"You Say To-ma-to; I Say Tom-ah-to" Giving Page

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Thank you for your generous support! These new laptop batteries have helped our students so much. It makes a huge difference now that we can keep our MacBooks powered up! NO MORE SHARING, because a laptop drained down during class.

We are grateful for all of your donations and voting support at http://www.oo.com/sa500kids. We hope that you can help other Technology projects by continuing to vote every day. [search "242" to support my fellow Teachers' requests!]

Thanks for choosing to support our New York City Elementary School project. We know there are thousands of worthy projects, so we want to sincerely thank you for helping our students!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. DiPiano

I just cannot thank you enough for all of your generous donations. My students are thoroughly enjoying the Nook Color that your donations provided. The Nook Color has been used for various purposes...my students are required to do weekly SSR (Self-selected Silent Reading), and they love to take their turn reading magazines or books that I have downloaded for that purpose. Because I have ordered several subscriptions to different magazines, I always have new current events to use as read alouds in class. My anatomy and medical terminology students have benefited by using some of the resources, including downloaded references, articles and apps. Most recently my biology students have been conducting research on genetic engineering, and were required to have article and book sources for the project. It was amazing that National Geographic magazine actually had two back-to-back issues featuring twins (cloning) and the "ABC's of DNA." My students were able to page through and read the articles while being able to appreciate the images in color as they would in the actual magazine. I was able to use the Nook Color each period of the day for several days and although all of the classes were reading the same articles, the pages didn't get worn down, ruined or ripped out. I am still learning about all my Nook Color can offer to my students, but we have enjoyed the learning process together. Thank you so much, because without you, we would not have this fantastic learning tool!!!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Edmonds

My class and I want to thank you for your donation that helped fund the recycling game and the wonderful books about preserving our earth's resources for our classroom. The students love to look at the beautifully illustrated and photographed pictures especially in the book entitled, "A Cool Drink of Water." It has large and colorful photos that tell a story about the importance of water.

While we focus on the importance of being friendly to the earth throughout the entire school year, we will begin a more intense unit on our earth resources soon. We will be focusing on our earth's natural resources and ways to maintain and save what we have. The students will also be focusing on recycling and learning about all the items that can be recycled. We are also going to start a school campaign that promotes recycling in our school. The recycling game will be a wonderful hands-on tool for the students to use and learn from.

Thank you so much for your generosity. The world is a better place because of individuals like you. ”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Becker

Thank you so much for donating to my project. We received the table earlier in the school year. It has been used as a guided reading table, a project table, and for a math grouping. The table is used throughout the day by many different students from different classrooms in my school . I would not be able to afford this table on my own, and my school is in a budget crunch and only spending money on certain items. My students and I appreciate your donation. It is a great asset to my classroom, and I am truly grateful for your kindness. Thank you!!!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Becker

Thank you so very much for helping our Invention Convention Project to become a reality. In the fall we received 90 Science Project display boards from DonorsChoose. We began our Invention Unit of Study by learning about famous inventors and important inventions throughout history that have impacted our society. Groups of students worked on invention research projects and learned how to use classroom resources and technology and put together a presentation of their findings. Next we engaged students in a variety of activities designed to help foster their creative abilities and to become more fluent and divergent thinkers. We have studied simple machines and done many activities to advance their understanding of concepts, such as the Laws of the Lever and the simple physics principles of Inclined Planes. Since the beginning of the school year, students have been looking for and recording problems in everyday life and brainstorming with peers to gather numerous ideas for invention creations of their own. They have learned that great inventions can be born in the creative minds of bright and dedicated young scientists.

Our 5th grade gifted students are now in the process of building their invention models and are working on compiling information about their own inventions to display on the project boards you have helped to provide. Because of generous donors like you, we are able to offer the students the opportunity to exhibit and share their inventive ideas with other students, teachers, school administrators and members of the community. In a few weeks, our advanced group of young inventors will all participate in our District's Invention Convention. The Invention Convention is a Science Fair that focuses on new and original inventive ideas. This student-focused event promises to be an exciting and fun time of sharing and learning in our community.

As you are well aware, our schools are suffering from budget cuts. Today, many vital educational tools and materials are an expensive luxury. The project boards that you have provided have given all students the opportunity to proudly display their creative ideas, computer skills, scientific knowledge and artistic talents.

Great schools and successful students do not exist in isolation. It is a true partnership among all stakeholders-- families, teachers, businesses and community members -- that creates successful learning environments for our future leaders. Your gift has helped these talented, enthusiastic learners move toward their educational goals. ”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Scrivner

Time for Kids!! It's a wonderful classroom resource, and it appears every week, new and ready for reading. My students received their first issue this week (Sept. 9). The excitement was palpable. We carefully explored the "magazine", familiarizing ourselves with the lay-out and content. The cover story was about Hurricane Irene and the supplementary materials that came with the teacher edition provided great support for reading and social studies.

