I teach 4th grade in Tacoma, WA and my students are teeming with energy and passion. Coming from diverse backgrounds with 100% of students receiving free breakfast and lunch every day, these kids are nothing short of an inspiration. Their passion and excitement fill me with great pride in what I do as an educator.
My students are avid learners who are surely gaining independence as they approach their middle school years.
With your help, they may change the world.
My Project
Hands-on, meaningful, and relevant activities are the best way to encourage student engagement within any subject area. After learning online for so long, teachers have to be creative when designing learning opportunities in order to compete with the comforts and distractions that students were accustomed to at home.
It takes time and effort for students to get back into the routine of learning in school again and these tools will help me do that!
I remember reading Scholastic News, DynaMath and SuperScience in my elementary and middle school classrooms. They were always the highlight of the week when I had the opportunity to step away from the typical math or science lesson to learn about different areas of the field. I want to provide this same experience for my students and give them a chance to learn outside of the standards while still gaining skills and understanding related to the topic.
Additionally, I have replaced morning work with morning STEM bins to activate learning brains and create meaningful experiences to wire stronger connections in the brain. This supports students as they transition from "home" to "school" each day and is beneficial for all students, especially those impacted by trauma. My kids have absolutely loved these STEM bins even after only a week of implementation and I want to expand the STEM toy options so kids have more opportunities to explore different building mediums.
These products, the Scholastic News and STEM toys, will truly enhance my classroom and the education and engagement of my students!
More than half 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 Mrs. Stenhjem and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.