More Donor's Choose Gift Cards...

The three gift certificates from Donors Choose that I gave away on Tuesday were able to fund three exciting classroom projects.  I was shocked that they were gone in 30 minutes so this time I want to give a chance to people who don't happen to be sitting at their computer at the right moment.  I have two $25 gift certificates (thanks to the Donor's Choose Board of Directors) that you can use to help fund important projects in classrooms across America. If you are interested, from now until Saturday at noon (eastern time) please leave one comment to this post with your email and a link to a project at Donor's Choose that you would like to help fund.  Please make sure to leave your e-mail so that I can send you the giftcard. I will randomly select two entries to each receive a $25 gift card! I hope that you are enjoying the giveaways as much as I am :)

For more information about the awesome non-profit Donor's Choose and how even $5 can make a difference, please see my earlier blog post.

And for examples of the types of projects you can help fund, please see below for the three that were partially funded with the first three gift certificates (and could use some more help). I've included a very short synopsis but I encourage you to visit their pages for more information.

The first project: (I think these look so cool and I would have loved using them in school!)
"I'm requesting a classroom set of Boogie Board paperless LCD writing tablets. I've been doing reading on these boards and have found that they would be perfect in my classroom. They are small enough to not take up a lot of storage space. They don't use up the battery except when you erase what you have on your screen. But, probably the best part is that they will keep my students engaged as they respond to questions and use them to write their spelling words and math problems."


The second project:
"I teach the most wonderful group of special needs Pre-K and Kindergarten students. My goal is to create a "World Class" Early Learning Environment that encourages reading through a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Curriculum. I want to marry the latest book by Dick Vitale which teaches children their basic ABCs and 123s with the Think Bugs Alphabet Curriculum. Think Bugs encourages children to learn their alphabet by building each letter with specialized building blocks and curriculum cards...There are no A is for Apple cliches here. A is for Awesome-of course, and B is for Baby. C is for Cheer, and D is for Dunk. Every page also has a collection of other words that start with that letter. Along the bottom are colorful basketballs to count out the page number...Wacky little illustrations of Vitale dancing, broadcasting, getting an X-ray add humor and humanity...Paired with Think Bugs ABC Curriculum my students will be able to practice their letters over and over with custom-designed big bricks that make it easy for small children to build their letters in a hands on way...a win-win situation!"

The third project has now been fully funded after the gift card helped the teacher get closer to the amount needed.   The students will soon be receiving copies of "Keesha's House" so they can start reading! The same teacher still has another project that needs to be funded, dry erase markers for the students.

Fascinating book on the Chilean Miners

This post is the first in hopefully a series of “what I just finished reading”.

33 Men: Inside the Miraculous Survival and Dramatic Rescue of the Chilean Miners
by Jonathan Franklin

I literally couldn’t put this book down. The author had been living in Chile for a while at the time of the mine collapse and was the only reporter to get a special pass that allowed him access to the secured area.  He was able to talk with the miners while they were still underground, he listened in on conversations with psychologists and rescuers, and he was the one who actually procured the Oakley sunglasses the miners wore when they were brought out of the mine.  After the miners were rescued, the author spoke with many of them in the hospital and once they were home with their families.  

This book does not just recount everything already covered by media reports. Instead, you read about what was happening above and underground. Including interesting questions, such as:

- What else besides food and notes were sent down to the men?

- Why was the video feed that seemed live from inside the mine during the rescue was sometimes actually showing an earlier feed?

- What kind of demands the miners had? etc. etc.

This book is well written.  It effectively describes how tedious life must have been in the mine while still being an easy read. I do wish that there was more information about the men’s acclimation with their families and society (especially the miners who were juggling a mistress and a wife and how they dealt with the sudden media attention) but that would have postponed the publishing. If you remember watching the rescue live on TV while each man emerged after so many days trapped underground and were curious about what really happened in the mine, then I recommend that you pick up a copy (or as I did, get it instantly sent to your kindle).  

Donor's Choose

I have three $25 gift certificates to Donor's Choose to give away to the first three people who comment on this post with your e-mail address!  Wow - the gift cards were gone in less than 30 minutes! Sorry if you missed it and I hope to do another giveaway soon! In the meantime, please check out Donor's Choose - it is such a great non-profit and is a way for your small donations to have a really large impact.

What is Donor's Choose? 

Donor's Choose is an awesome online charity.  Teachers from all over the U.S. post online a need for their classroom.  You can sort for various criteria (such as high poverty schools in D.C.) and donate online any amount.

