Friday, April 21, 2006

Send the Magic School Bus soaring!

Over the years, I've received a few hundred dollars worth of supplies through DonorsChoose, a website where teachers write short proposals for classroom projects, and donors contribute small amounts of money to make these projects possible. So it's nice to be able to turn it around and participate in BloggersChoose, their new fund-raising campaign.

This is how it works: I've set a goal: $4000. I'm averaging 400 readers per day, so that's $10 per reader... not even the cost of a movie ticket here in New York. I browsed the proposals on DonorsChoose and picked out a few to start with. It's vacation, and I'm feeling ambitious, so I think I'll profile one proposal every couple of days (we'll see if that really happens once school starts again). Here's my challenge to you: click on one of the many buttons I've dropped around the site - or click here - and give ten dollars (or more) to help these teachers improve science teaching & learning in New York City! (I already started it off...)

Proposal of the day: Budding Six Year Old Scientists Need Your Help!
I teach kindergarten in Brooklyn, NY. At our school, Science is considered a cluster class, meaning a different teacher provides instruction to my students. Unfortunately, my class was one of the several kindergarten classes left out of the science rotation this year. My proposal is to fund hands-on science experiment kits from Delta Education so that I can effectively provide my class with the instruction they are missing out on.

6 Comments:

Blogger yomister said...

I'm a huge fan of DonorsChoose. I've had every proposal I've written this year (7 in total) funded. These materials have made such a signifcant contribution to my classroom. I can't express how thankful I am to these anonymous donors.

That said, the blogger challenge is a great idea. I'm in and I've linked to the site!

5:26 PM  
Blogger Jenny D. said...

I;m sending you $10. And I'm so thrilled that you and my TFA recruit may meet. She is full of possibilities. Thanks.

8:24 PM  
Blogger Miss Dennis said...

Did anyone else have shipping issues with Donors Choose? They sent my books to the wrong address! I did get the books in the end, but not for 5 months after two lovely women made the full donation for my unit. These women and I had to fight with a Donors Choose employee to get her to resolve the problem. So now I'm hesitant to submit more proposals. But it's obviously a great cause overall. Not trying to be a bubble burster, just my experience.

3:10 AM  
Blogger Miss Dennis said...

Also, by the way, off topic, but is it Turkey you're hoping to go to as a Fulbright? Let us know as soon as you find out! They'd be crazy not to work their asses off finding you a match.

3:23 AM  
Blogger Old Stump said...

Tell me how it is possible to "leave a few kindergarten classed out of the rotation" and I'll donate $10. I'm peeved - education should be the same for all! It is grossly unfair and inequitable that some classes are merely "left out".

8:24 PM  
Blogger ms. v. said...

Mike - I'm peeved, too, but not at all surprised that some kindergarten classes might be left out of the science rotation. It's a minor miracle that ANY of the kindergarten classes were getting science... many elementary schools save science for fourth grade, the year of the state test. In my first school here in NYC, a middle school, the higher-tracked classes got the "extras" like foreign language, art, music, etc. Some classes got science every day, others only 4 days a week. Talk about the rich getting richer.

Anyway, I highlighted that grant proposal first specifically because of the inequity, and I hope you'll do what you can to help this teacher correct the situation.

1:28 PM  

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