Week 2.2
How much can you give?
There are always questions regarding funding and school budgets. Not only do teachers give a tireless amount of time to their students but they also spend a lot of their own money to provide basic materials or items needed for fun projects. Rarely, do we ask to be reimbursed or cancel the project because there is no money in the school budget. We go to the dollar store and stock up on materials so that we can provide a new, exciting lesson to engage our students. I can't even begin to to tell you how many times the cashier at the dollar store has said to me, "You must be a teacher".
Let me tell you about a website that might help you pull some funding in for your classroom projects. Very exciting!!!
www.DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need.
As a teacher you can post (on this website) a need for materials for a classroom project, technology, or musical instruments.
An individual can browse the project requests and give any amount to the one that inspires them. Once a project reaches its funding goal, Donorschoose.org delivers the materials to the school.
Prior to investigating this online charity, I was skeptical about the average person's willingness to donate funds towards the purchase of a "random" teacher's classroom wishlist. What I discovered upon entering the website, however, is that by highlighting the needs of a specific classroom, one's donations become more tangible. Donors can pinpoint where and how their dollars are spent, and understand why students in that classroom will benefit from new materials.
ReplyDeleteDonorschoose.org covers the whole gambit of classroom resources, from pricy tablets, e-readers, and laptops, to what I would consider classroom "staples," like whiteboards, rugs, headphones, and CD players. Without a doubt, this site gives a peak into the funding disparities that blanket our schools. Given that teachers from high poverty schools seem to utilize this site, it is evident that they are committed to the learning needs of their students. One teacher I found requested a Wii console, so that her students will have an opportunity to increase their activity levels in the classroom. Talk about an educator who embraces the "whole child" philosophy!
Evidently, there are funds to be had for teaching supplies! Too often, I've heard teachers gripping (myself included..) about the long list of things they need, particularly related to classroom technology. Given that grants are often time consuming and few and far between, this will certainly be a site that I will visit. I see tremendous value in providing authentic opportunities for children to utilize and learn from technology.
-Andrea Rosenfield
Andrea, you make an excellent point when you mention that individual's are able to tangibly see where their money is being spent. Donorschoose is a great resource for teachers whose districts are not equally funded. It does bring to light the disparity between many school districts and the funding inequities that persist around the nation. Great point.
DeleteWhat an incredible site. I find it to be so inspirational that there are so many people that believe in education. It is true that most teachers will pull their last dollar out of thier pocket to make sure their students had what they needed for their lesson. And not hesitate to do it. Teachers are a unique breed and it is nice to see the support. I will continue to view this site and may have to use it some day and also would love to donate to other teachers that may be in more need then me.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting site; I had never heard of it before. That is really neat that random people will just donate. My daughter loves the Hunger games series and has tried to get me to read it and my first thought was about how gruesome it sounded. My husband loved it. I should have listened to Ashley as she is usually not wrong about a book. It was so interesting to see how many classrooms are using it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the site.
Tina
Isn't it amazing that anyone can just donate? Also, I feel the Hunger Game books are a great book to help engage all types of readers. When the teachers and students were telling me to read it, I was a bit skeptical too. However, when I started reading it, I couldn't put it down! The great thing about it is that it comes as a series, so students don't want to stop reading!! I am so happy to hear that this website helps support that!
DeleteWow! What a great sight! I have never heard of it and I am so happy that you shared this site. As everyone has said above, it's amazing how many people really come out to help support schools/teachers who are in need. Last year, my husband worked at a school in Hartford where there was no money for supplies for Science experiments. This website would have helped make his experiments more successful and would have helped our bank accounts a bit more. This website also shows kids about kindness and what the saying, "What goes around, comes around," actually means. This is an important message to get across to kids of all ages! Thanks for sharing and I will make sure I let everyone know about it!!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of "paying it forward!," Melissa! I wholeheartedly agree that this is the perfect forum for teaching our students how the kindness and generosity of strangers can enrich their learning experience. After all, these donors clearly view students' learning as a wise investment. For the beneficiaries of these donations - the STUDENTS and teachers - can you imagine how powerful it must be for them to see new materials entering their classroom? Donations of this magnitude convey to students, "You are worth it! We believe in your capabilities as a learner!"
Delete-Andrea
I have already been a beneficiary of donorschoose.org. When I first got hired, I wanted to have the kids create their own volcanoes but we didn't have the supplies to run the experiment. I posted my needs at donorschoose and in 4 days we had reached our goal and gotten the supplies we needed. As Melissa S. mentioned above, we need to ensure that students understand the kindness of individuals around the world who donate so generously. I'm already planning my next project and thinking what supplies I will need and ask of from donorschoose. It is fantastic to think that there are individuals out there who still cherish the aspect of giving to underfunded schools.
ReplyDeleteMichael, your comment about individuals who still cherish the aspect of giving to underfunded schools is really important. The reason I think this is so powerful is because it means people still have hope. They believe that the students in these districts can overcome the adverse conditions such as poverty to be academically successful. Sometimes I feel like many people "give up" on these districts. This is so refreshing.
DeleteI love this idea 100%. I was a bit worried at first because I wasn’t sure if people would donate to these charities. But, once I sat down and started to look at the different stories I realized that people will actually donate! I would be interested to know who these people are that are donating. I wonder if it would be teachers from other schools who have the money to get many supplies they want. When I was looking I noticed that many of the schools were from areas that do not have a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteThe best part of looking through this website was looking at all of the creativity the teachers were using to engage their children. I also noticed that many of these projects were asking for some kind of technology. It was so interesting to see the kinds of things teachers all over America were doing in their classrooms.
