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Did you know that technology is the second most popular resource requested on DonorsChoose.org? We wanted to learn more about the effect technology has on a classroom, and asked our community of DonorsChoose.org teachers to share their thoughts and experiences. We were blown away by the response.

Check out some examples of how technology has influenced classrooms across the country, and read all of the other great responses in our discussion forum.

Christine: “I teach at a high poverty school. Very few of our students have computers at home. In our high tech society this really puts them at a huge disadvantage. I received a laptop and projector through donors choose. Now my whole class can see the computer screen and together we can learn to navigate and utilize the internet. We have video chatted with astronauts from NASA, published our work online, participated in Wheresthesmath.com, and seen the world through our computer. This has made a HUGE difference in our teaching and learning!”

Dena: “As a speech therapist at a school for moderately-profoundly disabled students, technology has a huge impact on the way I work and the way my kids get to learn and interact. Many of my students rely upon AAC devices to speak, interact with staff and peers, operate electronics, etc. The iPad as well as my iPhone with several educational and/or motivating apps has been key this year. Students are highly motivated by these devices. The Talking Tom app, for instance, encouraged one of my mainly non-verbal 12 year old students to formulate some of her first bilabial words! When I enter the room now, she immediately will go to the speech page on her AAC device and request to use the ipad or other items on the page (navigating her AAC device as well as making requests like never before!)… I was told in grad school that one day I could do therapy with just a paper and pencil…Now I believe I can do therapy with just an iphone or ipad and my ideas :)”

Adrienne: “For me, it makes learning a language real when they can interact directly on a near daily basis with native French and Francophones. It has changed my teaching to make it more based on the way that this new generation learns, and it has changed learning for my students in more ways than can be listed here.”

Susan: “I have to say that having an iPad has made a huge impact in my special education/autism/behavior classroom. Many of my students have fine motor deficits, so the physical act of writing is not only challenging for them, but can bring on behaviors that in the past have resulted in loss of instructional time. With the handwriting apps as well as apps for reading and other academic subjects, these students have transformed the way they learn and eagerly embrace learning time when they are on the iPad. We have only one iPad that we acquired early in the school year, but the knowledge that they have acquired has begun to translate to tasks outside of iPad use…”

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and opinions. You can read more or join the conversation in our discussion forum at talk.donorschoose.org.

When we moved into our new office space this year, our stellar vendor Quill was kind enough to donate whiteboards for all of our conference rooms, as well as many shared workspaces. We get so much more done because of them! :)

The celebration of our Tenth Anniversary continues!  The incredible family behind the education publisher, Townsend Press, generously donated a whopping $1 million to bring select classroom projects requesting books, “Almost Home”.

You may know Townsend Press as the folks behind the acclaimed Bluford Series and the new King School Series.  Their compelling library of paperbacks are sold at the nonprofit price of only $1 because they are committed to helping students achieve the reading and language skills needed for success—in the classroom and beyond.  In addition, they may be the nicest people with whom we have ever spoken :-)

See if you can top one off and be sure to check out Townsend Press.

We all love our vitamin D, but there’s so much more than sunshine to be happy about this week.

Since Tuesday, our pals at the Pershing Square Foundation have been planting seeds throughout the site – funding art, music, health, and sports projects down to just $98 in honor of Spring. Our ever-reliable (and exceedingly generous) citizen philanthropists then got them blooming in no time. In just three days, over 700 donors completed 681 projects.

That’s $240,000 worth of paintbrushes, mandolins, hula-hoops, and basketballs. Crayons, djembes, yoga mats, and wiffleballs! Color us impressed, you guys.

Now, though this opportunity has ended, there are still many great match offers available, and a boatload of projects needing less than $100 to complete. Have at ‘em.

Thanks again to the Pershing Square Foundation, and to every citizen philanthropist that helped make this celebration of Spring a supreme success!

Might your company or foundation consider sponsoring a Double Your Impact or Almost Home match offer?

Three years ago, Ariba and DonorsChoose.org embarked on a unique partnership to use spend management technology to help DonorsChoose.org expand nationally and serve millions of students from low-income families. Now, over 60 men from Ariba are using their upper lips to help even more kids.

DonorsChoose.org uses Ariba’s software to manage the procurement of the materials teachers request, from sourcing and ordering through invoicing and payment. But last February, Ariba took the partnership to a new level, when some staff bravely sprouted sweet mustaches for four weeks to raise cash for schools. Going stache-to-stache with titans of industry, these growers made Ariba the top fundraising company of 2009.

This February, Ariba growers aim to beat their performance and are now over halfway through their facial hair marathon for kids. To show your support, visit Ariba’s hair-raising Giving Page today. Besides helping kids, you’ll get to see the fuzzy faces of folks at the company behind the procurement process that helps bring classroom projects to life.

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