Ms. Cosimano's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 28

• Aprons for Students with Autism

  Funded Aug 23, 2017

  When I told the kids that they were painting today, they were pretty excited. When they realized that they were each going to put on aprons, they were ecstatic. There is a freedom in feeling protected. Thank you so much for helping me to get aprons for all of my students. We used them for the first time today with one of my older classes. We started the first phase of a multi-media project, which meant that the students had to do splatter painting to create a background for their eventual self-portraits. This is a project that I never would have considered doing without aprons. It's really nice to know that I can let the kids get messy, but that their clothes are protects.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cosimano

• Drying Rack for Young Artists with Autism

  Funded Aug 11, 2017

  Thank you again for your generous donations! We did our first painting project today. In previous years when students have used paint they had to work on really small paper and the work was left to dry on the radiator. Having the drying rack made such a huge difference. To begin with I was able to move the drying rack right into the classroom thanks to the fact that it is on wheels, which as a traveling art teacher is awesome. When I demonstrated how the drying rack worked to my students they were really excited. Not only could we use much larger paper than they have ever used before, but their work dried flat and was kept safe as I whisked it down the hall to my supply closet. It's wonderful to feel like I have a fully functioning art room as I travel from classroom to classroom.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cosimano

• Building Blocks of Architecture for Students with Autism

  Funded Sep 18, 2017

  Thank you for supporting my project. We started using the blocks and duplos this week. So far we have been using the blocks and duplos to create stations in the pre-k/k classes. Two students get to go to each station where they are able to explore the specific building material for 10 minutes or so before rotating to the next station. Working this way has really improved the classroom environment. The 10 minute increment is just long enough to let my budding artists and architects explore, but not so long that they get bored.

  It has also been great because in the third station students are able to explore more traditional art materials like crayons and colored pencils. As they become more accustomed to the process, I will be able to incorporate unfamiliar and messier materials such as paints and printmaking.

  Thank you again for your generous donations.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cosimano

  This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Donor and 2 other donors.

• Mobile Art Room for Students with Autism

  Funded Jul 28, 2017

  Thank you so much for donating to this project to get me a better art cart. It arrived last week and I could barely contain my excitement while putting it together and organizing.

  I rolled into the first classroom this Monday, with my supplies all organized and signs hung up about the art studio rules. Every class that I have walked into, all of the kids are so excited by the new cart. They love how colorful it is and that have access to so many materials. Many of them have made exclamations of "New Art Cart!!!" when I have walked in their rooms, which considering that more than half of our students are minimally verbal or non-verbal, says a lot about how excited they are by the new cart.

  Having this amazing cart has made a world of difference in my ability to teach art to our students. Traveling from room to room is no picnic, but now I feel like I have an art studio on wheels. I have places to keep all of the things handy that I need as a special education visual arts teacher. I was able to make a sign to name the cart, hang my art standards, I have my artist rules hung up on the cart and I can keep my materials and student's work organized as I roll from room to room. I feel so organized and it really changes the atmosphere of the classrooms as I walk in.

  I'm really excited to see where this year goes. The kids are already making a lot of really great work. We've even created an instagram account to show off some of their work @artspectra.

  Thank you again for helping to make my dream a reality!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cosimano

• Help My Room Feel More Welcoming For My Autistic Students.

  Funded Sep 23, 2016

  The materials have made such a difference in the classroom. The new table allows everyone to sit together and learn together for whole group instruction. The table has also made the room feel much bigger because it takes up so much less space then their old desks, we have since added a carpet to make a small reading/leisure area for the students. We also have enough space to have three desks throughout the room to use for workstations, which are helping to foster independence. The pocket seat covers have given the students a way to claim their chairs and provide a convenient place for them to keep their communication books/devices which continues to increase student to student interactions on a daily basis.

  When the supplies arrived, it was towards the end of the day, and my students watched nervously as I tossed their desks in the hallway before putting anything together. The next day I came to school early and had everything all set up before they walked in the room. Their faces lit up when they saw the new table and their seat pockets with their names on them. Once they all sat down they were all smiles. At the end of the day, when they were getting their snacks, one of them said, "Ms. Sarah there is so much room we could have a dance party." So I put on some music and we danced, an event that has now become an almost daily part of our routine.

  Thank you again for donating to my latest project. It has truly changed the way I am able to work with my students and I look forward to seeing how it continues to improve our classroom.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cosimano

• Buy My Autistic Students A Robot

  Funded Apr 5, 2016

  Thank you so much for your generous donations. Getting the Dash and Dot Wonder Works Kit has been an amazing addition to my classroom. From the moment that I first brought them out of the box and into the classroom the kids were so excited about them. The design of the robots is very bright and colorful, which make them very enticing even to my students who normally don't show that much interest in technology.

