Bryant McGill states, “Curiosity is one of the great secrets of happiness.”
If I had to choose one word to describe my students, it would be curious.
They are curious about the world around them and love to explore that world through shared experiences. I teach over 90 students throughout my day. Each of those 90 students has a unique story to tell. While in my classroom, I want them to feel welcome to share it. One way to promote a class community and a sense of belonging is to surround my students with items that make them feel comfortable and welcome. I want them to feel that they are part of a larger team when they look around my classroom. It is a goal of mine to encourage team work, build social skills, and form a classroom community through solving puzzles together.
My Project
Classroom communities are important. When students feel like they are part of a community they are much more likely to become active participants in the learning environment. Whenever I think about being a part of a family or community, I think about holidays spent around a kitchen table working on puzzles. The feeling of accomplishing a 1000 piece puzzle over the course of a weekend or holiday break is rewarding and satisfying. Puzzles are a great tool to bring people together.
I want to build a collection of puzzles that my students will be excited to work on as a team.
I currently have a small collection of puzzles and Rubik’s Cubes, but my students are solving them at a rapid-fire pace. It is easy to say that if I were to introduce new puzzles into he classroom, they would be put to good use in no time.
I know that many may be wondering when my students would even have time to work on puzzles since we are busy learning each and every minute of our class period. My students are expected to work hard and focus during their two period core class. As a reward, they are given a four minute “brain break” during the passing periods. This is when many students will gather around the back counter to work on the puzzle or walk around class solving the Rubik’s Cubes. You'd be surprised how much my students can accomplish in their four minute break.
Last, a major focus this year at our school is addressing our student’s social and emotional learning (SEL). Adding puzzles into my classroom and supporting classroom community are a part of that focus. Thank you so much for considering donating to this project.
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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 Mrs. Johnson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
