Past projects 4
Get Your Teach On
Funded Dec 6, 2018I am truly thankful for your support in helping me attend the "Get Your Teach On" conference this past February! The speakers presented highly engaging material specifically for first grade. Some of this included engaging readers and writers, classroom management strategies, incorporating STEM, bringing more culture into social studies, and learning about student choice and the research behind this practice. This was an amazing conference, and I am thankful for the experience!
Deanna Jump started off the conference with such enthusiasm and energy that teachers from all over were immediately engaged and participating. She presented materials for her Morning Song, interactive read aloud books, writer's workshop, and ideas for how to "Set the Stage to Engage." Doing so many of her hands-on lessons during the conference allowed me to learn how to teach it to my students! She was followed by several more speakers, and my colleagues and I took away some great ideas from them. One of them was Principal Adam Dovico, and he shared his research and reasoning behind encouraging his teachers to offer Morning Choice activities for students. He also presented data reflecting the impact it had on both discipline and attendance. Needless to say, there were so many favorites throughout the whole conference.
Since being back in the classroom, I have integrated several new ideas. My first graders absolutely love the Morning Song, "I Gotta Feeling" by Deanna Jump, and we sing it daily. Starting our day with this song encourages us to sing and dance and feel "that today is gonna be a good day." My firsties also enjoyed the Inference Detective activity to solve "The Mystery of the Apple Cart" while working in groups. Lastly, Cara Carroll's STEM activities have provided a way for me to update my STEM activities. This has been an engaging center, and I love seeing their creations from the materials they choose to use. I was hoping to learn lots of new ideas to share with my students, and attending this conference did just that!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Spring
Touch Learning Using Paint Colors!
Funded Oct 31, 2017My class and I want to express our gratitude to our donors for showing such generosity towards our technology project! We are so thankful to have brand new iPads to use to make learning more engaging.
My students have been using them to learn sight words by writing them in different colors while practicing good handwriting. They have also been able to play various games with sight words such as memory, matching, and a sentence building game using sight words. A few of my students have said how cool it is to be able to choose the color blue and be able to write on the iPad! Priceless!
Since we have received our Apple iPads, my students have been eager to use them daily. They love learning through kinesthetic activities. Using the iPads allow them to do just that. This also helps to practice fine motor skills while learning. The most exciting part for them is that the iPad provides a fun, new interactive lesson for learning. Having this new technology has definitely created excitement for learning lessons that can be mundane at times.”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Spring
Time to get Tech Savvy!
Funded Jan 11, 2017We would like to sincerely thank you for donating to our Time to get Tech Savvy! project. I can just see the excitement on my students' faces each day when they are using our new Chromebooks!
The four Chromebooks that we received has had a huge impact on student motivation as well as learning. My students have been using them for Accelerated Reader, educational games during center time, and research. In addition, this new type of technology has been extremely useful in teaching my students about the Rainforest. My students have been able to use them to research the layers of the rainforest and provide facts about each layer. They have also been able to research various animals that live throughout the layers of the rainforest. After research, they are able to use this information to finish their writing and craft projects.
I think the most exciting thing, for my students, is they are new and up to date like an iPad. They also love that the Chromebooks work every time they use them, and they do not have to wait to use a computer. My students choose to use the Chromebooks just about every time because they can easily operate them now. Some of my students have become Media Specialists, so they help others navigate!
Many thanks to all of you again for your generous donations! None of this would be possible without it!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Spring
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 8 other donors.PLEASE help us set up our listening center!
Funded Oct 23, 2015We can't thank you enough for your generous donations for our listening center! It truly has made a huge difference for our students.
When it was delivered, my students were extremely curious to see how they were going to use it. As I was setting up the headphones, CD player, and reading materials, they started to say, "Oh, I see now! That is awesome! and Everything is so organized, and we have a place for our headphones too!"
Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, my students rotate to the listening center and have the opportunity for a story to be read to them. I remember them listening to the 100 Days of School on the 100th day as well as doing lots of activities including the number 100! This listening center I made using your donations keeps my students highly engaged, and we truly appreciate your donations!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Spring