Students who need to move to another group due to their group being incomplete have an easy option to pull up a stool. They are also very helpful in Seminars, when we rearrange the class into a circle to critically discuss a text.

  The chill zone is another popular spot in the class where students who need a brain break, some space, or just a comfy spot to read relocate themselves. They may use a number of fidgets or the calming strips to regulate their minds and emotions.

  The organizing bins have helped me provide a space to keep critical assessments so that I can easily access them for parent inquiries or when Special Education teachers need to collect data for IEP goals. They will also be useful as we progress in the year, so students can see tangible growth from previous assessments.

  The vacuum, velcro for the power strips and other organizing furniture serve as small improvements that have a big impact for the daily functioning of our class.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Burks

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community & an Anonymous Partner and 10 other donors.

• Building a More Inclusive and Diverse Curriculum

  Funded Mar 30, 2023

  Thank you so much for donating the book, Pet, to our school. It really did widen our curriculum in its representation of a queer Black neuro-divergent protagonist. We delved into many important ideas including busting binaries, the importance of revolutions as social and political progress, and the nuances of justice and morality.

  By combining a text with increased representation and critical reading, we engaged many more students. The text is full of figurative language, imagery, and symbolism, so we accomplished many content standards as well.

  To have the opportunity to be creative, innovative, and collaborative, my teaching practice as well as my team's has improved. It is exciting and inspiring for us to keep things fresh for our students.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Burks

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 3 other donors.

• Covid Ate Our Books!

  Funded May 8, 2023

  Thank you so much for your generous support replenishing our collection of the book, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Students enjoyed the book for many reasons. Many reported that it was intriguing to find out more about the Cultural Revolution and drew connections to the ongoing book banning in various parts of the US. They also enjoyed reading the story of two friends and, of course, a love triangle. In addition, the humor of the story allowed students to engage with literature in a lighter and more entertaining way at times.

  We often read in collaborative groups, discussing issues and questions in smaller and whole class seminars. If a student didn't have their computer or it were dead, online reading wouldn't be possible. Had we not had more copies of the books, students would have to share or just be out of luck. I was able to sign out more copies to students who have inconsistent attendance so that they could catch up and be successful when they returned. In general, a well-resourced class is just more able to fit all the needs of the various students.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Burks

  This classroom project was brought to life by General Motors and 4 other donors.

• Build a Better Classroom

  Funded Aug 22, 2017

  Thank you so much for your generous contributions to my classroom. We are in the middle of quarter 2 and use the materials daily. Students generally claim I have the best pencil sharpener in the building; this honor is not one to be slighted as the competition is tight! We've used the mini white boards routinely, a recent example being when we did fishbowl seminars and teammates were writing words of encouragement or suggestions to their teammate in the discussion. Daily, I need to print something immediately like a missing assignment or attachment from another staff member, so the printer enables me to do that without delay or taking the many stairs to the staff lounge only to possibly wait in line to print. In all seriousness, these basic tools help build more options and flexibility in my teaching practice and students' learning.

  We are reading the book Feed next, so this will be a great opportunity to allow students more interaction with multi-media sources (short films, Ted Talks, and cartoons) and how these "texts" can be read with eyes open to arguments made about our increasing use of technology. They will enjoy using the speakers for continued learning as well as the "clicker" for their own presentations. Again, thank you so much.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Burks

  This classroom project was brought to life by Sergey Brin Family Foundation and 4 other donors.

• See Myself in Great Literature?

  Funded Nov 27, 2016

  I'd like to thank you greatly for your contributions to my classes. These varied books have enabled students to see themselves reflected more specifically and thoroughly in the books we read. We have begun to set in motion our literature circles, which allow students much more self-directed learning. From choosing the books to setting the pace of reading (within parameters) to collaborative projects, this model encourages students to apply what we've learned over the year with a fresh text.

  Students do word study on unfamiliar words they encounter, character analysis through a variety of techniques, close reading of passages as a way to uncover word choice and diction as well as reaction/connection as a way to build relevance and synthesis across text, world, and self. Students also have had to do research surrounding a real world scenario/event to build schema for their books. They may be researching Malcolm X's hometown or the impact of having a parent struggling with addiction. The sum total of these exercises are to allow students more freedom and autonomy along with responsibility for both the content and the collaboration within their literature circles.

  We are humbled and so thankful for your generous gift. We will continue to make the most of your donations for years to come.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Burks

• Make It Digital

  Funded Jan 5, 2017

  Thank you again for donating so generously. This technology is helping make curriculum more engaging and accessible to my students. Recently, we've been studying about how reliance technology can be both a help and a hindrance to learning through the dystopian book, Feed. We've examined countless videos to view the potential impact this technology has on us as social beings, people in our environment, and consumers. Watching a slam poet perform "Touchscreen" or viewing "The Story of Stuff" has been made more enjoyable and accessible because students can now hear the audio over the noise of the heater or intermittent sounds through the new speakers.

  The students also truly enjoy the benefit of the Ipad Mini. I am just scratching the surface of what we can do with it, but so far, we've used it to create a photo album of anchor charts that help students apply writing principals on their own work. I also plan to use it as a video camera to film upcoming presentations, so students can then critique their own work and set goals for future presentations.

  Lastly, I think all students benefit from having a surge of new technology in the class, but especially those who may not have their own resources have benefited. When we do stations and have a video to watch, many just retrieve their ear buds from their jacket or bag, but for those without, I can now offer the headphones you have provided. Again, there are many opportunities to use these generous gifts, and we are just getting started. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to keep it fresh and relevant by bridging that technology gap that so often occurs for students who are school-dependent for many resources.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Burks

• Digital Book Talks: Expanding Interactions with Books

  Funded Oct 6, 2011

  I want to thank you so very much for the generous donations you provided to my classroom and students. I have been able to increase the Book Talk Project options to include a digital storytelling option using a program like PhotoStory and a piece of digital visual art in the form of a flier. Using more and more digital mediums allows otherwise disenfranchised students to access and develop more competency with technology that is the such commonplace in our modern world. Thus, it teaches necessary and valuable skills that will help prepare my 9th graders for creative and informative projects across disciplines and beyond the scope of the classroom.

  These options have also encouraged students to be more involved in their projects. They have great and vast mental concepts of how they want their digital stories to be produced partly due to their intricate knowledge of youtube videos. Nonetheless, the increased access to technology now makes a project like this more relevant, more interesting, and more applicable to their lives.

  I also have the option to highlight through media other projects my students do using more traditional mediums, such as pen and ink drawings or collages. The more and more options, the more and more buy-in for students to actively engage in their personal reading.

  I will continue to develop this project as a staple of my classroom as it builds students independent reading, time-management and organizational skills, and, now with your help, facility with 21st century technology. ”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Burks

  This classroom project was brought to life by CenturyLink and 25 other donors.