Mr. DeMeno's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 38

• High Def-initely...Think We N​eed a Media Hub

  Funded Jan 4, 2019

  Thank you so much for the donations that are helping establish a media hub for our school. Students were very excited at the prospects of creating stop motion and green screen videos. We have made short videos using the stick bot app which makes the process simple and has amazing results. Our green screen videos will be a cornerstone of the school as we use the microphones and other technology to record our morning announcements and conduct interviews.

  Students were most excited about the drone. We practiced taking off and landing and took a few videos and still images in our makerspace. Next year we hope to capture school parades and funday from the sky with the drone camera.

  Our Sports Club is looking forward to taking action videos with the Go-Pros and we are planning a "tour our school" long take using these cameras to film entering and moving throughout the building in a introduction video to play for new students.

  Thank you so much for these kind donations, they will be part of a big movement in teaching and learning video production, journalism, podcasting, and more for our young learners!”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. DeMeno

  This classroom project was brought to life by Verizon and one other donor.

• LE(t's)GO Coding with LEGO Coding Express!

  Funded Jan 7, 2019

  Thank you for supporting my students and our makerspace. Students absolutely loved the LEGO Coding Express. They quickly built the tracks into a loop and added a switch to divert the train to its station. We built castles, forts, and a train station and placed them around the tracks.

  Students quickly synced the Coding Express to their iPads and began running the train through their tracks. The colored chips were placed between the tracks and sensors told the train when to stop, pause, or speed up on the colors. Students were able to plan scenarios or stories based on where they placed the colored chips.

  We had workers removing downed trees that held up our train, cars crossed tracks at the RR crossing, there was even an injured deer stuck on the tracks (don't worry, it was rescued). Creativity in storytelling and coding as well as engineering and design were all present in the lesson, but the kids just felt like they were playing.

  Students truly enjoyed developing their 21st century skills of communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking with your donation. The Lego Coding express is probably the most anticipated station of the K-2 coding resources in makerspace.

  Thank you again for your generous donation. Without it my students would be without a valuable resource.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. DeMeno

• Don't Let These STEAM Learners (Le)go on Without These Bricks!

  Funded Aug 9, 2018

  Thank you for supporting my students. I try to provide them with the best learning opportunities I can. Were it not for generous donors such as you, my students would not have the experience of a makerspace. The impact of your donations has been huge and will continue to grow as we use the equipment you provided.

  I put up a LEGO wall in the makerspace and place messages on it with the alphabet blocks that were part of your donations. The LEGO wall is a great attention grabber and focal point of the makerspace. As we move forward we can build Rube Goldberg machines and study cause and effect, gravity, and chain reactions using the LEGO wall.

  Using the equipment that you provided my students built mazes with walls, archways, and bridges to code their robots through. It was great to see teamwork of small K-2 students design and engineer their courses. They became even excited by mixing their LEGOs with the robots. It was an experience they would not have had if not for your kindness.

  Older students worked with the K-2 to help them build their obstacles. It was a great way for the older students to learn patience and how to verbalize why some designs were successful or needed reworking. Some 5th graders built smaller courses for Hex Bug (robotic bugs) and then combined their LEGO plates to make one very large maze. A few students quickly built the drone (its not easy, but they did it with no problem) and are ready to test it in the library. We will try taking off at one end and landing in a hula-hoop at the other. After some practice we will try racing them. The students are very excited for this one.

  The experiences that the students have had thanks to your donations have been great. We will continue to use these items in years to come. The impact of your kindness will be felt for a long time at our school. We truly appreciate it!”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. DeMeno

• Code You Please Give Us Some Robots?

  Funded Dec 12, 2017

  Thank you for the donations of code-able robots. My younger students love the Mice "Colby" and "Jack". I set up courses for the mice in our Makers' Space and after a short introduction the students were programing sequence into their bots to navigate the maze.

  A few of the kindergarten students even remarked it was the best day they ever had. 3rd grade students quickly mastered the mazes and as an added challenge had to rearrange their mazes for the next team behind them.

  The Cue bot is a great addition to the Makers' Space as it allows for some more advanced coding. Students who have struggled with conditional coding and repititional patterns in the computer lab grasp the concepts more easily when they code a real robot as opposed to something on the computer screen. The multi-port charger is also a big hit with me, as I can charge the various other bots and even the 3D pens easily in an out of the way space, while teaching my classes.

  Thank you once again for the generous donations. They have really helped my students get a better understanding of code. The bots excite them and have really piqued their interest in code.

  Thank you for”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. DeMeno

  This classroom project was brought to life by Infosys Foundation USA and 4 other donors.

