I teach in a rural, public elementary school with 400 students, grades 4K-6. Many students choose to participate in sports, Destination Imagination, music and band. We keep our class sizes small, with 16-20 students in each classroom in grades K-3. In this way we can offer as much personal attention to each child’s needs as possible.
My students are sweet and full of potential, but the poverty level is high with over a 50% free and reduced lunch population.
None the less, my school tries very hard to afford all students the same opportunities, no matter what social or economic situation may exist in their lives. All students are offered free breakfast and we have a peer mentoring program, run by our high school students, that attends to the primary student’s socio-emotional needs and offers free supper as well.
Personally, I take time to get to know each child in my classroom as a whole person. My goal throughout the year is to understand their academic strengths and weaknesses as well as their character strengths and weakness. I love being their friend, teacher and hopefully a role model.
My Project
My classroom is inclusive. This means that all types of student needs can be found in my classroom, including students with extra energy. As a teacher, I know that every student needs something different to maximize learning. Some students need to see pictures, some need to hear rhymes and some students need to move as they learn. To help the students who constantly move to calm their sensory systems, I have tried metal stools, crate seats, cushions and carpet squares to offer flexible seating. As a result, my students have repeatedly fallen off the metal stools and tipped over their crate seats, so my problem is finding furniture that can safely allow my students to move and sit at a table without distracting themselves or distracting others in the class.
I feel wobble stools will be a solution for those students who need to move and learn.
I have researched these stools and I found that they do not tip over and they safely fulfill the need for movement by my active students. I have talked to two teachers that have these stool in their classrooms and they recommend them highly. I feel my students with the most energy deserve a learning environment that is least restrictive and having these students in class, with me, moving on these stools is the best educational environment I can offer them. For this reason, I would like to have these stools in my classroom.
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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. Jaime Robinson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.