Chromebooks for Classrooms!

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students'”

With gratitude,

Mr. Lopez

Thank you so much for your generous contribution towards the purchase of Chromebook laptops for my students. The laptops have been a key tool in providing students with opportunities to improve their reading and writing skills this year.

Access to the Internet and all the resources on the web have made a huge difference in my students' learning. In their own words:

"We use the laptops to post stories on Kidblog and comment to other classmates writing. We can search to find pictures for our writing. We have improved our writing and reading a lot. You guys must really care about us like we're your own children."

"Before, it took us so long just to get the lab for one day and other classes have reserved the lab too. Now we don't have to wait to get a computer and we can speed up class to do more activities."

"The laptops are helping me with my spelling because they tell me when I spell a word wrong. They also allow us to give feedback to our classmates and I have found errors that I didn't even know about. That has helped me a lot."

"This is a great privilege to have especially since my family can barely afford school supplies and clothes."

Not only are they a powerful tool for learning, but they are also highly engaging. My students have loved being able to use the Chromebooks to read from a huge range of websites in our digital library as well as post their own writing to our class blog. The immediate feedback and powerful digital tools have changed the way we learn each day.

Once again thank you for donating this valuable resource for my students.”

With gratitude,

Mr. Dalgas

I can't thank you enough for your generous gift. I'm sending my students' notes as a start! This way I can share with you a bit of these amazing first graders that I get to teach every day. Your donation helped me appreciation them, as well as their excitement while they are learning new skills on their Chrome Books.

What a wonderful gift you have given us! My students love technology and I enjoy how engaged they are while using our new Chrome Books as an avenue to learning. When it is time for daily rotations, you can hear shouts of joy from all of the children!

It's no longer difficult to find engaging activities for my students while I'm teaching small groups. With the Chrome Books, my students have access to the Internet which enables them to use numerous literacy and math applications. Now, when I'm working with small groups of students, the rest of the class is engaged in activities that remediate and enhance their learning. While using the Chrome Books, my class is learning content and technology usage at the same time. This helps to accelerate all of my students and their different educational needs.

Thanks to Donors Choose and you, my students are using the newest technology to practice literacy, math, and problem solving. What a wonderful donation you have given them! Your donations will have a tremendous impact on my students' lives, this year, and for many years to come! It takes a very special person to give a child the love of learning! Thank you again for making this possible!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Benesch

I unpacked the computers in the middle of class. The students asked in earnest, "are those for us?" Before the computers arrived, I had to fight for computer access in one of our outdated computer labs. With such limited access to technology, students lack the 21st Century skills to ensure their future success. Now that we have computers in our classroom, students can type essays and get assistance from the teacher without moving.

For my seniors, the laptops allow them to type their college application essays, share the documents with me and quickly get feedback. The students have also taken them to other classes and completed school assignments. One of the best features is students' ability to collaborate on their assignments. Three of my students used the Chromebooks to write a collaborative poem for an upcoming school poetry slam. Each student could type their own parts into one document at the same time. It was 21st Century learning at its finest.

The Chromebooks allow me to differentiate material for all of my students. Students with learning disabilities can have access to the material in a different way. Students who are still learning English can access unlimited resources using the Internet. It allows me to be a more effective teacher. It also eliminates many excuses. No longer can students say they don't have a computer at home. No longer can students stop participating when they injure themselves playing sports. Thank you for making this possible.”

With gratitude,

Teacher

I could never thank you enough.

"Wait. How did you get these?," one student said to me when she first saw me unpacking the brand-new ChromeBooks for use in our classroom. "Through donations," I said with a huge humble smile on my face. One of the biggest impacts that these computers have had on my classroom is teaching students the power of generosity. I have watched them turn that generosity around at several crucial moments this year, and it lights me up every time.

My seniors have used the ChromeBooks to craft fantastic college essays and to research and apply to the schools of their choice. My juniors have used them to prepare for the SATs by taking practice tests and by writing proposals for SAT Videos that they will use to teach the Sophomores. I know that some of the greatest uses are yet to come.

Having daily access to computers in my room has allowed me to focus much more on Project-Based learning, on collaborative writing, and on student autonomy. These were my goals this year, and I think, with the help of these computers, we will meet that challenge.

I couldn't have done this without you. Thank you so so much.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Bavaro

I want to thank you all for your generous donations towards my proposal. Since I have received the Google Chromebooks, I have used them with the students in a variety of ways.