I was wondering the same thing. Who are these people who are helping our schools in this way? It is very encouraging to see how people are willing to help, while at the same time, is a little sad as (like you mentioned) many of these schools were from areas with little money. However, even with these disadvantages, none of those teachers are willing to give up.
Delete-Chelsea
I think it's really great that people will donate money to benefit education. It's unfortunate that some school districts nationwide are able to provide rich materials and resources for their students while schools in less wealthy areas are unable to do so. It would be really great if all schools had the same amount of resources (especially in technology) so students everywhere would have the same advantages. This website is great because you can see that many people are willing to help! Teaching is a profession where individuals give not only a lot of their time but a lot of their own money as well (and we all know teachers don't make as much as we should!!)
ReplyDelete--Diana
Diana, I agree that many wealthy areas are able to provide more rich materials and resources than high poverty areas, but there are many districts in "average" income areas that do not have funding either. When I looked at the schools in Connecticut, I noticed there were a ton of districts that were not taking advantage of the site. I wonder if it's because the teachers feel as though they have everything they need, or they pay for everything themselves, or they are just unaware of this.
DeleteI wonder how many teachers actually know about this site. I feel like if more teachers knew about this site more teachers would use it. I looked up the Connecticut schools as well and it did not seem as if a lot of different schools or even districts were using the site. Once again, I really believe if more teachers knew more and more would ask for help as well as provide help.
DeleteWhat you said is so true. There is a definite imbalance as to funding for districts and schools, which seems to be victim to a double-edged sword; wealthier towns pay higher taxes which goes into funding their resources, while lower-income areas are normally of lesser value thus lower taxes and less funding for school resources. However, many of those residing in such towns cannot afford paying more than they already are, thus these districts rely on outside funding, which is incredibly difficult to get. In this regard, this website could really save a lot of schools.
Delete-Chelsea
This is great, but what is super concerning is that I am just finding out about this website as a master's of education student. If I was not pursuing my master's in education there is a good chance that I would have never come across this website. Who are these people donating and how did they come across this site? I read a few testimonials and it seemed as though many donors were close to educators. We need to expand the awareness. We need to think of ways to give this website more publicity. The more people who are exposed to it, the more donations. Many people are more than willing to contribute but often hold back because they don't think they will make a difference. You don't have to be rich to help. Every donor brings a classroom that much closer to reaching their goal and receiving the materials they need to further advance their education. It's great to see the status's of each project as well and how close they are to achievement. I do understand that high poverty districts are in serious need of assistance, but I've also seen towns or cities that are not "high poverty" yet have non existent school budgets as well. It's all about leveling the playing field.
ReplyDeleteDear Jen: Yes absolutely. I agree with you when you say, " Many people are more than willing to contribute but often hold back because they don't think they will make a difference. You don't have to be rich to help. Every donor brings a classroom that much closer to reaching their goal and receiving the materials they need to further advance their education." However, here is the problem today...our economy. The unemployment rate is extremely high. We cannot be fooled by what the politicians say. They use a figure that is unrealistic. How can an unemployed person whose benefits expired, no longer count?
DeleteOne dollar is too expensive when you do not have one dollar. However, for those who have means, they need to be involved more since the politicians are bailing on us.
We whould include this site in our outgoing emails under our signagure. I do that with my ALLSTATE INSURANCE telephone number and email. No real help though, but even one person is a victory.
Mike Hatzikostantis
Jen,
DeleteI agree that not many people know about this website. It is important to spread the word to the many educators out there. I almost feel like because funding is limited, one's vision of being able to carry out an engaging activity or introducing a new type of technology to the school will be less likely to happen. These are the creative activities that will engage our students and help them learn through various ways.
Thank you for everyones comments. Please spread the word to professionals who may be able to take advantage of this great resources. Please also spread the word, so that people will go their to donate materials to schools in need. If anyone decides to add a project to the website...LET US KNOW!
ReplyDeleteI did not see this comment. That is exactly what I was thinking. We have to get the word out to help support our schools and teachers!
DeleteMike Hatzikostantis
http://stgeorgesundayschool.blogspot.com is my blog
Thanks Mike! I'll add it to the list.
DeleteI cannot begin to tell you how many times I heard during observations as well as student teaching how schools were short of funds and the "stuff" would not be available for teachers. This is one aspect of American politics I do not understand. Our youth are the future and it seems that politicians go after education first. Why? Teachers require resources to conduct their job properly as well as effectively. It seems to me that continued occupations of foreign countries outweigh the necessity of effectively educating our future generations. Now teaching have to seek financial help elsewhere and not from the taxes which we pay for education.
ReplyDeleteThs website may help some of these financial issues within the school system. This website is only good if more and more people find it to make donations.
Let's get the word out!
Mike Hatzikostantis
This is one aspect that I do not understand either! I do believe we need to spread the word on this website so there wilol be more donations and more people using it!
DeleteBeing a new teacher I find it hard to find supplies let alone the time to go shopping and finding new projects and fun ideas to do with my students. This is an interesting way I never would have thought about. I still cannot believe that there is a website that can actually help you out with funding in your classroom. I am still learning so many things being a new teacher and this is a great website that I will share with people I work with. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWhat an excellent way to receive funding for materials needed for an activity or lesson. During my student teaching experience, I was often at the dollar store gathering materials for a hands-on science experiment. Even though the materials were inexpensive, had I known about this website, I would've put it to use! I will be letting my cooperating teacher know about donorschooose. I'm surprised at the many resources out there for teachers.
ReplyDeleteThis is an incredible site! It really shows just how generous people can be. This site also was a bit eyeopening in regards to budgets and funding, as some of the projects were asking for things as simple as AAA/AA batteries, or a "clean" rug. Websites like this not only allow schools the opportunity to get these supplies, but also creates a platform for creating awareness as to this educational issue.
ReplyDelete-Chelsea