I am a fifth-grade reading teacher in a low-income school district. I teach over 100 students per day. My students are faced with challenges in and out of the classroom. Despite the many difficulties some face, they come to school eager to learn. They fill me with hope and pride. I need to provide my students with creative and meaningful learning experiences.
Maker spaces within schools provide powerful contexts and opportunities for students to learn and develop new skills.
Storytelling is a type of making. Students shift from being passive learners to active, engaged creators, and inventors. Without a doubt, I believe that all students are capable of reaching their dreams.
My students love positive attention and thrive in my classroom where from the minute they walk in the door, I focus on their potential and growth. I let every student know that they are capable of great things. I cannot control their home lives, but I can certainly control their experience during the school day. I am that teacher who inspires and allows children to think about their future.
My Project
The maker’s movement encourages hands-on, open-ending learning and when creative dreaming and designing are intertwined with literacy instruction, students learn to “play with a story”. Students who often struggle in a traditional reading classroom can remix and focus on designing stories. There is no right way or wrong way to tell a story and with maker’s space materials and design, students expand on what a story is and are challenged to tinker with different approaches. Reading and writing take on a different feeling when students are engaged in free form exploration and building.
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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. Wachs and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