We have enjoyed the apps that Google has for educational purposes through games like hangman, vocabulary games and games designed to boost auditory skills. In addition, there are story based apps which allow the students to listen to a story, read along with the story and interact with the story online. Google has children's television shows and a huge variety of other apps, too numerous to mention.

The students have enjoyed the ability to use materials which are otherwise unavailable to them outside of school. Not all of my students have the resources at home to access the internet in the ways that they can through the use of the Chromebook.

I have found that my students have improved their vocabulary, grammar and conversational skills since they have started to use the ChromeBook.

Thank you again!”

With gratitude,

Mr. Korn

First of all, I would like to say thank you once again for finding it in your heart to fund my project. My scholars were so excited to use the new Chrome Books that we received last month. I hope that I was able to catch a few excitement in the pictures: some of their eyes opened so wide with excitement, others just couldn't wait to get their hands on the equipment, one asked if we were getting more Chrome Books, a few even asked if they could take them home, and majority wished they had brought back their photo/video permission slip to show their gratitude.

Even though it took al few days locating our packages and then weeks getting a computer person to set-up the school internet/wifi on each Chrome Books, we were able to go on as a guest and do a few things. Yes a quest, there is still a clich in the system that needs to be resolved, one seems to be set as Spanish and another Chinese. However, the ones that we were able to use, my scholars are now able to take turns going online to take and complete literacy and math assessments. We also use them to watch math related videos and activities related to the concept that is taught that day.

I actually believe with my scholars taking assessments online, it saves me time grading 26 individual papers. My scholars are also getting practice in answering multiple choice questions. Before when taking pencil and paper assessment, some were bubbling more than 1 answer and sometimes all, a few are now realizing only one answer can be chosen for each question. They are also learning that they have to take their time reading to understand what the question is asking them to find out or do, because there is no turning back. This practice online will eventually prepare them for the new error when they finally have everyone taking all State Assessments online, which there has been talk about, we just don't know when it will happen.

For math, I break my scholars into 3 different groups; Beginners, Intermediates, and Advance Group. Each group spend 15-20 minutes meeting with me, doing independent work or a math activity on the internet. Posted at the beginning of my lessons are always 3 different websites that relates to the concept being taught for the day. The links provided always reinforce what the "Beginners" are learning, challenge the "Intermediates" some what and push the "Advance" group thinking. My scholars love doing the rotations and gets upset when we are not able to them. I am just so glad to see them having fun and learning all at once and I owe it all to you. THANK YOU.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Maduro

Wow!!! This has been such a blessing. These computers (Chromebooks) have made the world a different place for my students this year. With these extra computers my students have developed a sense of pride and gratitude that you would not believe. They cherish these computers and get very excited when it is time to get them out. Do to these wonderful laptops the students now have more opportunities to get on some wonderful programs that before they could not always get on. Acuity, reading plus, and Think central are weekly visits working on Math and Reading. These sites offer wonderful support for the students while providing me with some great feedback to how the students are doing and progressing. The students also enjoy time on sumdog and everyday math online where they get to play math games and can play against each other. I have found that their understanding of math and reading concepts are growing with their excitement about the computers and that they are very eager to get on all the programs because they don't have to do a normal pencil-paper assignment.

With the access to these Computers I am able to individualize their work more for each students allowing me to make sure that all of their time is spent wisely. This has been a blessing allowing me to work with a small group of students on one concepts and then having them follow that up with an activity on the computer that reinforces the lesson we just went over. I can't thank you enough for these wonderful computers and for all the support that you have shown my class.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Majors

Having four chromebooks in my classroom has really changed how I am able to teach and run my classes. First of all, the computers are so cute and easy to use! Students love them and are eager to work on them.

The first way it has impacted my classroom is in the frequency students are able to check their grades on a regular basis. Our school uses an online grading system. Each day, I take out the computers and kids can see how they are doing. It eliminates that annoying end of the semester confusion--no longer can kids say, "What? I thought I was doing well!" We can identify missing work immediately and takes steps to improve.

In my academic classes, having the computers means I can better individualize instruction. Kids can read different articles or research at their own pace.

Seriously, the kids love having such nice new computers in our room. It elevates the seriousness with which they approach their work.

Thanks!!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Dolgin