  I think the fact that Dash and Dot respond to you from the moment that you turn the power button on has made them really fun to work with. They are programmed to respond to things in the environment, such as if you pick up Dot while she is on, the robot will say "I love it when you hold me," which makes most of my students giggle and then move Dot around to see what else she might say to them.

  Both robots have a handful of free iPad apps that allow my students to control the robots in a variety of ways. I have been able to break my classes up into small groups and have them working on different projects at the same time using a couple of iPads to control the two robots. The first day that one of my older classes was working with both robots, one of the students changed which robot he was controlling on his iPad to Dot and then programmed her to say new things while another student was holding Dot. The students couldn't stop giggling about his little practical joke.

  We have just begun to explore all of the things that Dash and Dot can do. I can't wait to see what kind of projects we might be able to come up with in the future.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cosimano

  This classroom project was brought to life by Infosys Foundation USA and 5 other donors.

• Coding for Students with Autism

  Funded Dec 12, 2015

  My students were very excited with all of the new things that we got for the classroom. They especially like having a timer and having the LEGOs be extremely organized. My students have become really efficient builders. The timer helps keep us on track and they love know exactly how much time we have left to work in the period. The organization bins make it really easy for the students to find where things are located and the engineer is able to give very specific directions of what parts we need using our iPad in the new iPad cover.

  My students were pretty excited when they saw the new supplies and wanted to know right away where the materials came from. I was able to tell them about how people generously gave money to our class to help make out classroom even better.

  We are just finishing up a LEGO project called the Hungry Alligator. The students built an alligator out of LEGOs with a moving jaw and wrote a program for it so that the jaw closes when you put something in it's mouth. The jaw uses pulley system and a motion sensor. We are currently making short films about what alligators eat (student made and produced) with our classroom iPad.

  We look forward to continuing to explore what we can do with our LEGOs.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cosimano

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

• Headphones to Help Autistic Students with Noise Sensitivity

  Funded Dec 10, 2015

  I started using the headphones with my students as soon as all of the headphones arrived. My students are very excited to be using them and love that they are so colorful. They have made a huge impact in my classroom! It's like walking into a different environment.

  Before the headphones, anytime I gave free computer time as a reward, my classroom would feel extremely chaotic. Every student would have a different program running on their computer and with up to 12 computers going at once, it could get incredibly loud in my lab.

  Now that students are able to use headphones when they have individual computer time, it has become a very pleasant experience. My students love it because they are able to hear the program that they are actually working with, without the interference of noise from another students' computer. They are more focused on what they are doing because they are not distracted by all of the noise from other computers. My students really enjoy using the headphones and being able to control their own volume.

  I love that the headphones have a volume max setting so I don't have to worry about them damaging their ears. The headphones also make it so that I can have multiple things going at once in the lab without it getting too loud. I am able to have some kids working on spelling with the OSMO, I can have a LEGO station and students can be on the computers. Students who are not on the computers are able to work collaboratively because they can talk to each other without having to shout. It's wonderful!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cosimano

  This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 3 other donors.

• Robotics Supplies for Students on the Autism Spectrum

  Funded Sep 16, 2015

  My students are so excited to work with the LEGOs. I have one student that every time I see him, he asks me when we will get to work with the LEGOs next. I also see two of my older classes for lunch coverage and now that we have the LEGOs they often opt to get extra time with the LEGOs rather than have free time on the computers. So far we have completed one project, where the students built a machine with two bird that moved using a pulley system. The students experimented and predicted how the movement of the birds would change based on twisting the belt or changing the size of one of the wheels in the pulley system. It was incredible to then hear them explain to me and other teachers how pulleys work and why the birds moved the way that they did.

  Each class has established routines. A few students move a table that becomes our work station, while I get the LEGOs out of my closet, a student passes out the day's job assignments (engineer, supplier, builder, project manager, programmer and integrator) and I open our software. We have found that it takes a while for us to complete a project, usually a period to explore the concepts that that project will involve, then it takes two to three periods to build the project and at least one period is spent testing and tweaking the project to make sure that all of the students understand the concept.

  The LEGO kits are amazing because they involve so many aspects of STEM. When I have my student engineer read the plans to us and tell the student supplier what parts are needed, the students has to be very specific, referring to blocks as 2x6, which introduces the idea of arrays and multiplication. They are having to interpret drawings and make their model look like what they see on the smartboard. They're working together to build each project and as a result building their communication skills. The students are making predictions about how things will work, measuring to determine if they were right and making small adjustments to get better results. The projects themselves are teaching them about technology. Through building and coding the kids are getting to explore things like pulleys, gears and motion sensors in a very hands on way. It's exciting to see them learning so much and to see them eager to learn new things. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year will bring.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Cosimano