Everyone's small donations come together to help fund what the teacher requested and Donor's Choose will buy it and deliver it to the school.  You will receive a thank you note and pictures from the teacher, and additionally if you give more than $100 you will receive handwritten thank you notes from the students!

Please check out www.donorschoose.org.  There are thousands and thousands of projects posted by teachers across American and right now there are 155 projects in Washington D.C. I highlighted just a few below and pulled out a short synopsis to give you an idea of the different types of projects that you could help fund, but I definitely recommend spending some time on the site for much more information.  

Enjoy helping a child's education!

- Digging, Planting, and Growing - "We are 3, 4 and 5 year olds preparing for kindergarten in the Nation's Capitol. Neighbors to the First Lady and going hard for the "Let's Move" campaign, we need to learn that we can plant our own vegetables and get digging!"

- Applying Geometric Concepts through Art - "I serve a student population that consistently performs poorly on standardized math tests. In order to excel in higher level math classes, my students need to be able to visualize mathematical information in graphical terms. The rulers and compasses that we found in the storage room were in very poor condition and did not produce very professional results. We need six different art supplies, including paper, compasses, pencils, erasers, and rulers for our geometry exploration. I would like to maintain the level of excitement the students have for geometric art by motivating them with the necessary tools."

- Preserving Oral History in Anacostia - "My students cannot even fathom the history that is found right in their own community. I teach 10th grade D.C. History in a public charter high school in Washington, D.C. Every one of my students is African American, and 95% of my students live in Wards 7 and 8. My school is so close to the home of the great Frederick Douglass, and most of my students' parents and grandparents remember in great detail the civil rights riots that destroyed many parts of the city. Many even listened to Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver his "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. This history needs to be preserved. Unfortunately, my school does not have the resources to buy camcorders to record these interviews. My classes last year created an oral history project about some aspect of their city or family's history they wanted to preserve. They were incredibly invested in this project. My students enjoyed learning about the history in their community so much that many wanted to continue the research. I did, however, discover that it could be much more valuable to my students if I could loan a camcorder to every one of them while they conducted their interviews."

Followup on Colonial Williamsburg and Discounts

After getting back from our mini getaway I received an email survey from Colonial Williamsburg.  I think more companies should do this as it takes them practically no time and a very little cost to get great feedback.  I let them know that we had a wonderful visit and everything went well except that we were disappointed that all the taverns were closed except for one and that King's Arms Tavern was nearly impossible to get into to eat.  The next day I received an email from the General Manager at the Williamsburg Lodge thanking me for sharing my experiences.  She was sorry that I was not "able to enjoy our taverns during your visit as you had anticipated. I shared your comments and suggestions with our food and beverage director of historic operations. Thank you again for your time and valuable feedback which will help us to improve our guest's experience."  

Major kudos to Colonial Williamsburg for not only surveying their guests but also reading the results and quickly responding to any guest issues.  

Two promotional discounts to note:

For service members and their families: buy an annual pass for the price of a 1 day ticket (more information here). This is in addition to the typical discounts they offer to Seniors, military personnel, teachers, and local residents (click here for more information)

Also Colonial Williamsburg sent me a special offer to pass along to my "friends and family".  If you read my blog, thank you, and I consider you a friend :)  There is a code that is good through 2011 if you book one night at the Williamsburg Lodge your second night is free!!  This is a great deal with very few restrictions.  If you are interested, please leave a comment with your email address and I will pass along the info to you or you can email me directly at galwithablog@gmail.com.  

Day 3 of Colonial Williamsburg

Click here for Day 1
Click here for Day 2
Click here for special discounts

Checkout day (note to self: should also not book getaways when we check out the morning of Daylight Saving Time)

Anyway, we decided to take in a few more things and grab lunch before heading back to D.C.

Magazine

First stop was the Magazine and Guardhouse, where all the weapons were stored. Many of the weapons they have on display are originals. The guy in the magazine did a great job of giving a brief spiel and then let folks ask questions.

Cabinetmaker

We also went to see the Joiner and Cabinetmaker – like the Blacksmith (but not quite as exciting) both were demonstrating their skills.

Lastly, we visited the Public Gaol.  There is a very small house for the gentleman in charge of the jail and cells outside for the prisoners.  Summer would have been miserable (and smelly) but kids seemed to really enjoy playing around in the cells.

We finally were able to get into Kings Arms Tavern for an early lunch – I had fried chicken which came with sweet potatoes and green beans and he had chicken pot pie.  It was quite yummy, and our waitress was great.  

It was just what we needed before the ride back.  We will definitely be returning for another weekend in Williamsburg one day, but will double check to make sure everything is open.