My students need a Kimochis Educator Toolkit to build socio-emotional skills, tolerance and understanding, and character growth.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Belany's classroom raised $770
This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Students
My students are energetic, shy, inquisitive 1st graders. Ethnically our school is about 55% Latino, 20% African-American, 10% Asian, and 5% White. About 50% of my students are English Language Learners of varying abilities, and the rest are native English speakers. They attend a Title I, inner-city school in a community oriented neighborhood. My students and their families enjoy participating in school sponsored events.
My students desire to be challenged academically, grow exponentially, and learn mindfully.
In spite of the economic disparities and other difficulties my students face, I believe that they all can achieve greatness.
My Project
In addition to teaching the basics--reading, writing, and math--teachers must respond to students emotional needs and model appropriate responses to sometimes disappointing life situations. My school has adopted a Positive Behavior Intervention System (PBIS) approach to responding to classroom and playground issues that arise. Along with the PBIS approach, my students need tools to help them become self-aware and learn socially appropriate problem solving techniques.
Through developing relationship skills, empathy, self management, and responsible decision making my students will grow as well rounded learners and respectful citizens.
Through the use of the Kimochis kit I will have access to a social-emotional curriculum, and be able to direct lessons where students identify their feelings, and the feelings of others through stories, acting, and the use of plush animals that represent different emotions. The toolkit will guide my students to act out different scenarios they may encounter and identify how the plushes or classmates may feel during those encounters. With the Kimochi toolkit my students will be able to use plush feelings to problem solve disputes and and gain empathy through recognizing when someone may feel left out, angry, or frustrated. Through building my students' emotional intelligence, my students will be better equipped to handle situations that arise during the school day, and have greater academic success. With so many problems in our world, by teaching the youngest learners how to self regulate and identify their emotions, I can help them becomes agents of change in a more tolerant and problem-solving community.
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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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. Belany and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.