Friday Fund Days: Drop Some Dollars And Help Some Classrooms

With the world being a difficult place for those of any marginalized background, one of the things those of us who are looking to do something can do is donate to those in need. Thousands of teachers each year ask for a little help with seeking supplies for their classrooms via Donors Choose; organizations that do work with at-risk communities like prison populations seek spare change to advocate for and bring literacy to those groups and nonprofits that provide necessary resources to empower women and people of color are always hoping for a few bucks to make their vital work possible.
Enter: Friday Fund Days.
Book Riot readers have helped fund hundreds of classrooms over the last few years, and we’ll help bring funds to hundreds more. Each Friday, we’ll highlight two classrooms or other literacy-focused, important projects in hopes you’ll help them reach their goals to bring literature, advocacy, and education to others.
Even if you can’t spare money, any social sharing you can offer to the projects each week absolutely helps: you never know who’ll find it and have the means by which to make the project’s fundraising goals reached. More, you’ll bring awareness to the unmet needs in communities around the world, as well as right in your own back yard.
When all else feels hard or hopeless, remember that you can and do make a difference.

This Week’s Projects

Behavior Calming Classroom Tools, Sensory Items, Social and Emotional Learning, Armijo Elementary School, Albuquerque, NM. $376

Help me give my students these sensory items. Sensory input allows children to refine their thresholds for different sensory information, helping their brain to create stronger connections to sensory information and what is useful or not.

My Students

I am a special education (Social Emotional Support) teacher at my elementary school. The Social-Emotional Support Services Programs provide the district special education service to students who require intensive behavioral and emotional support. Highly specialized, intensive, comprehensive alternatives for students are utilized in order to facilitate positive behavioral changes in a safe school environment. Each program maintains a low pupil/teacher ratio. SESS programs have at least one educational assistant in each classroom and appropriate related service providers to meet individual needs. Instructional emphasis is placed on acquisition of skills in the following areas: Social/emotional skills, Communication, Applied academics, Prevocational/vocational skills, Life skills, Independence in daily living, Play skills, and Group compliance skills.

our elementary is a special place and a safe haven for all and we would be grateful for any donation which you find necessary.

Our school averages 14:1 student to teacher ratio and a 454:1 counselor to student ratio. The student demographics consist of 94% Hispanic, 3% White, 1% Black, and < two or more races. Our students are much like hidden figures, they are full of intelligence and love yet often face the consequences of constant teacher turnover and extreme poverty.

My Project

Children and even adults learn best and retain the most information when they engage their senses. Many of our favorite memories are associated with one or more of our senses: for instance, the smell of a summer night campfire or a song you memorized the lyrics to with a childhood friend. Now, when your nostrils and eardrums are stimulated with those familiar smells and sounds respectively, your brain triggers a flashback memory to those special times.

Providing opportunities for children to actively use their senses as they explore their world through ‘sensory play’ is crucial to brain development – it helps to build nerve connections in the brain’s pathways.

This leads to a child’s ability to complete more complex learning tasks and supports cognitive growth, language development, gross motor skills, social interaction and problem-solving skills.

Flexible Seating, Like a Boss!, Louisiana Schnell Elementary School, Placerville, CA. $112

Help me give my students flexible seating to create a classroom environment where student are able to be the designers of their own learning.

My Students

I currently teach 25 amazing students that qualify for free lunch and breakfast programs at our school. It is a diverse class, both culturally and linguistically, that includes students with specific learning disabilities, to gifted and talented students. I am constantly seeking new ways to provide opportunities for growth almost my students.

Teaching students skills that enable them to engage in optimal learning by choosing who they work well with and where they work best.

My goal is for students to leave third grade knowing how they learn best.

My Project

Studies have shown no that in cooperating flexible seating gives students the option to control their physical environments in which they work best. In other words, with choices, students gain greater flexibility and control of their surroundings giving them the autonomy and comfort to stay engaged and focused. (Wright, C., 2018) Therefore by using wobble seats, stadium seats, and folding tables students will be able to have access to the specific style that suits the individual student.