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This teacher needs your help!

Mr. Van Deventer from Bettendorf IA is requesting books through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Mr. Van Deventer is requesting

Makey Makey My Kids' Dreams

My students need kits for Makey Makey devices to encourage programming skills, critical thought, and an understanding of circiuts.

  • $592 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

My Students

I am privileged to work with energetic, chaotic, open-minded, and ambitious 7th graders who have a love for science. Every day brings new challenges and my goal is to keep them guessing, problem-solving, and designing better ways to think and learn. They come from diverse backgrounds and are constantly excited to demonstrate the "A-ha" moments that come up in their learning. Their passion for learning is what keeps me in this field.

These mini-engineers are cultivating a scientific mindset that will come to dominate the way they perceive the world.

It is this mindset and it's importance that led our school to begin our journey with project based learning. The students have loved it and the teachers are always eager to deeply entrench kids in personalized learning with authentic audiences. Our science wing especially has extended learning well past the walls of our school showing kids that science is real and explainable.

My Project

My students need entry level, hands on activities, to introduce them to programming, coding, and basic circuits. Skills such as these will be essential in the job market of their future and starting the process as early as possible can open their eyes to potential careers. The Makey Makey kits are exceptional at encouraging students to explore their own interests in innovative ways. A colleague of mine has created a self-paced course designed to introduce students to these topics and I am eager to take advantage of it! It includes students designing games, creating musical instruments, and using various mediums as conductors.

There is nothing quite like sitting back and watching students discover scientific concepts by themselves in a purposeful way.

This project will be a springboard for what will hopefully be a long list of engineering and programming projects for my students to work with. I look forward to preparing them for their future and fun projects like this are perfect for starting that journey!

The website he created is below:

https://sites.google.com/view/makeyproject/self-paced-course-1?authuser=0

Thanks to Aaron Mauer

Mr. Van Deventer
Grades 6-8
  • Bettendorf Middle School
  • Bettendorf, IA
    • More than a third of students from low‑income households

    This project will reach 155 students.

    6 donors have given to this project.

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Makey Makey • Nasco $49.95 8 $399.60

Materials cost

$399.60

Vendor shipping charges

 $39.96

Sales tax

 $27.37

3rd party payment processing fee

$5.99

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$502.92

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$88.75

Total project goal

$591.67

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $591.67

4 Donors

-$512.26

Donations toward project cost

-$502.92

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$9.34

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$79.41

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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Project Activity

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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 Mr. Van Deventer and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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