Past projects 15
Proper Shelves for Proper Books
Funded Nov 30, 2022Thank you so much for the generous donation of the bookshelves to my classroom. They not only look fantastic, but have made it possible for me to display and grow my classroom library. Students have greatly enjoyed the nice shelves and expanded library for their consumption.
The library gets heavy use during advisory where students are allowed to use the books during reading days. Perhaps the most important aspect of them is that they are durable and maneuverable. This will allow me to continue to modify my classroom arrangement and also highlight books as they used during our units. Thank you again so much for your kind donation.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stuchell
This classroom project was brought to life by an Anonymous Classroom Supporter and 2 other donors.Helping Students Focus Through Engaging Lessons
Funded May 4, 2022Thank you again for your donations. They have been used the last few months to provide highly engaging lessons and activities. Your donations have provided for history escape rooms, history mysteries, and multiple hands on activities that have allowed students to interact in both group and individual settings. Students are greatly enjoying the dynamic lessons that are being provided by the donations you made. By helping limit the amount of educational materials I need to find and create I can instead focus on the creativity that drives my classroom.
Students often approach class with a sense of excitement and curiosity as to what exactly we will be doing that day. The culture of active learning has helped students learn to love history, and the access that I have to these materials has directly helped create this love in students. Students often begin the school year not exactly liking history. By the end of the school year they often find themselves loving history because of the different things we do.
As we continue to move forward I will continue to use these gift cards to provide my students with the type of lessons that make them want to come to class and learn history.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stuchell
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 4 other donors.Building Engagement by Building History
Funded Sep 22, 2021History is a subject that many students think can never be hands on. It can never be more than reading and writing. That it must be a place where creativity goes to die. Thanks to your support history is more than just the reading we do and the writing we create. It is a world where students build and learn with their hands.
Having legos in the room is a great way to make students think not just about what they would build, but how. They have to think about the actual form of the buildings. They have to go through many of the processes, granted on a much smaller scale, that the original builders had to go through. Simply put the ability to build history has changed the dynamic in this classroom and the legos that you helped provide are doing that. I am grateful for your help and assistance.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stuchell
This classroom project was brought to life by San Diego Gas & Electric and one other donor.Interactive Systems to Make Classroom Games Great
Funded Sep 20, 2021As always I am incredibly grateful for the assistance provided for my classroom. The game systems this project provided have helped improve not only engagement in my courses but also collaboration and learning. They have simply taken my classroom to another level of interactivity.
My students when they first saw the materials were blown away that we have things like this to utilize in the classroom. In fact they are still shocked every time we get to use the bean bags or the buzzers. Normally these are not things that you would associate with a history classroom but here we are.
As we move forward my hope is to continue to find different ways to use the buzzing system. Currently we use if for faceoffs (think Family Feud) and quiz games. I want to find a way to integrate it more into the classroom as a system for self checks and a system for interactivity.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stuchell
This classroom project was brought to life by San Diego Gas & Electric and one other donor.Inspiring Lessons for Students
Funded Sep 18, 2021Thank you again for your donations. They have been used the last few months to provide highly engaging lessons and activities. Your donations have provided for history escape rooms, history CSI, and multiple hands on activities that have allowed students physically build their knowledge of history. By helping limit the amount of educational materials I need to find and create I can instead focus on the creativity that drives my classroom.
Students often approach class with a sense of excitement and curiosity as to what exactly we will be doing that day. The culture of active learning has helped students learn to love history, and the access that I have to these materials has directly helped create this love in students.
As we continue to move forward I will continue to use these gift cards to provide my students with the type of lessons that make them want to come to class and learn history.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stuchell
This classroom project was brought to life by San Diego Gas & Electric and one other donor.Lighting Our Way Through History
Funded Aug 13, 2021Thank you so much for your donation to this classroom. The impact that the replacement items has had in my classroom is truly amazing. While the lights ended up being funded a different way the legos and card stock that replaced them have made a profound impact. The legos particularly are a huge hit and something that I wish I had funded far earlier.
Many of you may be wondering what legos are doing in a middle school history classroom? The simple answer is building history and excitement for history. My students come in excited every time they know we are building our history with legos. Students who normally are shy and reserved are suddenly explode with excitement and joy. We have built African masks, Roman temples, and everything in between. It really is a joy seeing them not only argue about what they should build, but then, how to build it.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stuchell
This classroom project was brought to life by Bill Gates and 3 other donors.Inspiring Greatness Through Games/Badges
Funded Sep 18, 2021I want to thank you for your support of my classroom. Having an effective printer and badging ability has really increased the engagement and learning across my classroom. Students when they learn are working for badges immediately increase their effort and participation levels in class. These badges also grant them special privileges and access to in class competition and rewards. It's been a game changer now that it's been added to our classroom game.
