My students need three Six-Leaf Activity Tables to actively engage in project based learning with dynamic face-to-face conversations while keeping a safe traffic flow.
My students come to school excited to learn about and explore their world every day! Our school is the only elementary school in our small town, so we really are a tight-knit family. They are little sponges who absorb new learning opportunities, and tackle every challenge they are presented with, including challenges they faced during and after Hurricane Harvey. My kiddos are champions and will always persevere and therefore I will do whatever it takes to ensure they have what they need to succeed.
My Project
Think about the last time you went to a conference or business meeting. You probably walked in, scanned the room for your assigned desk where you could neatly tuck your belongings under a 3x2 workspace and face one direction keeping all of your brilliant ideas also neatly tucked inside, right? Oh, wait, you didn’t actually expect that you were going to be able to learn and grow from others, did you? You were probably hoping to create connections and participate in dynamic conversations, enhancing your own ideas and sharing experiences with your teammates, weren’t you? My point is I’m guessing when you are doing your best learning and growing, you aren’t typically seated at desks, but rather in a collaborative learning environment that promotes lively fellowship and exchange of ideas. Well, that’s both my vision and my passion for my 2nd graders.
The challenge I currently face is that desks have been a mainstay in classrooms for as long as anyone can remember and although once thought of to build individual achievement and keep classrooms neat and tidy, society has moved beyond the need for employees to work independently using only resources found within their current reach (or in our case, desks).
Classrooms today are less of a square head (standard desks) and more of a round hole (collaborative learning environments with more flexible seating options). Our students need skills that involve the use of shared engagement techniques such as researching, teamwork, and presenting. It is vital to develop such knowledge and skills and have my students master them in real-life situations. These skills are necessary for students living in a world where cooperation and successful partnerships are required in their future careers and in life.
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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. Konvicka and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
