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
I teach in a Title I school where all of our students receive free breakfast and lunch. My students live in a low income, urban area in southeast Kansas City, Missouri. The students who I work with come from diverse economic backgrounds . Many deal with stresses outside of the school that no child should have to deal with. Yet they come to school each day excited to learn and are excited to be at school. Teaching students in financially struggling areas doesn't mean they do not want or deserve what others have, it means as their teacher we must balance the pendulum to open up a world of learning.
I want my students to feel loved, cared for, and know they are special!
I love to be creative when teaching. I encourage my students to be comfortable, feel like they are at home in their classroom, and move around to where they are comfortable. Through flexible seating options my students are able to learn in ways that provide the best learning opportunities for them. Donors Choose is providing my class opportunities to enhance and enrich young minds and provide examples of kindness and selflessness.
My Project
Neuroscience shows that regular, high levels of stress keep students from learning well. Unfortunately, many children in our economically depressed community do live in high-stress environments. I plan to utilize the alternative seating to not only entice my students to get a book and find a comfortable place to read, but as a place to calm down and de-stress. For a child in crisis, a book can be a great way to de-escalate and travel to a different place and time away from the day to day stress inducers.
Comfortable seating for independent reading time is also important as it increases the desire to curl up with a good book when there is a place that makes us want to relax with a book.
Many of my struggling readers find it hard to concentrate when sitting in a hard chair at their desk. They are more likely to get a book and curl up in a beanbag chair than sit at their desk with a book. I feel that when students can be comfortable while reading they begin to see it as a stress reducing activity rather than a stress inducing activity.
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. Acosta and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
