Ms. Bell's Classroom Edit display name

Current requests

Past projects 4

• Pens, Pencils, and Paper: Supplies to Build Classroom Structure

  Funded Dec 6, 2024

  From the students: Thank you so much for your donations. You helped us purchase the resources we need to be successful in our work. We are able to keep our work organized and we never have to leave the room to borrow a pencil or a pen. We keep our work in folders and our folders in bins on our desks. We are learning to be responsible for our own materials and we are also learning the importance of being able to find stuff when we want/need it.

  From Ms. Bell: This was not a big, splashy fund request. It asked for paper, pens, pencils, folders, etc. The students are using all of these things on a daily basis. They don't have to sit in class, not working because they do not have supplies. We have a surplus of everyday basic school supplies thanks to your generous donations. These things make both my and the students' work much easier.

  Thank you.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Bell

  This classroom project was brought to life by The Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation and 11 other donors.

• Community Collage Project

  Funded Mar 27, 2024

  Thank you all so much for funding our 9th grade Community Collage Project. The project's goal was to have the students connect to a text through a visual medium as opposed to just a written one. Students made a visual comparison off the neighborhood of Walter Dean Myers' 125th Street Stories to their own neighborhoods.

  While it was quite messy, the students had a great time with all of the cutting and pasting. As this was our end of the year project there are no next steps, but hopefully, the students will take what they have learned with them into the next school year.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Bell

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

• Promoting Calm and Focus Through Sensory Tools (and Organization)

  Funded Sep 20, 2023

  My students love, love, love coming into the classroom and having multiple seating options. They gravitate to the bean bag chairs. They grab an armchair pillow to lean against their regular chair. They toss a soft cushion to the floor to sit on, if they don't feel like sitting on a chair at all. However, their all time favorites are the weighted stuff animals. My younger students head straight for them at the beginning of the period and hold onto them all period long. Maybe they are not being used for their original purpose, but they make the students feel happy and safe, and I, for one, am ok with that.

  Since the organizational materials did not come at the beginning of the semester, I have been holding many of them in reserve for the next semester. I anticipate using them to help my students with special needs organize their notebooks and folders. (Having not taught freshman for several years, I had forgotten how much they need to learn in the realm of organization.) Every year is a learning process, and I will, I hope, set the students up to be organized in a way that they can remember and take with them for future years. However, we could do none of this without your help.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Bell

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 8 other donors.

• Flexible Seating for All!

  Funded Aug 29, 2022

  Once again, I would like to thank you for donating to my class. The first day I set it up, there were gasps, and "oohs and ahhhs". Students couldn't stop running their hands over the textiles I chose for the pillows. They love balancing on the yoga balls and bouncing on them. Not only do my students love their new flexible seating, but other students from other English classes wish that their teacher had done something like this. I even have former students on social media asking why I did not have this set up for them. The new seating arrangement has also been a big hit with my administration. My principal is a big proponent of warm and inviting classroom spaces, and now thanks to you, mine is more so than ever before.

  This year, I have four classes. In my largest classes, I have created a rotating schedule for every day of the week. Students love to come in and flop down on the carpet with a pillow or back rest behind them. Others love to sit on the yoga balls and bounce, no matter how many time I ask them not to. (It's very distracting in my peripheral vision.) Students who like to work in their laps can grab a lap desk to ensure that their laptop is more secure. In my smallest class, we all sometimes gather in the reading area and read our current text together. It feels cozy and intimate and no one feels put on the spot, as can happen in a very small class.

  Although my flexible seating is small and limited right now, I think it shows my students that I really think about them. I think about their comfort when they are working. I think about the fact that not everyone learns best sitting in a chair. I even have stands for those students who think best standing up. Over time, I hope to build on my flexible seating until every student can find a comfortable way to learn in my classes. Thank you all for being a part of my students' learning journey.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Bell