Celebrate Black Teachers and Students
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.
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Teacher Reynolds and Younkers from Philadelphia PA is requesting supplies through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
My students need flexible seating options to be given a choice in what kind of learning space works best for them, and help them to work collaboratively, communicate, and engage in critical thinking.
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.
One of the many things we love about teaching our students are their perspectives on life; often times although we are the teachers in the classroom they offer lessons, insight and wisdom far beyond their years.
Our students are a diverse group of learners made up of students who are struggling readers, have social and emotional needs, and a strong aversion to reading.
Our goal is to meet students where they are in order to bring them to where we need them to be. We have had the opportunity to build a class and bridge the gap in reading deficits, giving students new opportunities and knowledge. Although our guys present with tough exteriors, we have discovered with the right motivation and relationships they turn in to the energetic, engaged and wonderful boys we know they are. In our classroom, they are no longer the teenage boys who have been through difficult life situations, but instead teenage boys interacting with poetry, Shakespeare and literature.
In a school system that has not always served our students well or given the guidance and education needed, we hope to change the narrative into one that reminds them how enjoyable reading can be.
Our students often enter our classroom feeling defeated and frustrated from the struggles of reading. Research suggests that the use of flexible seating in the classroom increases motivation and engagement. This project will create a space and an environment in which students are eager to enter and learn and one tailored to the needs of individual students. The flexible seating will empower students to have a voice in a subject where most of them feel unheard. Currently our classroom has 30 student chairs with desks attached, they are a hindrance in trying to do group projects and create a rigid and traditional classroom setting.
By donating to our project, you will be helping to improve student attention, focus, engagements, ultimately improving their reading abilities.
The use of standing desks and bean bags is considering the classroom space and our students. We are creating an environment that is learner friendly. The standing desks will allow students who find it difficult to sit still to have the option to stand during instruction, this is brain-friendly for students who need movement. The bean bag chairs create a compatible element that allows for a safe space for reflective thinking and movement around the room, all of which will be giving students the choice. Students will be able to concentrate better and participate in activities like listening to poetry and finding somewhere in the room to close their eyes in order to respond to discussion questions about theme and emotions. It is so imperative to not overlook the impact a learning space can have on a student so that they can become involved in the process of learning. Our students are future adults, it is so necessary we equip them with the right skills to allow themselves to be successful in the classroom and grow responsibility.
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