Math & Science: Reddit Gifts for the Teachers 2016

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Thank you from the bottom of my head for donating to this project. As a teacher, I strive to give my students the best learning experience possible. Your donations made that easier for me. The colored paper has helped me to make learning more fun for my students each day. They loved using this in their math journals and at station time. And my students have so enjoyed having nice crayons to use each day! Every student in my classroom got so much good out of this gift! Our year in first grade is going to be vibrant and fun because of you!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Hamilton

I would like to personally thank you for your donations to our school project, "Save our Eyes!". Because of your generosity, our students and teachers were able to experience a once in a lifetime event - the solar eclipse! Your donation allowed everyone at our school to have a pair of certified solar glasses, which kept our eyes safe during the eclipse on August 21.

Many of our students would not have had this opportunity without the support of our teachers, and your kindness. Our students are still talking about the day, how awesome it was, how cool, how neat. It is our hope that they will remember this day for the rest of their lives. The best part of the day was when everyone was wearing their glasses during the highest percentage of totality, and the only sounds we heard were "wow!", "cool!", and some crickets in the background.

Again, thank you so much for supporting our school!!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Campbell

I am so appreciative of every donation. This past year, you helped to lift the learning in my classroom. Students in my classroom have technology at home but when they get to school, we are limited due to budget restraints. The Kindle Fire and the Microscope helped the students experience more than another video game.

The microscope was most unique. The knowledge about microscopes usually isn't experienced until the 5th grade. Our classroom proudly owned one this year as a result of your contributions. The Time for Kids provided authentic text and real world learning. Our textbooks are outdated! The current magazines aren't. With them, the students escaped the biased knowledge of a limited viewpoint and extended to a multi-faceted global view. Many don't read the newspaper or watch the news but they loved being able to experience the world at their level.

The students that have reading comprehension or various reading interest enjoyed the Time for Kids and the Kindle Fire. The Kindle Fire was used not only to experience learning games but to also create QR codes and read QR codes. The QR codes could contain items like short videos, trivia questions, writings, or audio.

This project exposed my class to new heights and dimensions in discovery and inquiry learning beyond the pages of a textbook or worksheet. Thank you for your partnership to support higher learning and thinking in my classroom and beyond.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Ellison

Thank you so much for donating your hard earned money for our classroom. The students have thoroughly enjoyed the wobble chairs and cushions. We use them both daily and our classroom will never be the same again!

The chairs and cushions were in the classroom from the beginning of the year this year. The wobble chairs are used at my small group table and the cushions are used by individual students at their seats in a rotating manner. The students love coming to my table to sit on the stools and I have noticed their focus has gotten better. The cushions most definitely help with the fidgeting and sitting on their knees in their seats.

I hope to add more flexible seating options soon and want to thank you again for your generous donations that made this project possible. We are so lucky to have supporters like you here in Houston, Texas!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Cordova

The four chrome books that I have received have been tremendous and really helpful to my Resource class. The chromebooks has helped my Resource students to improve their math skills using Ji Ji Math - an online math program. They are learning their respective grade level mathematical concepts. Furthermore, they also practice their reading skills using an online interactive program called Raz Kids. They hear stories that are being read aloud to them and they answer reading comprehension questions about the stories that they hear. The goal of both of these online programs in Ji Ji Math and Rap Kids is to allow children make progress at their own pace.

All of my Resource students loved how lightweight, they are, and it's easy for them to carry. They can carry with them with ease to any seat in my Resource class while using the chromebooks. In addition, these chrome books are so modern that they can handle the speed with no delays or technical difficulties using Ji Ji Math and Raz Kids. Prior to receiving these chromebooks, I had outdated and old apple laptops from many years ago that could not handle these self-pace programs such as Ji Ji Math and/or Rap Kid on a consistent basis without any interruptions. Sometimes they pause or crash that I often have to reboot. At other times, they don't work at all. Finally, my Resource students liked the headphones. It helps them concentrate and eliminate any distractions they may have when I teach small groups. Some of my students liked how soft and comfortable they are.”

With gratitude,

Mr. Tang

Thank you so much for your help, support, and funding for this project! I am overwhelmed by your generosity!

My students were so excited to see the games and were very eager to get started. We began the year by using a few games on a weekly basis (during Fun Fridays, as we call them). They were an instant hit and, once we began working on certain math units throughout the year, we were able to incorporate all the games. Now, my students can play each game, successfully, without my help!

Thanks to your donation, my students have been able to really enjoy math and further develop their problem solving skills. I will absolutely continue using these games throughout the years with every first grade classroom I teach.

Thank you, once again!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Rosa