Past projects 7
Cricut in the STEAM Lab
Funded Nov 1, 2023Thank you again for your support of my STEAM lab. Getting to work with all the students in the building, PreKindergarten through 5th grade gives me the opportunity to impact each student. I am trying to build up all our learners as deep thinkers and problem solvers through the work in the STEAM lab. These are lifelong skills that will impact all our learners.
Having the Cricut in the lab has given some of our students the opportunity to design and create. They have been able to think through layering and different design elements that are important to produce a strong final product. Not only has the Cricut provided an opportunity to engage learners, it has been utilized by the adult faculty! It has been used to foster community and connection, while encouraging creativity. It has been a source of fun and learning for the teachers as well.
There has been so much excitement from having a Cricut in the building that is available to everyone at our school. Thank you for making that possible!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Thai-Pappa
Better Than Dry Erase Boards
Funded Nov 29, 2022Thank you so much for your support with this project for writing tablets for my students. These tablets are used multiple times a day. The novelty of using the tablets instead of a white board is still so fun for my learners and they feel like such important people getting to use them.
Being able to use these boards instead of white boards has eliminated many issues in my classroom already. There is a lot less waste and mess as we do not need to use tissues or erasers to clean off the writing, but merely need to press a button on the tablet. Then there is the issue of how dry erase markers stain clothing and was often a concern with my learners that I would have to warn them about. This is no longer a problem. We also no longer have regular complaints of markers that have dried out and need replacement. This issue would take away learning time and was also using up resources.
Thank you so much for helping make our classroom more functional and ecofriendly.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Thai-Pappa
This classroom project was brought to life by an Anonymous Classroom Supporter and 3 other donors.Creativity Through Keva Planks and Engineering
Funded Aug 2, 2022Thank you so much for our Keva Planks! They have been a true favorite in our third grade classroom. Getting so many keva planks, as well as the materials to organize them for accessibility has been such a gift to our learning. My students have been able to use the planks to expand their creativity with builds they self generate. We have also been able to use the planks to do guided tasks to improved communication and collaboration. Additionally, the students always use the Keva planks to build during indoor recess time. We plan to use the planks in future STEAM directed activities. Thank you again for these tools to help my third graders work on their creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Thai-Pappa
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Funder and 7 other donors.TPT for the Hybrid Win!
Funded Aug 12, 2021Thank you for supporting my project! This pandemic has thrown us into years of uncertainty and constant adaptation. As an educator, I have found myself having to pivot and turn more often to address the needs of me students in whichever way I am able to reach them. Technology has become a huge piece of that, especially as we were virtual for so long. The resources we use to facilitate learning have also shifted to a lot more online and digital things.
The project gifted me with a $100 gift card to Teachers Pay Teachers. I was able to use that money to quickly acquire new resources. Most of these resources have been PowerPoints or google slides that allow my students to access math, reading, and writing practice that is engaging and digital. I have been able to keep my students motivated with their work and to practice key skills.
What my students have enjoyed most about the products I have been able to purchase are that they are interactive and provide immediate feedback. I've also been able to buy products that allowed my students to explore their creativity and unlocking that during this constant change was a win!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Thai-Pappa
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 4 other donors.Resources for Hybrid Learning
Funded Jan 3, 2021Thank you so much for supporting my hybrid project. We were able to get so many needed supplies to support my students as we were moving back into the building. The pencil pouches have been so valuable in allowing my kids to have a way to move the supplies they need back and forth. With covid, it makes it impossible for us to share materials. This is true when the kids go to specials like Art, Library, Guidance, etc. My students love their cute pouches to bring their supplies around. The pouches are also much better than the pencil boxes because with the kids carrying it around they drop their supplies often. The box opens and spills the supplies everywhere, but the pouches hold everything secure.
The headphones have been extremely valuable! The kids have to be able to use their device in the classroom and many of my students do not have headphones. If I did not have the headphones then my students would not be able to complete their assignments or get valuable practice of math and reading skills.
This project brought in so many supplies and each of them are being used to facilitate the learning in my classroom. Thank you so much!!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Thai-Pappa
STEAM-Based Books!
Funded May 5, 2020Thank you so much for contributing to my project and helping to make it happen! Originally, I asked for these books to help build a STEAM mentality and encourage my students to reach out into what might be uncomfortable for them at first. Unfortunately, due to our current pandemic, I was not able to utilize these books to their fullest potential. Instead, we have been reading them and talking about how the message of each story can resonate in our own lives.
The stories that are shared through these books have carried messages like "working together creates beautiful results" and "everyone is unique but plays an important role". They are uplifting and demonstrate a growth mindset. We have been able to talk about how this kind of mindset is so important in all things, but even more so now as we are learning virtually. The kids love hearing the stories! They ask for them regularly.
One fun follow up activity we did was to draw our own scribble people after reading "I'm NOT just a scribble". The kids had so much fun making their own scribbles, naming them and sharing them with each other. They always ask if they can draw or create something after each story now! I love how they are defaulting to creating something following a story.
Thank you so much for the role you played in building strong messages, creative mindsets, and a sense of community in my class!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Thai-Pappa
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 4 other donors.Hands-on Tools for Future CODERS!
Funded Sep 30, 2018Coding has become an actual learning standard in our state. The students are expected to begin to learn the thinking behind coding. Although this has become an official standard, not all students have access to the materials to help them grasp the idea in a concrete way. Our students have been so lucky to have these hands on robots to facilitate their understanding!
We share the robots as an entire grade level, so we have about 130 second graders that have benefited from this project. Furthermore, our STEAM coach and gifted teachers have already asked to borrow some of our robots so this project has actually extended beyond our grade level and is having an impact on the whole school. Within our grade level, we have planned out ways to connect the robots and coding with our established curriculum. We use the robots to review for our Science and Social studies units. Additionally, being a STEAM based school, we have found ways to incorporate our coding robots into our STEAM challenges.
Our students have already taken very well to the robots. They are extremely excited any time they see the robots out and ready to use. The robots have created such a hum of eagerness to actively learn. This has impacted our students on all varied academic levels. They also are developing a sense of safety to make mistakes but to keep trying.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Thai-Pappa