I am a full-time teacher in the REACH program, which is a self-contained special education program that currently has six students. The REACH program is an intensive, specialized program that is focused on increasing student learning, engagement and behavior using a multi-sensory, multi-faceted approach. The focus of the classroom is reading and mathematics along with social skills and self-advocacy.
My position is unique and I am very fortunate because I have been teaching the same group of students for three years now.
This allows me to know and understand my students' needs very well. I am able to see their academic, behavior and social gains and they have made so much progress! I have taken a group of multi-age, multi-grade students and fostered a classroom culture that encourages acceptance, fosters independence, develops friendships and creates a love for learning.
My students love to learn with hands-on approaches, using manipulatives to demonstrate understanding. They love to use high-interest readers to learn about topics.
My Project
My school is located in a rural farming community in the heart of Southern Illinois. Our current school enrollment is 225 students, pre-kindergarten through 8th grade, with one classroom teacher per grade level. Our small school size helps increase our ability to engage students in community-based learning opportunities such as a school garden. The students who attend this school are exposed to agriculture every day, from the corn and soybean fields that surround our area to the local farmers’ market.
Agriculture is a major part of life in Southern Illinois, and in our school, many students have a relative in the agriculture industry.
In our area, seeing a tractor on the highway is a common occurrence. We want to enhance our current school garden to increase awareness of agriculture and engage students with hands-on learning opportunities outside of the general classroom. To do this, we need to reestablish the current school garden we have. Right now, it is a weedy area that has four raised beds. This project will help us beautify the area to increase student usage. We will use the weed barrier to line the raised beds and heavily mulch the area. We will use the soaker hoses to help the students with consistent watering techniques.
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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. Yates and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
