Past projects 16
Nourishing Our Hearts and Bellies
Funded Jul 15, 2021Thank you so much for supporting our project. You helped show students that it is important to take care of our physical, mental, and emotional health. The year of virtual learning was challenging and impacted students' mental and emotional health. Transitioning back to in-person learning has posed challenges as well. Students have had to pivot quickly and get used to being back in class. Thankfully, we have our kinship class to recenter ourselves and decompress.
In our kinship class, we have been able to take the time to focus on our mental and emotional health. We have regular circle time and we practice mindfulness together. Wednesdays have become "Wellness Wednesdays" where we often take time to destress. Students really enjoy when we have time to eat snacks, read poetry, or color. Many students took the poetry books by Rupi Kaur home and shared poems with their friends because they felt like they could relate to her words.
These might seem like small activities, but it is small practices like these that add to students' "toolbox" of strategies that they can use for self and collective care. Thank you so much for your generous donation.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Liza
This classroom project was brought to life by Born This Way Foundation and 3 other donors.Mindfulness On Our Mats
Funded Feb 26, 2021My students were so excited to receive their own personal yoga mats. A lot of students were surprised that the mats were theirs to keep and that they were able to take their yoga mats home!
When we were still in virtual learning, I would lead us in some breathing and movement exercises on Wednesdays, which we started calling "Wellness Wednesdays". Now, that we are back for in person learning, we practice breathing, mindfulness, and movement together. The practice that students said they find very relaxing is when we do a body scan or when we listen to music while taking deep inhalations and exhalations.
It has definitely been a process of learning to practice these exercises together. There were lots of giggles at first. We are learning to trust one another and learning to be comfortable in our own bodies. I am most thankful to hear that several students also shared that they use some of the breathing strategies outside of our class.
Our next step is that a few of my kinship students and I are hoping that we will be able to start a once a week lunch time or after school yoga class for the rest of the students at our school. We are excited to see how this helps our students be present, learn, and grow.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Liza
This classroom project was brought to life by Allstate Foundation and 2 other donors.Be The Change With Breathe 4 Change
Funded Feb 18, 2021My training with Breathe 4 Change is halfway complete. This weekend is our fifth training weekend and it will be my first "test" where I, along with three educators, teach a community yoga class. I will be leading the opening of the class to help us settle in and then, I will lead our class through some simple movements to help us warm up our bodies. The focus of our class is self-compassion. Compassion is something we often extend towards people around us, but sometimes, it can be challenging to give ourselves the same grace. This is an important lesson for me because I can sometimes be very hard on myself and push myself beyond what is really healthy or necessary. I'm learning to be more gentle with myself.
I have been able to share what I learn with my students, especially my kinship students, whom I see twice a day, every day. I was able to teach my kinship students a few breathing exercises and yoga movements that they can also do in their seats throughout the day while they are working on their computers since we are still virtual. Even the students that are hybrid are here on campus, but we are all working on our computers. Since they are in one class all day, there is very little movement. Throughout the school day, I have us just stop what we are doing, so we can take a break to do some collective breathing. This sometimes looks like just taking three collective breaths together and other times, I will have us do a guided meditation or some mindful-heartful movement. Through another Donors Choose project, I was able to get yoga mats for all of my kinship students, so they always know they can come to their mats to relax.
I am currently preparing a community wellness class as a way to culminate our school year. Students and teachers will be invited. The focus is on gratitude and how we can send love and gratitude to ourselves and all the people who have supported us along the way. I will be thinking of you because you are some of the people who have supported me and my students. I appreciate your generosity and all of your encouragement. Know that your contribution is a seed that I will continue to water and feed, so that it may grow.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Liza
Understanding Justice
Funded Nov 23, 2020Thank you so much for your generous donation. This project has allowed my students to take a critical look at our justice system. Since we have been distance learning, the project took much longer than I anticipated because I had to figure out a way to distribute books to all of my students. Some students came to campus to pick up their books and I mailed books to my students to students who were unable to drop by.
While students read the text independently at home, in class we learned about the history, context, and impact of the 13th Amendment and also watched Ava DuVernay's documentary, 13th. We studied the policies that have led to the rise of mass incarceration and we examined the current statistics that show the huge racial disparities in the U.S. prison system.
