Past projects 10
Listen Up, Children and You Will Hear...
Funded Dec 1, 2020Thank you so much for contributing to my class project for computer earbuds with a built-in microphone. We've had to shift gears quite a bit to adjust to the demands of remote learning in my District. The earbuds have helped students focus by blocking out some of the background noise in their busy households while keeping them engaged and communicating in class. It's a simple technology that many of us take for granted, but has found a renewed appreciation during these challenging times.
I was lucky to receive the earbuds just before the December vacation break. Over that time, I was able to deliver the earbuds to students' homes along with a notebook and coordinating pencil. Although everything in the delivery was intended for school purposes, I can't help but think that this delivery had the additional halo effect of making students' holidays just a little bit brighter in these difficult times. Here's to hoping that spirit continues through the rest of the school year!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. West
This classroom project was brought to life by FamilyAlbum and 4 other donors.Help my Students' Brains "Pop" With Knowledge!
Funded Nov 21, 2019Thank you so much for your support of my classroom. Students were so excited to gain access to BrainPop and BrainPOP ESL. It has been wonderful to see them harnessing the power of technology and video while they learn and have fun with the main characters in the videos, Tim and Moby.
One of the advantages of having access to both programs, BrainPop and BrainPop ESL, is that it helps my students make progress with their English language proficiency along a continuum. BrainPop ESL covers some of the more basic grammar concepts that are necessary for more complex learning to happen. For students to express their knowledge with content area reading and literature concepts, such as figurative language, the BrainPop program covers that information. As my students are intermediate to advanced language learners, both programs allow them to proceed along path toward success in mainstream classrooms in the future.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for funding this project. It would not have possible otherwise.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. West
School Talent Show and ESL Class Books
Funded Mar 2, 2016The three items funded in this project had a wonderfully positive impact on my students in the following ways:
We have had an end of the year talent show for the past four years of school. I volunteer my time after school, along with three other teachers, to audition and practice with students. One of the items we were always lacking were good, working microphones, but not this year! Because we had two dedicated microphones for practices and the final performance, students were able to perform clearly and with confidence.
The headphones allowed all of my students to be able to listen to a book on tape I created to go along with a text we were reading as a class. Because the text was slightly above the reading level of some of my students, being able to listen to the recording of my voice reading as they followed along in their text helped them with their reading comprehension. As a result, they were able to get more enjoyment and knowledge from the text.
Copies of the text, A Long Walk to Water, allowed each of my students to have their own copy. This text is connected to real-world issues and is filled with extraordinary challenges in the lives of two people around my students' age. Having enough copies for everyone ensured that they were able to continue the momentum of the text from class to their home when they took the book home and read on their own. I am hopeful this simple act will make them confident, independent learners.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. West
Keep Projecting Progress
Funded Sep 22, 2015Words alone can't describe what your donation means to my classroom. When we got a projector a few years ago through a Donors Choose project, I thought that was the pinnacle of what I could do for my classes. It truly changed how my students interacted with classroom topics and presented their projects and content knowledge. I thought it was all over when the projector lamp started to flicker and grow fainter. Thankfully today, it is not because of your donation for a new lamp for our classroom projector.
Thanks to you, students will continue to get excited when they can "be the teacher" and present their work to the class and when I can project multimedia activities, agendas and movies to further their classroom learning. We are reminded of your generosity daily.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. West
Vocabulary and Spelling Development for ELLs
Funded May 23, 2013Thank you so much for your support of my classroom. Students were thrilled to get their very own accounts to Vocabulary and Spelling City. It has been terrific to see them learning and having fun at the same time.
Their first spelling/vocabulary list was a group of 15 words that my students consistently misspell in their essays. They attacked this list of mistakes with such eagerness. One student finished all of the activities for this list (seven) in two days and passed both the spelling and vocabulary tests with flying colors! I can only imagine that using Vocabulary and Spelling City in my classroom will translate into my students' greater word awareness and recognition when reading and fewer spelling errors when writing.
Thank you for helping to fund this project and making it a reality.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. West
Books And Supplies
Funded Oct 18, 2013Once I started using interactive notebooks this year, I realized how quickly we could fill up our notebooks! This made me think about how the notebooks could be stored. There was only one possibility: Three-ring binders.
The three ring binders have been incredibly helpful to organize student work in their interactive notebooks and work from their writing folders. In addition, my district requires that we keep student writing for the whole school year. I use folders to store student work throughout the term, but then hole punch their work at the end of the term and store it in these binders. With the students whom I've taught for two or more years, their binder has become a place where we can trace their progress as a writer over their middle school career. Students enjoy looking seeing how far they've come in developing their writing. They also are able to review old mistakes so that they may get beyond trouble areas that have been holding them back.
I will look forward to using them for years to come!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. West
This classroom project was brought to life by Quill.com and 3 other donors.Books and Content Notebooking Supplies
Funded Sep 25, 2013My students are thrilled to have a new textbook, The InterActive Reader, for the classroom. They are engaged in the stories that range from short stories, informational texts, poems and plays. This particular textbook scaffolds the reading so that the message of the text is not lost on my English Language Learners.
Not only are there enough copies of the textbook for each of my students, which wasn't possible before, it has also reduced the photocopying I need to do. The time and paper savings is reinvested back into my planning time and has the halo effect of saving the environment.
Thank you so much for making this project a reality. My students and I thank you and will be appreciative for years to come.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. West
Interactive Notebooks Starter Kit
Funded Jul 3, 2013My classroom has shifted from working in textbooks, photocopies and workbooks, to students creating their own textbook in the form of their interactive notebooks. Each day, they eagerly get their spiral notebooks waiting for them on their class shelf. When I take out the box of Elmer's Glue Sticks, they get excited about what we'll be working on in our notebooks and learning in class that day.
The interactive notebooks has provided students with a place to keep and refer to the material they learn. No longer do they go rifling through their binders to check for yesterday's notes. They create foldables and illustrations of reading, writing and vocabulary concepts. While students learn content, they also develop their study skills as I use the notebooks for regular open notebook quizzes.
I know I've only scratched the surface of what the interactive notebooks can be. I constantly look for ways to make the interactive notebooks, and student learning and engagement, more meaningful. This project has enabled me to start that journey.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. West
Document Camera for ESL classroom
Funded Sep 9, 2012Thank you for donating to my classroom project! We've been using the document camera for a number of months now. Though we have just scratched the surface of its uses, it has given me a platform for which to demonstrate how to approach assignments and given the students an opportunity to show off their work to the whole class.
In the future, I plan to use the camera's snapshot ability to take photos of student work to create a repository of models to show future classes of ESL students. These models will help students more clearly visualize the "final product" when working on assignments.
It's generosity like yours that makes it possible for me to bring innovation and interaction into my classroom. Please accept my (and my students') deepest thanks.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. West
Projecting Progress
Funded Dec 10, 2011At first what amazed me was the short time in which my project was funded. Now, I am just as amazed at what my students and I have been able to do since receiving the projector.
Having this projector has had an immediate impact on my students. They created academic vocabulary presentations on PowerPoint and presented them orally to the class. Students chose visuals for each vocabulary word they presented, which helped their fellow classmates better understand the words. I've been able to show videos to and share other media with the class. We project onto a white board and this has allowed us to use the projector to mimic an interactive smart board so we can work collaboratively on assignments. Soon, students will be doing a research project in which their findings will be brought to life for the class via our very own projector.
As a bonus, I am now able to walk into class and immediately project the day's objectives and agenda along with very visual teaching materials. This has allowed me to focus the majority of our class time on instruction. Thank you donors and Donors Choose for making it possible. ”
With gratitude,
Mrs. West