This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
My students are African American students from a neighborhood school that has struggled with very poor academic achievement scores. The good news is that help is on the way as our school is in a state of change. We are a Turnaround Network School. This means that we are trying to raise our school out from the bottom and up toward the top.
Hope for a better future keeps us all going!
New staff, new curriculum, and special trainings for staff are all happening to help us reach our goals. We need materials for creative and engaging work that can capture a sense of hope and positive self-esteem.
My Project
Our current classroom rug is divided into dizzying patchwork squares with individualized illustrations in each square. This is very problematic because all the different colors and patterns create distractions for the students. Some are distracted during meeting time or when I teach at the board, they play with the rug. The new rug which I am requesting will give us a solid calming background to sit on which will help us to focus better on the tasks at hand.
This large blue area rug will support a sense of calmness which can combat inattentive behavior, decrease anxiety and stress, and provide a stable background for floor and wall learning.
The solid blue color will offer no visual distractions. Some of our students come from stressful home and community environments, and the cool solid blue area of space will help provide a sense of security and comfort. This rug can also provide a stable background for floor work such as gaint number lines, robots, and giant math ten frames and 100 boards by offering a non-confusing background to place work on.
Finally, I am required to hang up multiple posters in the classroom. Students can easily become overwhelmed with text. It is important to have areas in the room for the eyes to rest. Rest points help people better focused on focal points or areas that the eyes can be easily drawn. This blue rug will create a resting stop for the eyes and help my students to focus better and read all the text on the walls. My current patchwork rug is overly stimulating, and I need this blue rug.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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 Ms. Haebel and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.