Jason "El Greco" Poulos

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Thank you! Thank you! Thanks you! The new netbook has been a wonderful tool for all my students this year. As a Titlte I reading teacher, I impact hundreds of children and to have a portable computer, for the students, has been a life saver.

The students use the computer for a variety of activities. Mostly they utilize the Internet, that is their favorite (of course)! They play literacy games, research topics and type short stories. It has been tremendously convenient to have a computer with the ability to keep up with the fast pase of our babies.

You all have enhanced our student achievement through your generosity. Please know we are so grateful and feel very lucky to know such kind people are looking out for us. The world is a better place because of wonderful people like you! ”

With gratitude,

Mrs. David

Thank you so much for supporting this project. Thanks to you we are able to use our materials over and over. They are durable and I can sanitize them. We use the laminated materials daily. The laminated materials are used in every subject and are in every area of the classroom. I have laminated: word cards numeral cards name cards game pieces charts and graphs calendar pieces The materials are not only instructional, they are attractive. The attractiveness adds fun to the learning activities. Your generosity not only benefits my class, other classes also benefit.

Thank you for participating in the education of children.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Jones

Thank you so much for your generous contributions to my project! My students were so excited to receive their own individual copies of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. Usually when we read books as a whole class, we have very few copies to share. The fulfillment of this project meant that each child had their own copy of the book to read. This kept them more engaged and involved in class discussions. The audio copy of the book was also neat because the author was recorded reading the story! My students loved the story and gained interest and confidence in their ability to read chapter books.

Again, I appreciate your kindness so much. My students were very impressed that strangers cared enough to donate to their classroom. This project will continue to impact my future students as well. These resources can be used for years to come. Thank you for supporting the education of our youth!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Burris

Once again thank you cannot adequately express the gratitude we feel for our gift. This board has made such a difference in our classroom, I wish you could be here to see it! It has even surpassed my expectations of what I thought the kids would do.

The first day we put it up the children learned how to use the pen, manipulate the screens and were soon working on their own. We went through one program taking turns and I gave the pen to a student while I was changing the programs. He started working on the next program and once he finished his problem, he immediately gave the pen to someone else to take a turn. I was so excited! My principal came in one day after we started using the board and after about five minutes, asked me how the kids learned to use the board so fast! I said never underestimate the power of my kids.

Each day they seem to amaze me more and when they are using the board no one has a disability. My biggest surprise of all was a little girl who has trouble holding a pen and picking up papers to sort words that are cut out for her. Because of her disability, she doesn't have knuckles so can't bend her fingers. She also has trouble with her speech so reading is a task for her. I found a word family sort program and on the Smartboard, she takes the wide pen in her hand and sorts words like she's been doing it all her life. Whereas it takes her over half an hour to sort words out cutting and gluing, she can sort her words on the board in about 2-3 minutes and we can print them out. She has started to read the word sounds on her own and even taught us a song to sing when she finishes to cheer her on. She is even starting to do work the first graders are doing. I even videotaped her to show her mom at parent teacher conferences and she was nothing short of amazed. We have even made an adaptation to the pen, a foam extension so that our baby in the wheelchair can use it. You will see the picture of her using it for cause and effect. When she presses the big yellow button, "I like to move it" will play!

We use it to view movies and interactive programs for lessons and it always seems more interesting when everything is bigger than life in front of you. We use it for social science and science to explore resources and economics using interactive programs like saving the animals and picking up pollution. We can also use the interactive whiteboard to practice writing skills, shapes and so many other things, I can go on and on.

The pictures you see are of the first few days on the board and the kids are enjoying it so much I don't have to tell anyone to speak up or raise their hands. You can't tell autism from the other health impairment, from the ADHD, from the learning disabled. There are no disabilities in my class. One student even explained how to calibrate the board one day! I didn't even know he knew the word. The fifth picture is a student in my class who usually will not talk and getting him to write is like pulling teeth! He is making sentences that talk back to him and he loves it. They like the instant gratification as you can see on the last slide. We all feel that way when we mention Donor's Choose!

I am especially grateful to those who sacrificed their mustaches to help us, our wonderful PTA parents who chipped in and finished my project over a weekend when I was losing hope, and everyone else who took time to donate in order to improve the education of my beautiful babies.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and know that you have had a great impact on the education of a special needs child.

”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Prentiss

I would like to thank you again for your amazing donation to Donors Choose and Project Art Appreciation! My students have loved opening the boxes of art reproductions that have arrived in the mail and they also loved looking through the beautiful images on the large posters!

Not only have we been looking at the art, we have been talking about it as we create our own art work. Recenty, we began a painting unit and I have many landscapes, cityscapes and seascapes posted throughout the room for the students to use as inspiration.

We have also been playing some fun art history games and making up songs to learn our art vocabulary. My first grade class made rhythms by clapping our hands to understand rhythm in art and we balanced on one foot to talk about balance in art.

The walls of the art room aren't so bare anymore and I am thrilled to have these new teaching tools in our art class.

Thank you so much!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Fought

Thank you all so very much! It is such an amazing feeling seeing that you have funded this project for my class. The tools that you have donated to the class will enable my students to take a close look at the world around them. They will be able to view things in a way that many of them have never experienced before. It is my hope that this will inspire them to take a thoughtful look at their surroundings no matter where they are. I also plan on sharing these resources with my colleagues, thus reaching more students than just my own. Thanks again for your thoughtful donations.”

With gratitude,

Mr. Garber