A typical day in my classroom includes various activities which require students to move around the classroom to work in groups. My biggest challenge is that the various desk sizes and lack of classroom space means that my students don't have adequate group space and many times work on the floor.
My students are amazing, hard working students who don't always come from the best backgrounds.
My school centers around community and working together and we are constantly reinforcing this in the classroom. My students live in a low socioeconomic area and go through a lot to push themselves to attend school and get a good education. They don't have the outside experiences of being able to work with others and learn important teamwork and cooperative learning skills. I teach an inclusion classroom and therefore usually about half of my students are on individualized education plans and they greatly benefit from having peer helpers. It is a great way for me to differentiate my groups and give my students the opportunity to collaborate with others.
My Project
I am requesting 5 rectangular tables to improve cooperative group learning and collaboration. Through the use of tables, I will be able to quickly facilitate groups in the classroom. We have guided reading groups and currently I try to space the students around at desks that are grouped together but it is always so difficult because all the desks are different sizes. By having tables, the students can seamlessly gather around a table and be able to work together. When working on posters and projects they are all able to work on the project at the same time and not have to work on the floor scattered around the room like they do now. I have various educational games that need a larger working space than desks allow and having the tables would make it so much easier for my students. Also tables allow the students to focus more time on their education because there isn't a cluttered desk in front of them to distract them. Many students spend extra time searching through their desks for papers and books and by having tables this would be completely eliminated.
This project would allow my students the full opportunity to realize the benefits of collaboration.
For them to be prepared for the real world, they need to understand how important it is to communicate and work with other people. The classroom would be more streamlined and organized, which would also help with my IEP students who may have trouble with organization or extra stimuli. I want my students to be given an chance to really understand how working together is an asset.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Ferreira and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
