Past projects 72
A Place for Everything, and Everything In It's Place!
Funded Oct 21, 2020You can't believe what a difference your donation has made to my classroom! I should say classrooms! Since I made this project, I moved from a small closet downstairs to upstairs. (It's my 9th move in 10 years, all within 2 of our buildings!) So you can imagine the disorganization! This last move was made with the help of some high school volunteers, and everything is still a project in progress. You can only imagine what it would have looked like without my wonderful shelves! I have some students who are all up for the challenge of helping me organize, so, of course, still in progress!
The biggest thrill of all is seeing my students' reactions when I tell them that strangers are thinking about them and their needs, and providing our resources! That got them motivated to help in any way they can. When we discussed the shelves, and how they ended up in our new room, all 20 of my students wanted to help organize and write letters to thank you!
I'm so proud that they all learned the lesson of giving from you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Cundiff
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 5 other donors.New School Year and Fresh School Supplies
Funded May 5, 2020We've had a pretty tough year. When we were able to be in the classroom together, it was still pretty tough staying apart and staying safe.
Our students and their families really appreciated having so many of their supplies ready for them when they were in the classroom. Such simple things, like paper and pencils, notebooks and crayons, really helped keep them on track and working on their studies instead of worrying about getting everything ready to go.
Even though it was a tough year, and we couldn't always be together, your help made the year so much better for everyone.
Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Cundiff
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 2 other donors."You've Got Mail" and Assorted Supplies
Funded May 28, 2020This has been such a hard year, but it has also been amazing, thanks to donors like you! Although we weren't together to take advantage of our cubbies I was able to organize notebooks and workbooks for the students in their cubbies. When we met as a small group, their items were already individualized and kept safe.
I envision the coming school year to be the time where each of cubbie is filled and being used by my grateful students. Although we won't be sharing supplies, refills can be kept handy and ready to go!
Thank you for your generosity!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Cundiff
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and one other donor.Creating a Distance Learning Experience to Remember
Funded Apr 18, 2020It's so hard to write and post pictures about something that I didn't touch with my own hands. What isn't hard is how to say thank you to such wonderful people that remembered my kids during our quarantine time.
I used the products from this project to help ease the time my students had away from our brick and mortar classroom. We are lucky enough to have 1-1 ChromeBooks for our students (thanks to Donors Choose!) but school can't be just technology.
I used the items that you helped provide to create different experiences for our students. They reluctantly created dodecahedron book reports only to find out that they were "the coolest thing I ever made." I had other students write and work on projects that included reading (to a pet snake), and watching chicks and butterflies hatch. Through this all they continued to work on our regular class assignments.
Your donation helped create the diversions my students needed. But, even though it wasn't a terrible experience, one of my students wrote a beautiful essay that summed up their experience: "When I think about Distance Learning I think of a chocolate cake full of worms! The outside of the cake is gorgeous. It has flowers and drizzles of chocolate and sprinkles. On the inside its full of worms, disgusting chewed gum, and a rotten apple! To me distance Learning looks fun on the outside. You get to stay home and have some fun with your family. But on the inside it sucks bad!" (By B.K.)
Thank you, Donors: you were the beautiful icing on our Chocolate Cake!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Cundiff
Today a Book: Tomorrow the World
Funded Mar 6, 2020With everything there always seems to be two sides: good/bad, black/white, school/no school.
The excitement on my kids faces when our books came was unbelievable! I chose books with specific students in mind, and they knew it! I had told my kids about reading Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew when I was their age, and they wanted to read them. I have several kids who don't like to read, but loved when I read them certain books, and I got graphic novels that I knew would intrigue them.
The books came, the kids stamped them with our school name, and they checked them all out!
And the children never came back to the building. The books have: they finished reading them, wrapped them in plastic bags and dropped them in our book bin. They went into our virtual classroom and told each other about them. They made the most amazing book reports (dodecahedrons to hang from their bedroom ceilings) to show them off.
We may have been apart, but my students still loved their books!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Cundiff
This classroom project was brought to life by A group of anonymous donors and one other donor.Creative Classroom Coding
Funded Jan 9, 2020I can't believe how excited my students were when they found out we had Dash and Dot coming to live in our room. And when they found out that there would be more than one? They were in shocked silence. We don't have a lot of time in the day, so finding a time to work with the robots will be a special treat. The same day the boxes arrived (wow, three boxes!) the kids buckled down to work so hard I wasn't sure it was my class! They want to make sure they get their regular work done so that they can check out what they can make the robots do! (One student was having an exceptionally hard day personally. I let him hold Dot while he was working. It was already powered on, so as he was rocking the little fellow, Dot spoke up and said "I love it when you hold me!" My little guy had tears in his eyes he was so happy! Just that moment alone made this project a winner in my eyes!)
Thank you, donors, for everything you do for our students. Without you we wouldn't have nearly as many smiles on some of our students' faces!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Cundiff
This classroom project was brought to life by Endless and one other donor.Keeping Kids Inspired During Centers
Funded May 20, 2019I have a variety of student abilities in my classroom, with reading levels ranging from 1st grade to 5th+!
Centers is a great time to give equal footing to all of the students. Each student is assigned a task box to complete. They all look the same, but the activities in the box are on their levels: challenging, but doable.
While students are working independently I can work with small groups with their needs. Everyone is able to work without directions, completing review-work, and practice their spelling, math and reading skills.
Thank you for helping to provide these activities for my students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Cundiff
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and one other donor." I See Me" in the Future
Funded Aug 7, 2019Our students keep wandering over to the corner of the room with our table, stools, and rug. This is their special place where they can work in a small group, or flop on the floor to read.
Given my students this special place has made a difference to so many of them. They aren't tied to their seats to do their work. Once they have their assignments and time to work, they take turns in the STEM corner, working at the science table, reading on the floor, or doing an assignment with their clipboards. They enjoy their time together, but find time to work on their own in this same space.
Thank you for providing a great place to work in our classroom!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Cundiff
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Funder and one other donor.Moving On! (But Staying at School!)
Funded May 8, 2019It's hard to change schools, and classrooms, but at least I got to stay within the same charter! The hard part was losing all of the supplies that I took for granted at my old school (all from Donors Choose!)
My new classroom has slowly gotten supplied with notebooks and clipboards and pens, and all of those little things that make a difference (like a special pencil to celebrate someone's birthday!)
When a student arrives in my classroom they don't have to do without: they now have composition notebooks to use for writing and spelling, and even writing down their multiplication charts and notes on how to do fractions. These are ready and waiting for them to get started.
Thank you, Donors, for everything you do for our students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Cundiff
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 3 other donors.Markers, Pencils, and Glue! Oh, My!
Funded May 20, 2019I can't begin to tell you how grateful we are for your donations.
Taking away the stress that many of our parents face with what their children need to be a member of our classroom has made so much difference. By providing simple things like markers, pencils, and crayons my students arrived at school with equal footing. No one had to make-do with their used pencils from last year since they all had special newly sharpened pencils waiting for them. The crayons were new and unbroken. The markers weren't already dried up.
To make it even more special, they are aware of this gift, and even a few months later we still have whole crayons, lids snapped onto the markers (most of the time!) and even glue sticks that don't need to go into the recycling bin. They've learned to take care of this gift, and their parents haven't had to scrounge pennies to buy such simple basics.
Thank you for all you do for our students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Cundiff
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 3 other donors.