Past projects 3
Tumbling Mats, Tumbling Blocks, Oh My What Fun!
Funded Sep 18, 2024Let me start by apologizing for the major delay in this thank you note. Now lets get to the good news! Thank you so much for donating to my classroom project and allowing us to add to our equipment inventory for our gymnastics unit and another excellent game to practice underhand throwing, cooperation, and teamwork! We used our new gymnastics mats not only to allow for more independent practice during our gymnastics unit, but those mats also make great barriers for modified games of volleyball and other games we play in class as well. Specifically a student came up to me and said "I'm so glad that we have these extra mats, now I don't have to spend so much time waiting and I can get more practice!"
The students were so excited to see the new materials and were also very curious to see how a bunch of wooden blocks would make for such a competitive gaming experience. some hard lessons were learned when the block doesn't tumble your way, however the students enjoyed trying a different game to practice a skill that most students aren't too excited about practicing.
My next steps is to see where we are lacking in the areas of having AGE APPROPRIATE equipment. When I first arrived to my school, I was shocked at not only how little we had, but even some of the equipment that we did have would be much more serviceable to middle school or even high school aged children. Over the years with the amazing donations, we have now started to build an excellent elementary appropriate equipment room with plenty of new things for students to try in order to promote a healthy, active lifestyle. For this, I cannot thank everyone enough and will continue to give my thanks by pouring every ounce that I have to provide the education that my students deserve.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Galloway
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community & an Anonymous Partner and 8 other donors.Fun-Filled Fitness!
Funded Aug 30, 2022Thank you SO much for your generous contributions to my most recent classroom project. My Fun-Filled-Fitness project is now able to move forward and start helping children understand just how active they are during short bouts of physical activity throughout the day. My kids were both intrigued and excited to see our new pedometers, scooters, and noodle/hoops bases. These items will help our kids get a chance to explore different variations of activities that were once hard to envision. We again are so excited.
My students first got a glimpse of the pedometers at my in-school enrichment program that involves a lot of running. Before the pedometers, we would count our laps to go towards our lap goals for the semester. Unfortunately some students wouldn't be able to tell me how many laps they ran because of how much fun they were having. Now with the pedometers, the students have a more specific number that is tracked for them. It is really exciting to see the students check their pedometers to see how many steps they've taken, and then immediately get to moving again so they can see how much higher they can get. Motivation is literally now intrinsic, which is what I strive for when my kids are in Health and P.E.
My students are also super excited for the noodle/hoop bases because now the noodles can stand up and act as defenders when we are working on soccer dribbling or basketball dribbling. It is fun to see them almost interact with the noodles as if they are real defenders. We also used the scooters and noodle bases to set up a miniature version of the cardiovascular system in which students would roll on the scooters to collect oxygen and drop it off to different muscle groups. It was very fun to see the students grasp the concept of why it is important for blood to always flow through the body.
We at Westover thank you all so much and I can't wait to get another project started!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Galloway
Tumbling Towards Terrific Teamwork!
Funded Oct 22, 2016I can't begin to express my gratitude for what you have given my students this year and many years to come. The mats that I was able to purchase have done wonders in my class to promote movement and gain more repetitions in multiple classes for my students. As I stated in my request and I will state again, my students now have more chances to practice their skills in smaller groups during our gymnastics unit. Students now won't have the added and unnecessary pressure of having to perform something in front of seven other students waiting in line. You have now created a much more easygoing physical education experience for my students.
We also plan to use these mats for many other activities in the future. One way that we have already started to making progress towards is yoga. My students can now use these mats as a base for when we are performing yoga for warmups in class. As you can also see in the pictures provided, we also use the mats when we are practicing or administering the physical fitness tests such as the curlups. With additional mats, we can perform the tests without taking up an entire class. Now the curl-up test can be done in fifteen minutes rather than 45.
My students couldn't have been more surprised when the mats first arrived. As they stayed in packing material for a while the students continued to ponder as to what the package was and if they would be able to use it right away. Once I revealed the mats to the students, they completely lost control (in a good way). The joy on their faces as they were splitting into tumbling groups was almost too much to take in. They look forward to any chance we get to bring them out and work on any skill that involves the mats. We here at Westover can't express our gratitude enough, however we will guarantee that your contribution will be everlasting.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Galloway