Past projects 24
I Scream, you Scream, we all Scream for IPADS!
Funded Dec 19, 2014Thank you so much for your generous contribution to our classroom. This ipad has been an invaluable asset to our class. I cannot begin to explain how much we appreciate your donations. The students were ecstatic when I brought in the box and announced that we had finally received our ipad! Now during small group time, our independent learning time students work in pairs with academic applications that don't just provide opportunities for learning but do so in fun, and engaging ways. Its funny how already the students have become better at using the ipad than I have!
We are also using the ipad during assessments for reading. Before I would assess students in reading by using an Ipad. We use two programs, Dibels and Accelerated Reading, that help me diagnose a students struggle with reading. Before the ipad, I would use a laptop to perform this assessment, now I use the laptop and it makes it so much easier to touch a word (that a student says incorrectly) rather than use the mouse to highlight and click a word. I feel the assessments are more accurate and authentic when using an ipad, and I would like to thank you for allowing me to be a a more effective teacher while conducting this assessment with the ipad.
Our students and schools are places with higher and higher expectations, but lower and lower budgets, yet with donors like you, it gives me faith that people still have hope in our education system and want to help our students.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Orijel
Magic Carpet Sparks Imaginations
Funded Sep 15, 2014It was a regular Monday morning as I walked in to class, to set up the materials for the day's lessons. When I checked my email that morning it changed into a wonderful day filled with what seemed like a miracle of google-flash-funding! It was like Christmas morning and my birthday rolled up into one. I cannot begin to describe how grateful I am to have your company fund my project.When I informed my class that they would no longer have to gather on the cold tile floor and now had a beautiful new rug they cheered with joy!
The rug is beautiful, and students now gather on it during our writing mini-lessons, where I teach them strategies on how to improve their writing during writer's workshop. They learn about selecting interesting writing topics, using main idea and details, and starting a story with a good lead to name a few. They also work with partners on the rug to share ideas and discuss ways to improve their writing with their peers. The rug allows the students to gather comfortably in a close setting, where students get a sense of a community of writers, where they learn and teach each other, how to improve as writers.
Those that do not work with public education, might not understand how a simple donation of a rug can mean so much to a teacher and her students. From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank your company for choose our district, and share the great impact you are making! Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Orijel
Reading Helps Our Minds Blume
Funded Jul 24, 2014I would like to express my sincerest gratitude towards your very generous donations.Our class has received their class set of Judy Blume's Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. In order to get the students excited, I began to read the book to the class aloud. They laughed and giggled at the comedic experiences of Peter, the fourth grader, and his peculiar little brother "Fudge". When I handed them each their very own book to read along with me, their faces lit up with delight! We have been using the novel to study character description, event sequencing, and using author's clues to come up with our own inferences. These books have made a noticeable impact on my students. Reading is a much more enjoyable experience for the students when they have a book that interests them, and motivates them to read. As we near the end of the book, students tell me they are going to the library to look for more books by Judy Blume. I cannot begin to thank you enough for helping me bring reading to life, with these books. Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Orijel
Smaller Groups, Better Results!
Funded May 27, 2014I would like to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude towards your donation to my project. Thanks to you, and other gracious donors like yourself, I now have a mobile easel in my classroom. This easel has proved to be so beneficial in all the subjects I teach. During math I pull it alongside students who are struggling with concepts and I show them how I work out problems, and they also come up and show their work, on the easel. During writing time, I pull it to our sitting area where I teach students mini-lessons on writing skills and strategies. The easel allows me to teach in closer proximity to students than I would be able to with the whiteboard on the wall. The mobility of the easel makes working in small groups, to help student at different levels, a lot easier. I hope you continue to help classes as you did with mine, the benefits of a donation, whether big or small is priceless to students and teachers. Thank you, again!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Orijel
Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
Funded Jan 28, 2012Thank you so much for your kind donations! We teachers are in a difficult place, we want to help our students thrive and prosper academically, but we are being challenged with more students and less money for materials. Thankfully we have Donors Choose, and donors like you to help us overcome these obstacles. A school newspaper would not be possible to start with out the printer/scanner, and no its set to go!
I am already having an informational meeting this week for 4th and 5th graders who are interested in participating in the newspaper club. I can't wait to see what they will produce when given the opportunity to lead a newspaper and produce something they can call their own.
Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Orijel
This classroom project was brought to life by Wasserman Foundation and 11 other donors.The Sound Learning
Funded Dec 17, 2011Thank you so much for your generous donations! The class is thrilled with the new materials, as am I. We have already begun using the materials. We have downloaded our reading anthologies into the Ipod, and we listen to the stories after the students have read them together as a group. It is such a beneficial tool!
There is so much that school's are lacking in these difficult times, due to budget cuts and constraints. Luckily, we have wonderful programs like Donors Choose that open up the connection between thoughtful donors as yourselves and schools in need.
Thank you once again, we are much appreciative!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Orijel
This classroom project was brought to life by Wasserman Foundation and 17 other donors.Learning In The 21st Century!
Funded Jul 7, 2011Thank you so very much for creating such a large impact on our classroom. My students appreciate your donation and the use of the laptop has been endless! Learning has taking on new capabilities and the use technology is a facet of instruction that is vital to the growth of my students as academic achievers. Your donation is one that will help not only this class but many to come in the future, thank you so, so much!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Orijel