I chose Ms. Donohue's DonorsChoose because it was the first one that popped up when you choose to find a classroom on the homepage. This must mean that the DonorsChoose people are promoting her classroom because she has gotten several donors to donate to her project. I decided to check it out. Her request is to provide new furniture and supplies for her classroom that aren't falling apart. Her materials are old and many students don't feel encouraged when the environment of the classroom is not inviting. She emphasizes in her project that "The environment we are in has a profound impact on our well-being and ability to learn." One thing I didn't really understand about her request was how this environment would affect these kids to reach their full potential. In all honesty, I think lacking in supplies would help these students find innovative ways to make do with what they have. But I do agree that if I was a student I would want an inviting classroom environment. Perhaps it would give them more motivation to actually learn and WANT to learn. One of the supplies she asked for those was questionable. I don't think she would need "Sensory Chew Necklace Sets" I am not sure how that would be prevalent in the learning environment. I would need more info as to why these would be NEEDED. They could be a choking hazard and not even recommended for babies. I think she did well by explaining what kind of learners she has and who this would effect and why. And I think most of her supplies are prevalent beside the 'necklaces.' I think she could have done a better job of explaining in detail how having a better inviting learning environment affects these students instead of saying helping them reach their full potential. I can't imagine what full potential is and want something more concrete that I can measure. I liked Mrs. DeStefano's project because it involved students and families. These backpacks she wants to create would be apart of STEAM learning which includes Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. I like the aspect of creating these backpacks to take home and work on them with their families. She emphasizes that "Our students enjoy coming to school every day, where they can learn to become critical thinkers, leaders, and collaborative learners in a safe environment." These backpacks would be given to students to take home and create something that would solve a problem in today's world. I think this is innovative and great for critical thinking skills. Every backpack would include performance expectations, procedures, safety notes, extensions, online and local resources, materials for that activity, a student recording sheet, and a feedback form. The teacher did well with explaining what was needed and how it would be used. Her needs and supplies are reasonable for this project and this project would go along with the guidelines of her teaching area: Environmental sciences. However, I would critique that I'm not sure how she will verify family involvement. As much as we would like to think families would be involved in helping their child, it just isn't realistic in our world. But I applaud her for trying. I think I would have liked to also see a specific example of what one of the STEAM projects a student would bring home. That would have been interesting for a donor to be intrigued by if donating.
Ms. Campbell's project is a school garden. She chose this project for her agricultural class, which I had no idea even existed. She wants to do this because she wants her students to have the joy of growing their own food as well as providing food perhaps to their school or community. She emphasizes that "Proper resources are sometimes not easy to come, but together we can provide hands-on opportunities for learning in the classroom." She says about 90% of the students are on free and reduced lunches so they don't have the proper funds and resources to do this. She gives specifics of what class will participate in this project: 7th and 8th grade Ag classes. She states that the students' GOAL is to "take plants from seed to harvest and be able not only to enjoy the process but enjoy the fruits of their labor. Students will be able to take home fresh vegetables and the classes can donate fresh vegetables to our school and community." I think the teacher does well by stating the GOAL of the project. I like the wording of it too because it's specific. I think this is a great project for her Agriculture class and shows how to farm which is an important aspect of agriculture. I also like that they can expand this project by also providing food for students and/or community. I like the whole community outreach aspects of it. I noticed that this project has no donors yet and maybe the teacher needs to reach out to her community via email/social media/or fellow educators to helps fund or make aware of her project. I think her emphasized statement could have been more detailed. All she said was that proper resources were hard to come by, I would have liked to know what these proper resources are that she is referring to and why these tools are necessary for learning.
Ms. Campbell's project is a school garden. She chose this project for her agricultural class, which I had no idea even existed. She wants to do this because she wants her students to have the joy of growing their own food as well as providing food perhaps to their school or community. She emphasizes that "Proper resources are sometimes not easy to come, but together we can provide hands-on opportunities for learning in the classroom." She says about 90% of the students are on free and reduced lunches so they don't have the proper funds and resources to do this. She gives specifics of what class will participate in this project: 7th and 8th grade Ag classes. She states that the students' GOAL is to "take plants from seed to harvest and be able not only to enjoy the process but enjoy the fruits of their labor. Students will be able to take home fresh vegetables and the classes can donate fresh vegetables to our school and community." I think the teacher does well by stating the GOAL of the project. I like the wording of it too because it's specific. I think this is a great project for her Agriculture class and shows how to farm which is an important aspect of agriculture. I also like that they can expand this project by also providing food for students and/or community. I like the whole community outreach aspects of it. I noticed that this project has no donors yet and maybe the teacher needs to reach out to her community via email/social media/or fellow educators to helps fund or make aware of her project. I think her emphasized statement could have been more detailed. All she said was that proper resources were hard to come by, I would have liked to know what these proper resources are that she is referring to and why these tools are necessary for learning.