Any teacher can tell you that a printer in class is an absolute necessity. They ability to immediately print and provide information for students is a life saver. There are so many times where a teacher needs a few extra copies or finds something better but cannot leave the classroom to make the appropriate copies. This changes that. This also means that if a student works better with paper copies of things instead of digital copies I can immediately provide them. Thank you again so much for your generosity.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stuchell
This classroom project was brought to life by San Diego Gas & Electric and one other donor.History Lessons for Students in Need of Inspiration
Funded Dec 10, 2020Thank you again for your wonderful donations. They have been used repeatedly the last few months to provide highly engaging lessons and activities for my students. Recently they have been used to expand our investigations into West Africa and China. Your donations have provided for history escape rooms, history CSI, and multiple hands on activities that have allowed students physically build their knowledge of history. We recently completed a history version of clue where the students answered questions to figure out who the perpetrator of the crime was. While it may not seem like much, this little switch allows the students to have fun while engaging with history.
Students often approach class with a sense of excitement and curiosity as to what exactly we will be doing that day. The culture of active learning has helped students learn to love history, and the access that I have to these materials has directly helped create this love in students. History has the opportunity to be fantastic and your help has allowed me to create fantastic lessons.
The final steps in this project are to keep utilizing these gift cards and access to keep my students engaged and learning history. I personally want to thank all of you again. You have made this incredibly tough year for our students that much better by your generosity.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stuchell
This classroom project was brought to life by San Diego Gas & Electric and 4 other donors.Supporting Teens by Support Diversity
Funded Sep 21, 2020Thank you so much for your support of my classroom. Students often struggle to identify with characters in books because so often they do not represent their race, identity, or gender. These books have brought in diverse characters for all students so that they may find heroes who not only look like them, but identify as they do as well. This is beyond important in helping to stem the tide of bullying and self harm in middle school.
In my classroom, reading is a free activity. It is not a required assignment nor are there required texts. Students have the ability to bring whatever book they want from home, or they can choose any book from my class library. If a student is particularly engaged by a book from my library I freely allow them to take that book home so they can continue. One of the keys to making a life long reader, is by helping them find stories they like. Your donation has gone a long way in making this possible.
There are several students who are greatly enjoying access to books that are from diverse perspectives. Many students of color, and students with slightly different identities have expressed shock and gratitude that there is literature in my classroom which reflects them. Those students, are the ones who are receiving the most from these works. That is again, thanks to your donation.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stuchell
This classroom project was brought to life by San Diego Gas & Electric and 4 other donors.Everyone Loves Floor Seats
Funded Aug 23, 2017Thank you for donating to my classroom. My students love the pillows. It is really awesome to watch them try to be the first ones in the classroom to make sure that they get to sit in them. Normally in middle school the students play a game of chicken with the bell. They try not to be the first ones in class because that would mean they have to spend more time there. On Fridays when I allow open seating I have a stampede of students trying to get into the pillows. I've actually had to instate rules about how we move in the classroom because they're trying to get a pillow. I'm just waiting for a People's Elbow to happen. However, with teens, speed means excitement. They are excited to come into the classroom, and this is invaluable.
As normal, when my students first saw the pillows they were incredulous that they were going to get to use them. For the past 3-6 years they've slowly had these things taken away from them as the progressed upwards. After they found out they were going to be allowed to use them and that, yes they were for them. They reacted with joy. Their smiles could easily light up the room.
My classroom is constantly a work in progress. I am always looking to tinker, to modify, to change. Everything I try to do is based on the best interests of my students. Often the changes make me uncomfortable because they are not the way that I was taught. They are not what I experienced in my classrooms. Yet, I try not to hold my classroom or my students back based on what I'm comfortable with. My next step in the classroom is to work towards free seating every day. I have the necessary seating now thanks to the pillows. This move will cause challenges in their own right, but given the flexibility that I now have, it is the way that I should be heading.
I want to thank you again for your donation to my classroom. Throughout each funded project I've received I am consistently amazed by the willingness of others to donate to students who they will most likely never meet. Your generosity makes an impact, and I cannot thank you enough for it.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Stuchell