Past projects 17
Bean Bags for a Brain Boost!
Funded Sep 10, 2020Thank you all so much for your generous support of my project. I know my students will love these bean bags, and it will give them much needed sensory support and a comfortable place to read, rest or regulate. Resources like these are as important to learning as any instructional materials!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Leaf
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 9 other donors.The Hands Have It...Tactile Learning!
Funded Apr 24, 2020I am humbled and so thankful for your generous support! I know my students will love these materials, and they will make such a wonderful addition to our learning. My students thrive with hands-on learning, and these resources will also encourage interactive play and exploration, which are such critical skills for them to develop.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Leaf
Exercising Our Bodies to Calm and Focus Our Brains
Funded Oct 23, 2019I am so excited about this project getting funded! We have many students who will benefit from exercise activites that require focus & concentration, as well as those that will help get difficult feelings out in a safe way. These resources will be a wonderful addition to the sensory/regulation room we are creating at our school!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Leaf
This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron Fuel Your School.Sense-ational Learning Tools!
Funded Oct 16, 2019I am so grateful for your support of this project! My students will love exploring the materials and using them to improve academic, social and self-regulation skills. We can't wait to add more sensory materials to our classroom. Your support is truly appreciated, and will help my students grow in so many ways!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Leaf
Help us Reach our Financial Literacy Goals!
Funded Oct 11, 2018Thank you so much for your generous support toward my classroom's "Help us Reach our Financial Literacy Goals!" project. Although my students are in 9th grade, their disabilities have made it difficult for them to keep up with their peers in the area of counting/using money and understanding the role it plays in their lives.
Using the books and games funded by your donation, I was able to teach them foundational concepts of money, work on counting money, and create lessons that engaged their thinking about money.
In the photos section, you will see examples of the work my students produced, as well as their end of year reflections about how important financial literacy is for their futures. We will continue to use these resources in the coming years, as we get into more complex activities such as responsible spending, credit and budgeting.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Leaf
This classroom project was brought to life by Charles Schwab Foundation and 6 other donors.Na...Maste In Class With Yoga!
Funded Dec 29, 2018Thank you for supporting my "Na...Maste In Class With Yoga!" project. My students were surprised but thrilled to open the package when it arrived, and loved trying out different yoga poses.
The mats provided my students with the opportunity to explore movement and yoga poses to promote sensory awareness and calm. They have asked me to buy grippy socks so that they can try more challenging poses next year!
The project also had an impact outside of my small classroom. Our school counselor led a yoga class as part of our Mind Right Monday program, a half-hour at the beginning of the day for students to get their minds and bodies ready for the school week. The yoga class has been a big hit with students!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Leaf
This classroom project was brought to life by LA Sprout Fund and 2 other donors.Building Brain and Body Muscles Through Play!
Funded Nov 10, 2018I am so grateful for your support! Your contributions to my "Building Brain and Body Muscles Through Play" project have made a tremendous impact on my students.
My students are highly visual learners, and games like Mental Blox, Pixy Cubes and Perfection helped them play to their strengths and build confidence in their abilities. They turned "brain break" time into learning time, and helped build community through collaboration and friendly competition.
The Spiral Poi provided my students with opportunities to explore and express themselves through movement, build relationships and encourage interactive play. All of these resources helped strengthen our classroom community, encourage communication and keep students cognitively engaged during instructional breaks!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Leaf
Filling our Brains and Bodies with PRIDE!
Funded Oct 17, 2018Thank you so much for supporting my "Filling Our Brains and Bodies with PRIDE!" project. My students were thrilled to get books on their reading level that looked age-appropriate. These books helped engage even the most reluctant readers in my class.
All of my students are highly visual learners, so Blokus and Q-Bitz were wonderful games to build community and a sense of accomplishment. They transformed brain break time into learning and bonding time, which supported building a strong classroom and learning culture.
The balance boards were a huge hit! My students really enjoyed the challenge of using the boards in creative ways. They helped my students express themselves, help each other, and teach each other. The boards were also wonderful sensory tools.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Leaf
This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron Fuel Your School.Playing Our Way to Success at School!
Funded Sep 20, 2017Thank you so much for your generous donation! The items I was able to purchase have been a wonderful addition to my classroom. They help my students develop balance and motor skills, as well as provide opportunities for cooperative play.
Students have come up with so many creative ways to use these resources! Many of them use the balance board while working on academic tasks, which helps provide sensory input they need to better focus. The balance maze is a powerful calming tool, giving students who are upset something to engage and calm their minds. The parachute teaches them about the value of working together as a community.
Unfortunately, the Basket Case Headband Hoop game was not particularly sturdy, and broke after a few uses. With some creative use of superglue and duct tape, we should be able to get them functional again! The kids enjoyed saying words I spelled aloud while trying to catch balls in the hoop, making the game a great way to incorporate movement into learning.
Try as we might, none of us were able to figure out how to use the skip ball game with our feet. But we brainstormed other uses that turned out to be even more fun and educational. Students work together to drop their ball into the other student's hoop, which helps with eye-hand coordination, turn taking, following directions and color identification.
We so appreciate your support in helping to make our classroom a joyful place to learn.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Leaf
Cooking for Life (Skills)!
Funded Jul 19, 2017Thank you so much for your generous support! My students have had a wonderful time exploring resources for healthy eating and cooking. We do not have access to cooking facilities, and cannot even use a microwave in our classroom. But thanks to your donation, we have the tools we need to make healthy, NO-COOK recipes!
These recipes give students access to healthy meals and snacks they can make safely on their own. This gives them a great sense of accomplishment, and provides critical skills. It is not uncommon for electricity to be off in our students' homes due to financial difficulties or inclement weather. It also gets HOT here, so turning on a stove or oven can create an even more uncomfortable environment in the home.
My students have enjoyed making their own trail mix, smoothies, fruit salads and wraps. The recipes we use provide inexpensive yet healthy meals and snacks the whole family can enjoy. My students are so excited to try these recipes at home!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Leaf
This classroom project was brought to life by The Clorox Company and 2 other donors.