Christmas has just come a little early in room 409! I just got word that my Donors Choose project if fully funded!!
I want to give you a description of what that is just in case you aren't familiar. (If you are, please jump up and down for me because you KNOW how excited I am!!) Donors Choose is a way to post an online "wish list" (called a project). It's a list of things YOU choose, things you need for your classroom (but it could even be a field trip or something like that.) It's very similar to getting a grant, but your project is funded in parts according to the donations your receive. You write about the supplies you've chosen (some people need furniture - like a horseshoe table- or some need a class set of books, etc...) and how you will specifically use them with the kids. That has to be submitted and approved.
Then the fun part...you shop! I chose everything from Lakeshore Learning that I thought I could really use in math or reading centers this year (magnetic letters, stamper letters, nonfiction literacy center, Hot Dots [so cool], math money center, large bulletin board coins, etc...) It was really just everything I had ever wished for since we've been doing Daily 5 and Guided Math!
At first the donations were kind of slow. You leave your project up for three months. I sent emails to family (didn't have the heart guts nerve to send it to friends, but lots of people put their link on Facebook.) I had about 5 donations over about 2 months but was a couple of hundred dollars shy of my funding. A local mall manager even offered to double donations through October!! I don't even know her, so it was very sweet. Then one night I checked email. Someone, a total stranger, had funded the rest of my project!! BOOM, all done. That was just AMAZING to me. Someone I don't even know cared about my kids. That made me wanna cry, so I did.
When you decide to do a project there is really nothing to lose! It costs nothing to try. Totally worth it!! I encourage you to try it. Here is an excellent video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUSdjfh2YjM
I would be glad to answer any questions you have about Donor's Choose (if I can!) I'll post pictures when the goodies arrive!! The kids are going to have so much fun!!
If you've done a project, tell me about it in the comments section!
