Help me give my students A classroom where kids can feel safe and build resilience. Living things in the classroom, a large rug for class meetings, and calming area all help reduce fight, flight, or freeze responses.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Dimond's classroom raised $760
This project is fully funded
My Students
My classroom consists of 30 energetic, kind, and capable 4th graders who face unique challenges because of the struggling community in which they live.
My students are growing up in a community that is replete with extreme violence and drug issues, and studies have shown that "60% of children tested for lead in their blood," due to the toxic air they are breathing.
- PBS, Nova, Too Much Pollution in One Place, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/too-much-pollution/
(Chester was also recently featured in Kamau Bell's United Shades of America, Toxic Cities episode addressing environmental racism.)
This is extremely important because lead poisoning in children has been shown to decrease IQ, slower response time, and create central auditory processing problems. It also increases word-finding difficulties, sequencing difficulties, and perceptual integration problems. Lead exposure has also causes behavioral concerns including hyperactivity, distractibility, impulsivity, disorganization, non-persistence, and even the inability to follow simple instructions. (26% of the students in the school have identified learning differences.)
Moreover, many of our students suffer from the effects of trauma.
Chester City is ranked the 2nd worst "murder capital" in the Country. Growing up in Chester, you have a 1 in 46 chance of becoming a victim of violent crime.
A room filled with calming colors, safe spaces, and mindfulness.
My goal is to create a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom where kids can feel safe and build resilience.
My classroom will be both a homeroom for 30 students and a math/science classroom for 30 more several times a day while my students go across the hall for language art and social studies. Setting up a comfortable safe educational space where kids have a spot to retreat and calm down is a priority.
As a teacher who practices Responsive Classroom methods to integrate social and emotional learning along with academics, having a comfortable rug for morning and closing classroom meetings is important. Additionally, studies have shown that having both plants and animals in classrooms positively impacts student stress levels and learning. Because the room will also be used to teach 4th-grade science, where PA standards revolve around the life cycles of animals and plants, the aquaponics tank in the classroom serves two purposes.
I appreciate your consideration in reading about my project. Thank you for your time.
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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