Students were able to write letters of concern about mass incarceration in the United States and the criminalization of BIPOC communities, especially youth. Next Tuesday, we are hosting a movie night to watch the film, Just Mercy, for our entire school. It was initially only going to be for the students that read the book, but they wanted to extend the invitation to our whole community because they felt that more students need to know what is going on. Thank you so much for believing in me, my students, and our project. Our mascot is the change agent and I truly believe you are supporting our students to become change agents in our communities.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Liza
This classroom project was brought to life by Allstate Foundation and one other donor.A Library That Looks Like Us
Funded Oct 4, 2019Thank you for helping to create "A Library That Looks Like Us". Because you have helped me to build my classroom library and provide more books by authors of color and about young people of color, especially from Black and Latinx communities, my students are reading on their own so much more. When we received the books, I gave "book talks" about the books to "hook" students into some of the stories. I shared some of the plots, character background, and reasons why people have recommended the books. I also shared about the different genres and authors.
All students are in a reading intervention period, so they have about 50 minutes three days a week to read a book of their choice. There is time for silent sustained reading during that period. I also encourage students to read their choice book whenever they get a chance, even if that is for five minutes when they are waiting at the bus stop.
Even if my students are not in my intervention period, I encourage them to check out books from our classroom library. When students finish a book, I have them write a synopsis and recommendation about the book they just read. My students who were once reluctant to pick up books are especially enjoying the new books because they can relate to the stories and characters in our new library much more!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Liza
This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron Fuel Your School.Future City Cartography Project: Mapping Our Communities
Funded Aug 13, 2019Our students were able to learn about what makes a city a sustainable and healthy place to live, then they designed their own 3-D models based on what they learned. They used atlases and computers to conduct research about different cities around the world. They examined each city for specific criteria like transportation, safety, and environmental concerns. They also learned about how different cities are designed to address problems like overcrowding, pollution, and affordable housing.
Literacy looks so many different ways in our classroom. Sometimes, reading looks like exploring maps and landscapes. At times, reading can be examining charts and graphs to see at the changing demographics of cities due to environmental racism and gentrification. We also read and analyzed many articles using a reading protocol that that helps students use a step-by-step process for reading new texts.
The students who are kinesthetic and visual learners are especially enjoying this unit because the project is very tactile and requires them to first imagine what spaces look like, then build them to scale. Several students have expressed interest in architecture, engineering, and city planning, so they are getting a little taste of these fields through this project.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Liza
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 4 other donors.Borders, Boundaries, and Liminal Spaces: A Project on Immigration
Funded Oct 29, 2018Thank you so much for your generous donation of a full class set of Valeria Luiselli's Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions. Before we started reading the book, I placed photos around the room of different walls and borders from around the world to see what ideas and feelings these images brought up for students. We also discussed the denotation and connotations of words like "alien" and "illegal" and compared them to words like "refugee" and "migrant". By examining these words, students started to think about how the labels we place on people impact how the people that are labeled are perceived and treated by others. Students read and annotated each chapter of Tell Me How It Ends, took detailed rhetorical reading notes, then we would discuss each chapter as a class. We would also have discussions in smaller groups to ensure that all students had a chance to participate and contribute their ideas.
Students used the evidence they found in the text to argue the impact of border policies and propose solutions to the current immigration policies. They brainstormed possible central ideas that were shared by the texts, created detailed outlines/cognitive maps, wrote multiple drafts, and gave feedback to their peers. After several revisions, students turned in their final drafts to be published and posted on one of the public bulletin boards in the hallway outside of our classroom. Students were proud to see their work displayed for the rest of our community to see. They wanted our community to learn from their essays.
At the very end of the unit, after writing their argumentative essays, students were so engaged that we extended the unit and worked in groups to conduct research inspired by Tell Me How It Ends. One of the photos captures how one student was able to use the text as evidence for his claims in his presentation. Students presented on topics like Refugee Status and Asylum, The Migrant Caravan, Unaccompanied Minors, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), U.S Intervention in Latin America as the roots of migration, and Mexico as the Gatekeeper of U.S. Immigration. We also learned that the 7th graders at our school were also reading a grade level text about immigration, so we partnered with their classes to discuss the ideas we learned during our units.
With your donation, we were able to engage in a rich, culturally relevant and response educational experience. My students were able to develop nuanced arguments because they were able to to read multiple complex texts like Tell Me How It Ends. One of my students said, "I wish we always learned about topics like this that connect to our lives". Thank you so much for this opportunity. I am looking forward to reading Tell Me How It Ends with my future classes.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Liza