Ms. Tom's Classroom Edit display name

Current requests

Past projects 11

• Biomedical Innovations

  Funded Dec 4, 2024

  Due to your kind donations, my students were able to develop a biomedical innovation. A group of students developed a thermoplastic arm cast that had holes in it, to create a more sturdy breathable arm cast. The skills they learned involved identifying how to use a heat gun appropriately, power drill to create the holes and designing a model using Tinkercad. Another group developed a digital otoscope that connected to an app so you are able to send images of an ear to a doctor without leaving your house. This helps to diagnose ear infections in young children. The last group developed a thermoregulated insulin pen to allow those who suffer from diabetes to travel without having to worry about their insulin spoiling.

  Your donation allowed my students to think critically and engage with the design process. The students encountered challenges which required them to problem solve and redesign their product. Student reflections included things like, "I didn't think it'd actually work but it did" or "I really was going to give up but I tried one more thing and I got it to work."

  Thank you again for your support!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Tom

  This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and one other donor.

• The Supply Spot

  Funded May 31, 2024

  Thank you so much for your generous donations in order for my students to have the necessary supplies when school started. Despite the fact that school just started, we have already dove into the new supplies to create flow charts for an ELISA lab and utilized our highlighter set to learn how to take annotated notes.

  The students were so happy to see brand new sets of colored pencils, crayons and markers for their use. In addition, students were super excited to utilize the resources and get to work right away. Students are eager to get to work and do more creative outside of the box projects.

  The details and color coding that students are able do with assignments is unmatched to the past and students are thoroughly enjoying using the supplies you donated. We really appreciate YOU!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Tom

  This classroom project was brought to life by Dalio Education and one other donor.

• Unifying Unified Sports

  Funded Feb 3, 2024

  Thank you for your donations. The supplies we were able to purchase made the students extremely happy. The parachute was a huge success and our new basketballs were 'amazingly bouncy' in the words of the kids. Through your donations we were able to order a variety of supplies, but basketball is our favorite sport. We now have our own basketball rack and basketballs which the students were super excited about. We could barely get them to stop!

  The students look forward to Unified Sports every week and even more so with new supplies. We plan to continue to build the numbers of Unified Sports and thanks to your donations, word of mouth is quickly spreading. I expect the numbers to grow for next year.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Tom

  This classroom project was brought to life by Connecticut State Department of Education.

• Terrarium of Organization

  Funded Jan 10, 2024

  Thank you for your donation. Because of your donation, students look forward to coming to class and interacting with our hermit crabs. When the students first noticed we had a new addition to the classroom they were very excited to observe and understand the caretaking directions. One student in particular, really needed the responsibility to care for them and their attendance and participation has improved.

  With the TpT gift card, we were able to find ecology activities that supported the newly added hermit crabs to our classroom. The label maker has provided an improvement of transitions with labels in English and Spanish students are able to locate supplies more quickly to decrease lost instructional time. I also use the labels to help the students label their own belongings and teach them organizational skills. Students are very pleased and take more pride in their work and education with neatly labeled folders, notebooks and pencil cases!

  Without your kindness we would still be trying to obtain supplies to increase engagement and learning in the classroom.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Tom

• Supplies for Success

  Funded Jun 22, 2023

  Thank you so much for your generous donations in order to supply my students with the basic learning necessities. Because of your donation, my students are equipped to learn with pencils, notebooks, folders, erasers, etc. The students were so excited to have these basic supplies that they were more actively participating in class from the first day of school!

  I am very fortunate to have great students who utilize both their laptops and practical learning tools such as their folders and pencils. This helps keep them organized and ready to work. This minimizes transition times of "finding" a piece of paper that was shoved in their backpack and/or misplaced all together. Students know where to find extra pencils and eraser caps they do not ask to use any materials anymore and know they can take what they need.

  Keeping my students engaged and excited to learn is a goal that you helped me with this year and I am forever grateful.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Tom

  This classroom project was brought to life by Dalio Education and one other donor.

• Ergonomics: Standing Tall for Instruction

  Funded Aug 9, 2022

  Thank you so much for your donations for this project! Students are very excited to use the standing desk in my classroom! They enjoy walking around the room with it to visit other groups and a special treat of sitting in the partnering chair. Students are not familiar with standing desks and/or its purpose so I reviewed with them the importance of posture and staying active by movement.

  Students have requested additional standing desks so I am going to try and create an additional Donors Choose for two more standing desks!

  Thank you so much!”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Tom

  This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Funder and 5 other donors.

• Becoming an Organizational Sensation

  Funded Dec 23, 2021

  Thanks to your generous donation, my students have thrived in becoming more organized in the classroom. Students were super excited to receive new supplies and wanted to use them as soon as possible! This excitement for supplies created an excitement for learning which I really cannot describe in words to you.

  The prioritizing template was not only colorful but a great lesson in time management and prioritizing the most important items first. Students were not familiar with prioritizing their to do list which I then realized caused a lot of disconnection with getting their school work done. I also realized, for some, school isn't the most important thing in their life and working to put food on the table is.

  Without this project, learning on both ends would not have taken place. Thank you so much for your generosity and kindness during this school year.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Tom

  This classroom project was brought to life by Fairfield Cty. Collaborative for Education Equity and 8 other donors.

• Aquaponics at Home! Raising Betas and Herbs Sustainably!

  Funded Apr 28, 2021

  Thank you to your generosity; my students have thrived with having a personal aquaponics tank in their homes. Students were super excited when I displayed a model of the aquaponics and so many students wanted the fish and aquaponics set up I had a waitlist.

  I was a little nervous that over the summer many of the fish would not survive, but at the beginning of the school year, so many of my former students came up to me and told me their fish is still doing well!

  Although students are not in my class anymore, the lessons they learned not only on sustainability but more importantly, personal responsibility and empathy (taking care of a living organism) will stay with them for a lifetime.

  Thank you again for all of your donations as they truly mean a lot to me and my students.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Tom

  This classroom project was brought to life by The RISE Network and 2 other donors.

• Raising Habits and Habitats for Success

  Funded Nov 18, 2020

  Thanks to your generous donations my students are thriving and looking forward to coming to school! Especially now, due to COVID students are bored and not as actively engaged in the classroom. The aquaponics system and river tank ecosystem are a huge success! We are still setting up the terrarium with the fiddler crabs! They were super excited to set up both tanks and that was probably one of the best teaching days I've had this year. Students were moving around going up and down the stairs (we have a Marine Biology room that has access to gravel, fish tank ready water and fish!), asking a lot of questions, and were away from the computer screen!

  Students are growing herbs and repotting them so they can take them home! With this activity, students learned that the fish fertilize the plants and it's possible to grow plants in water! Students also named the fish that are in the aquaponics system so they grew a bit more attached. While growing the herbs, students had to collect data: water temperature, plant growth, air temperature, observations, etc; so it became a real world science project which we haven't been able to do in so long! The river tank ecosystem is pretty awesome as well! The students observe the animals and animals in order to understand how they relate to each other. In addition, students are able to feed and interact with the fish in both tanks.

  Students are eager to learn, excited to come to my classroom, and most of all grateful for your donation which has brought them so much joy and will continue to do so.”

  With gratitude,

  Ms. Tom

  This classroom project was brought to life by The RISE Network and 9 other donors.