Ms. Shiu's Classroom Edit display name

Current requests

Past projects 22

• Reading and Representation: Seeing Ourselves and Others in Books

  Funded Nov 23, 2024

  Have you ever seen a group of 11 year-olds so excited to borrow books that they can't sit still? It's an amazing thing. A big box of books arrived during one of our independent reading periods and I couldn't restrain myself from opening it up and exploring its contents. At first no one noticed. I gave an excited yip and a few students looked my way and saw I was holding several copies of a book I had recently done a book talk on. At the end of that book talk the two copies of the book I had flew out of my hands and I had a waiting list ten names deep. I heard whispers throughout the room and I could hear excited yelps and inhales as more students noticed the stack of *that book* I had in front of me. I could feel the vibrations in the air. My sixth graders were ready to pounce on me to get their hands on that book and see what else was coming out of that box.

  It's fair to say we are very grateful for your generosity and support. Not only did our new books inspire our students to read more, the stories in those books were about characters with diverse backgrounds and experiences. Some students chose books with characters like them. Many had never read a book that had someone like them before. Other students chose books about characters with very different lives.

  Even though we've had the books for some time now, they're still in demand and featured in a special display in our classroom. Thank you for the representation. Thank you for the diversity. Thank you for the literacy. You've impacted all of our lives in a very beautiful way.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Shiu

  This classroom project was brought to life by Con Edison and 7 other donors.

• Snacks Bring More Students to Math Class Than Actual Math

  Funded Sep 13, 2024

  Do you know the secret to getting 2 sixth graders to level up a whole grade level in math skills in only 2 months? It's the same secret you need to know to get your entire 7th grade class to level up half a grade level on average in the same amount of time.

  Of course you know the answer. YOU are the answer. Thank you for your donation of snacks for my struggling math students. To wow them I placed all of the boxes on one table before they walked into the classroom. You should have seen their faces. I wish I had taken pictures, but I was so into the moment I forgot. They were so excited! Each kiddo was telling everyone who would listen which snacks they wanted. Then I broke the news to them; they had to do math to get them. A couple of students groaned, but the rest of the group rushed to log into their computers. "How much work?" We started with a small snack after 10 active minutes of work. Then the good news: there would be a second, more sought-after snack, after 20 minutes of active work.

  I had never seen these students work so hard. Not only were they actively working, they were RACING through the problems. They were asking for help on problems they didn't understand. They really wanted snacks; I really wanted them to learn. We all won that day. Since then, we have experimented with different ways to earn snacks. We've developed a hierarchy of snacks so that the most valued snacks required the most effort. It has been great. I don't have to twist arms to get students to start working (most days). You and your snacks are the secret to my students' success. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Shiu

• Snacks Bring More Students to Math Class Than Actual Math

  Funded May 6, 2024

  We are so appreciative of the snacks you so generously funded. My students were so excited when they saw them - there was a celebratory dance of joy! So many awesome things have happened since we received them.

  On some days we have communal snack time when we can catch up with each other and talk. Other days, students take what they need. Recently, we've been using the snacks as rewards for accomplishing goals and working above and beyond. We've also made different tiers of snacks (based on their favorites) and reward different levels of effort with different levels of snack. Students have become more productive and more motivated and it is fantastic.

  It's hard to believe that something so simple as a small bag of fruit snacks is enough to get everyone productively and something so desirable as a bag of Cheez Its can motivate students who claim to hate math to do 10 extra minutes of work over the class minimum. Thank you for your generosity and for the gift of students more willing to improve their math skills.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Shiu

  This classroom project was brought to life by General Motors and 2 other donors.

• Fueling Students' Minds and Bodies

  Funded Sep 20, 2023

  Hungry students from my school appreciate you! Thank you so much for the supplies and snacks to set up what I call a fueling up station (and my students call "the stash") in my classroom. We took some space in a bookcase to set up labeled bins of granola bars and fruity snacks in the back of my classroom for students to access when they need to.

  The food has fueled students rushing in late for school who haven't had a moment for a bite of food; students who skipped lunch to make up work or get extra help; and students who got to the cafeteria too late to get lunch and had nothing else to eat. It has also been a way to initiate conversation with a student sitting alone at lunch or recess. (There's nothing like a granola bar or fruit snack to get a quiet kiddo to start talking.)

  My classroom is more than a space for teaching math. It is a safe space for students to ask for what they need. Sometimes that need is a snack or a full meal. Thanks to you, I've got the resources to help them.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Shiu

  This classroom project was brought to life by STAG Industrial and 2 other donors.

