Monday, September 20, 2010

Ancient Egypt and our Donors Choose Projects

Sounds like a weird combination of topics, I know. I am using the Ancient Egypt project as an opportunity for students to use all of the materials from both projects.

We have the standing desk assembled and the students used it for the first time today. Our stools are ready to go and I just need to adjust the table for their use. The two boys who used the standing desk today really liked it!

The students begin their Ancient Egypt project this week and will be doing research and working on a written paper as well as a visual model or PowerPoint. Students who work on their projects in class using computers will be able to save their work to the new flash drives to protect them and bring them to be reviewed and printed. I realized that flash drives are a hard item for students to be excited about, so incorporating them into our research project will enable the students to see their worth.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Our class is so fortunate!


Once again, Sonic completed my project! Although they were not the only ones who contributed to the funding here. There were individual donors (like Sherry and Deborah and others) as well as everyone who participated in the Bing promotion earlier this summer.
The funding of this project truly shows that it takes many people to successfully educate the youth of our country.

So, now onto the next phase of our project. Before we actually put them into full use, we have to thank our donors. Once all of the materials arrive, we write thank you notes and take photographs of the students using the materials from the projects.

Permissions slips have been sent home and I have quite a number of them back already. These are required before I can take pictures of any student and publish them on DonorsChoose. The students are all required to write a thank-you note, which fits with our education standards which require them to know how to write a friendly letter. Each student is required to write a thank you note, as they are graded! Some think that if they do not return the permission slip, they do not have to write the notes! Wrong.

I have already received the materials for the "Save Me!" project: These arrived on Friday. The kids were a little underwhelmed by them, but once they understand what these items will do, they will be more excited.





Our Standing Desk has been purchased, I am anxiously awaiting its arrival. I have already warned Vince that he may be needed for assembly!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Limeades for Learning Update

A HUGE thank you to everyone who voted for "Save Me!" during the first week of Sonic's Limeades for Learning promotion.

I received notice on Friday that "Save Me!" has been funded by Sonic!

Well, actually, I was on the Limeades site, checking to see how many votes the project had. I did a search and only one project showed up in the search results. I was confused and then had that little thrill that told me that "maybe" the project had been funded.


Sure enough, when I checked my school email in-box, there was the notice!
http://www.limeadesforlearning.com/projects/view/396383

I did the happy dance
And then proceeded to let everyone on Facebook know that we had been successful!

I know that without everyone's help and votes, this project would still be pending. I am glad that I have wonderful friends and family, and that my friends and family have wonderful friends and family! I know that it takes more than one person to educate a child. Together we all make a difference for our children's future, which is our future.

So, this is a very heartfelt Thank You to each and every one of you who voted last week and who are still voting this week. My other project "Sit,Stand or Lounge?" http://limeadesforlearning.com/projects/view/395955
is at 137 votes and counting. Thank you for voting for my projects.
I hope that once my projects are funded, you will continue to vote for someone's project. If Limeades For Learning reaches 1 million votes before the end of September, they will make another $100,000 available for public school teachers. So, while I will have benefited already, there are thousands of other teachers who will benefit as well.

Thank you.