My classroom consists of 20 wonderful, eager four year olds. (ESL, Inclusion, regular ed). My classroom is a family. We work together to make sure every student is welcome, loved, engaged, and meeting their goals.
I foster a love for learning, a love for nature, a respect for our country and our state, and compassion for one another.
Learning is fun and engaging. We share lots of laughs and frustrations as we grow and learn together. Children learn responsibility for their room as well as for their learning. They are responsible for class attendance, taking care of our many class reptiles (snakes, turtles, lizards), cleaning and inspecting the room, leading group, leading pledges, and monitoring their growth on our skills charts. Once a child reaches the top of a skills chart, they begin peer tutoring and encouraging their classmates on their climb to the top.
My Project
I believe we should teach children how to think and not what to think. Research shows that schools are doing a great job of teaching children facts and how to solve mathematical equations but we are often taking away the creativity and real world problem solving skills. These skills are just as important and educators are beginning to find ways of teaching facts and computations as well as creativity and problem solving. As a preschool teacher, I spend a great deal of time teaching the foundations, all the letters, sounds, numbers, etc. that children need to be successful in upper grades and life. I also build a love of learning and foster the natural creativity and curiosity children are born with. In order to be more successful in continuing this and teaching children how to think rather than what to think, I need more innovative materials in my classroom.
I want my students to grow to their full potential in my classroom and to do this, they need to make a few mistakes in a safe environment and work through solutions in a collaborative or independent manner.
Money raised would be used to buy open ended materials, such as STEM kits and a microscope. Materials that can be used more than one way. Materials that encourage creativity and problem solving. Materials that allow for mistakes, evaluating the issue, and finding a better solution. We learn our best lessons from our failures that we work through.
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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 Ms. Malloy and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