My students are still amazed that "strangers" were willing to give them something so special. We've talked a lot about the Generosity Circle - kindness leads to more kindness. Our class has decided that we will be Book Buddies this year. We don't have money, so our gift to a second grade class will be our time....the literal time for kids! What will we read with them on the first day? I won't be surprised if it's a story from a Time for Kids magazine!

Thank you for providing my students with enrichment supplies! We'll think of you...weekly!!”

With gratitude,

Teacher

Books!!! Books!!! Books!!!!

Fourth graders love books!! The gift of books you've provided for my students was a wonderful way to enhance our classroom library! When the books arrived, the students were eager to begin reading. Before we could label the books for shelving, many had asked to "borrow" a book. I'm happy to report that all books are being read and enjoyed by 22 "homeroom students" and 18 "math students" each week.

Thank you for your kindness and generosity. You've not only provided resources, you've modeled the act of giving! We appreciate your thoughtfulness.”

With gratitude,

Teacher

Fantastic! Wow!! You're kidding! No Way!! .... are just a few of the responses I received from my fourth grade students when they were told the two, NEW NETBOOKS had been funded by YOU!! It was like Christmas in our room on that happy day!!

Fast forward a few short months, to an eager new group of fourth graders. They squealed with delight when the netbooks arrived. New to Donors Choose, these students couldn't believe that people who "didn't know us" would be so kind and give such useful gifts! I delighted in telling them all about the Generosity Circle. We will be paying it (your kindness) forward, so to speak, by becoming Book Buddies with a second grade class this year. The gift goes on...and on.

The netbooks are fantastic!! You've doubled the available computers in our classroom. Netbooks are easy to use, and the kids love them. Not only do we use them for research, reading rotations, and writing, but we also use them for Accelerated Reading tests. Such versatile technology!!

Please know how much you have done for my students. As their teacher, I am humbled by your gifts and thank you.”

With gratitude,

Teacher

Ok, so this is where I tell you what the impact of your donation has been. . . um. . . how much time do you have? How much SPACE do I have to write? My point here is, the impact of your donation is MAJOR. HUGE. IMMENSE. MIND-BLOWING. And I'm not kidding nor exaggerating.

So, I could start with what happened when the iPods and the storage/syncing cart arrived in the classroom. I wheeled the cart into the room before the kids arrived. Of course, when the kids came through the door they immediately started asking questions: "What IS that?" "What's THAT for?" And I didn't answer them for the entire morning. Instead, I let their curiosity run rampant! Then in the afternoon I asked them what they THOUGHT it was. Their answers ranged from, "It's a dishwasher" to "It's where you put kids who break the rules." (Hilarious!) Finally, I told them what it REALLY was and what was inside of the cart. The reaction that followed will live forever in my memory as one of the GREATEST moments of my career. Some kids immediately started screaming. Some jumped up and down while clapping. Some literally started running circles around the room. Some were frozen in place with their mouths wide open. It. Was. AWESOME.

From that moment, we had many great discussions about what the PURPOSE of these iPods was. (For learning.) And how we were going to use them. (Carefully, respectfully.) What remained to be seen was if they would truly make a difference in my students' learning like I hoped they would.

Um. . . .yeah. They have.

First of all, they have amped up student motivation like I've never seen. Of course, this was definitely going to happen. Give a kid a gadget, and they're going to be motivated. My students LOVE using their iPods. One of the unexpected ways the iPods have motivated my students has been in writing. The iPods come with a Note app. It's just a standard app where you can type in notes. I use mine on my phone for making grocery lists. To be honest, I never even thought of using that app. (Shame on me.) Then one day, I gave my kids a writing assignment, and one of them asked, "Can we type it into our Notes?" YES!!! When I gave that answer, what I saw were some of my most reluctant writers JUMPING INTO THEIR WRITING ASSIGNMENT, and all because they were allowed to use their iPod to do it. It was truly magical!

Other than writing, the other main subject area I have been using the iPods in has been math. There are SO many math apps out there, and they have made a HUGE difference in my students' learning! As we are learning new concepts, I add new apps. Learning about subtraction with regrouping? Add an app. Moving onto multiplication? Add an app. My students are CONSTANTLY engaged in their learning of math! And the data I have collected shows that it is making a difference!!! My students are doing better and scoring higher on math quizzes and tests than ever before! I've been a teacher for a while now, and I am seeing some MAJOR learning going on with these iPods that I have not seen before without them. I am so grateful that they are doing what I believed they would do -- engaging the kids, supporting their learning, and improving their understanding!

There is absolutely NO WAY that I can ever properly thank you for the role you played in getting these resources into my classroom for my students. I am thankful for you every single time I look at my kids using their iPods, and every single time they show a deeper understanding of something because of them. Because of YOU! Thank you for supporting my students. You are awesome and amazing and a truly wonderful, beautiful person! THANK YOU!!!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Kelly