• A Strategic Calculation

  Funded May 8, 2023

  You are very generous and kind. Thank you for your donation of calculators to our 8th grade math classroom. I teach every 8th grade student in our school (4 classes) so this technology will be frequently used and will allow my students to focus on deeper, more abstract thinking because they won't be preoccupied with all of the calculations involved in a problem.

  As you can see from the photos, we have labeled each calculator and hung them up for easy access. (We recycled an old phone holder as our calculator organizer). All of this set up work was done by students who were excited when the giant box of calculators was delivered to our room.

  Thanks, again, for math class more meaningful and productive. We really appreciate your support.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Shiu

  This classroom project was brought to life by General Motors Corporation and one other donor.

• Fueling Student's Minds and Bodies

  Funded Jan 18, 2023

  You should have seen my students' faces when they saw the restocked snack pantry. Actually, you should have seen the faces on the volunteers who came up for lunch to open all of the boxes and organize the snacks into bins. They were thrilled. I've never seen 8th graders this excited about applesauce, trail mix, and pretzels.

  Of course, the ramen cups were the most useful. Students who came upstairs at lunch to make up missing work or get extra help appreciated not only something hot to eat, they loved the ramen cups and many have declared the kimchi flavored ramen their favorite. I have a couple of students who are Type 1 diabetics who made good use of the snack pantry when their blood sugar dropped in middle of class. I even got to send some snacks home with a student who didn't eat dinner until their parents came home late in the evening.

  As we are transitioning now to math lessons that are on more high school level in terms of content and skill, I anticipate more students needing more support. These healthy snacks will certainly helpful for students who are working extra hard through lunch time.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Shiu

  This classroom project was brought to life by A New York City Parent and one other donor.

• Fueling Student Minds and Bodies

  Funded Aug 9, 2022

  Hungry students from my school appreciate you! Thank you so much for the supplies and snacks to set up what I call a fueling up station (and my students call "the stash") in my classroom. We took some space in a bookcase to set up labeled bins of granola bars, fruit bars, fruit bowls, fruity snacks, and apple sauce squeezies in the back of my classroom for students to access when they need to.

  The food has fueled students rushing in late for school who haven't had a moment for a bite of food; students who skipped lunch to make up work or get extra help; and students who got to the cafeteria too late to get lunch and had nothing else to eat. It has also been a way to initiate conversation with a student sitting alone at lunch or recess. (There's nothing like a granola bar or fruit snack to get a quiet kiddo to start talking.)

  My classroom is more than a space for teaching math. It is a safe space for students to ask for what they need. Sometimes that need is a snack or a full meal. Thanks to you, I've got the resources to help them.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Shiu

  This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and one other donor.

• Tools + Inspiration + Motivation = Success

  Funded Aug 9, 2022

  It's amazing how big an impact small things can make in a classroom. Thank you for the grid sticky notes; grid white board magnets, and posters for inspiration, inclusion, and support. Not only were to tools super helpful in facilitating our learning and work; students were extra excited to use them so they were more engaged with the work than before!

  The day we broke out the sticky notes with grid lines on them, the kids went a bit crazy for them. Everyone wanted several to put in their notebooks. (Note: most of the kids have grid line notebooks, so this was not a necessity at that time. They just thought they were really cool.). We used them for a project we were working on which required a formal write up of students' findings, including a graph as one of several ways to analyze the problems they were working on.

  We're also seeing students using the informational posters we've hung up in the classroom. The best is hearing our students quote the inclusive and inspirational posters. "Yet" has become a battle cry in our classes. When one student says,"I can't do this," several classmates usually shout out, "Yet!" It's amazing what a sticky note or a poster can do.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Shiu

  This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and one other donor.

• Making Math Magical and Meaningful

  Funded Aug 9, 2022

  I cannot begin to explain how big an impact you have made on my students in math class! Thank you for the Teachers Pay Teachers gift cards. My teaching partner and I have used them to purchase some highly engaging materials that we adapt for use in our classroom.

  Students are loving the creative approaches to learning and reviewing the 8th grade math content (which, let's face it, isn't particularly engaging to most people outside of math teachers). We've adapted some resources into problems to be solved by groups working together and projects that students complete on their own.

  Students who traditionally struggle with focus and with math skills are so much more engaged because we use such a wide variety of resources. Thank you, again, for access to other teachers' great ideas. We love supporting our students and other teachers at the same time.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Shiu

  This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and one other donor.