What would happen if we let our students be themselves... and move?
I am a special education teacher in an urban magnet school focused on the Reggio Emilia Approach.
I have a unique job as I am the first special education teacher involved in this approach to learning. But what makes my job even more unique is my students. I work with the most amazing students who face barriers and challenges everyday that I can barely fathom. Each day they come into our classroom with an eagerness to learn and grow. Everyday they display the most remarkable strength, perseverance, and hope that I have ever seen. Regardless of their challenges they come into our room and push forward, continue to thirst for knowledge, and do so with the greatest smile upon their faces. In short, my students inspire me daily, not only to be a better teacher but to be a better person.
My Project
To help you get a glimpse of how these materials would be used in our classroom let me illustrate a time with these students and these materials. Imagine this, five second and third graders enter my resource room with an eagerness to learn and a drive to master the skill of reading. When they come in they choose a Hokki stool that allows them to move which satisfies their needs but does not disturb others. With this small movement my students are able to focus on a short mini lesson about word families, today we are looking at -ill. After listening attentively and experimenting with these word patterns we transition into the gym across the hall, here they find scooter boards placed at the beginning of an obstacle course. A course in which they must work together to create words using the word families that we have been studying. Through this course they are learning how to work together, cementing their knowledge of word families, and doing it all through a gross motor activity.
These materials would help my students to focus and learn during our time together.
I truly believe that this project would help my students reach their greatest potential, which I know is possible. Your support would be greatly appreciated and your donations would be utilized everyday. In short help me help my students be who they are and learn how they learn... through movement.
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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. Boyle and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.