• 3DD Doodlers Need to 3D Doodle!

  Funded Nov 21, 2017

  Thank you so much for the generous donations of the 3D pens to my classroom! My students loved using them and are constantly asking to use them again. They remarked how easy the pens were to load, heat the filament, and how quickly the shapes cooled. They all thought that the pens took a little getting used to, which is great because it took some grit for them to get the work done.

  We started with simply by making cubes. It was a great learning experience for the students as they had to learn from each other's mistakes. Students taught each other when to flip the cube to build the top and how to patch breaks in the cube if they handled them too roughly.

  We are going to use the 3D pens to make some dinosaur skeletons and hide them in some thickened sand. The younger grades will have to play archaeologist and dig them out, put reassemble them, and identify them. My students are really looking forward to many more projects with the 3D pens and its all thanks to your generosity. Thank you once again.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. DeMeno

  This classroom project was brought to life by 3Doodler and 6 other donors.

• Oh, Say Can You See?!

  Funded Dec 15, 2016

  Thank you for the generous donations of the iPeevo document camera. I have used it in various projects with multiple grade levels and my students absolutely love it. It is a very handy tool, to say the least.

  When students see the images live on screen for the first time they are always amazed. The presentation software that I downloaded to run the iPeevo is excellent. I have the ability to split the screen, zoom, and take screenshots, just to name a few of the useful functions.

  Kindergarten students loved reading "Where the Wild Things Are" with the camera. We are making our own wild things now. I used the iPeevo camera to demonstrate to my 5th grade students how to work the digital microscope and we even used it to make tutorial videos, which we published on the school YouTube Channel. It's very helpful for simple tasks as well. I demonstrated filling out an index card with information for our next 3rd grade group project and students could watch how to do it from their seats. We lost no time moving around at all.

  Thank you once again for donating to my students. I truly appreciate it, and judging from my students' reactions to the device, they do as well.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. DeMeno

  This classroom project was brought to life by an anonymous donor and 3 other donors.

• Scope This Out!

  Funded Dec 9, 2016

  Thank you for the generous donations of the Digital Microscopes and Slides. My students absolutely loved working with them. I watched them work in small groups helping one another place slides on the deck, clipping the slides, and activating the software to view the images.

  When the images came on screen and were focused, each and every student gave a very audible, "Whoa!" The students were extremely interested in the slides. It never occurred to them to imagine what a dog stomach or a cricket leg looks like up so close. They were in a word, amazed.

  Students really prefer working with the digital microscopes because they can view the images in their groups and don't have to wait and look through the lens 1 at a time. The additional option to take screenshots of the images and share them with their peers is also an added benefit of the technology.

  My students all wrote letters of thanks. From their responses I learned that working with the digital microscopes was their favorite project this year and many are now much more interested in science fields. They are excited to create their own slides and continue the learning process.

  Thank you once again for donating to my students. I truly appreciate it, and seeing the students' excitement for learning made me appreciate your generosity all the more.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. DeMeno

• 3D Printers Take Us to the Next Dimension

  Funded Nov 5, 2016

  Dear Dr. Valentine,

  Thank you so much for your generosity. My students absolutely love the 3D printers. Since we have set them up, they have been running non-stop.

  To introduce the technology, I started my students with a very simple project. It was also a great way to work across many different programs and experience the interconnectedness of technology. We began by using the computers' web cams to take a portrait in Photo Booth. Students also were able to experiment with filters and backgrounds in the program. Students chose their best picture and saved them to Drop Box, so they learned about sharing to the "cloud". Next they uploaded their photographs to apps.xzyprinting/photoboard. They learned about web 2.0 technology, using an app within web browser. Next they chose the style of their image and it's frame. Finally students were able to print their pictures on their new 3D printers! I have never seen them so excited.

  I have installed a free 3D modeling program on all of the computers in the lab. Our next step is to learn how to create 3D models using the new program. I've already given them a little preview. I can see how excited they are to try it out themselves, and to print their designs, of course.

  I have many students who speak English as a second language and they often struggle following along. The greatest teaching moment this year was during this very project. Two of my 3rd grade students beamed with pride as they completed their 3D prints. Because this project is so visually based they were able to keep pace with the rest of the class. Their confidence is at an all time high, and they are actively participating in class discussions now!

  Thank you, once again for your generosity. I was amazed not just by your kindness but also with your personal connection to the school. I shared your story with my students, who were also taken aback by your bond with JM Elementary.

  With Deep Gratitude,

  Mr. DeMeno”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. DeMeno

  This classroom project was brought to life by an anonymous donor and one other donor.