Sunday, October 12, 2008

Adopt A Classroom: Help a Teacher Today!

My sister is a first year middle school English teacher in a school in my hometown of North Miami, Florida. Like so many teachers in this country, our school district does not give her the resources she needs to run her classroom in the best way to reach here 141 students. She recently registered with Adopt A Classroom, an online non-profit that allows people to use their credit card to make donations to any one of the hundreds of classrooms that teachers from across the country have registered with the site. Here's a terrific way to make an immediate impact in a needy classroom and do a good deed. Please, check out the website, and find a classroom that you can afford to support. It's a great way to begin the New Year!

Here's the description of my sister's classroom, so you can get an idea of what the site is all about:

Dear Friends:
I am reaching out to you to help me inspire my students to reach their highest potential. Adopt-A-Classroom (www.adoptaclassroom.org) is a non-profit organization that offers an easy and accountable way for you to donate funds to my classroom and make a real difference for me and my students.

All donations are tax-deductible. 100% of the donation goes to my classroom. Adopt-A-Classroom takes $0 out for administration.

Here`s a description of my classroom and our specific needs:

School: North Miami Middle School
Grade: 8th Grade
Subject: English
Number of students your donation will impact: 141


Paper, dry-erase markers, stapler, whole puncher, poster board, markers, folders, tape, bandaids, pens, pencils, pencil sharpener, and ink cartridges for printer, a broom, tissues, and hand sanitizer (none of these crucial supplies are provided by the school) Expanded Classroom Library - I do not have enough copies of the novels that I would like to teach to my students this year (some examples include Walk Two Moons and The Outsiders). Additionally, I allow students to check-out books from my library and to read those books for pleasure if they finish work early. The purpose of this is to encourage students to read more. If students get hooked on an engaging relevant book, they will be more likely to read. However, at this time, I simply don`t have enough books to make either of these options worthwhile for kids. Post-it notes - Studies show that students who engage in active reading (in other words, think and take notes while they read) increase their reading levels at an exponential rate. My students are always expected to actively read; it is excellent practice of an important life skill as well as an important test taking strategy. Since my students usually read borrowed books they cannot write down ideas in the margins. Therefore, we use post-it notes as a substitute to take notes inside of our books. Workstation shelves - Will be used to create learning centers throughout the classroom.

To learn how you can support my efforts in the classroom click on the link below (or copy and paste it into your Internet browser):

Alison Schwartzbaum Adopt-A-Classroom Homepage

I greatly appreciate your consideration in adopting my classroom. Please pass this email on to your employers and friends.

Thank you for your time.


Alison Schwartzbaum
North Miami Middle School
Classroom: 6 Classes


________________________________
Adopt-A-Classroom
Helping Communities Help Schools
Visit the website at www.adoptaclassroom.org

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Author www.adamschwartzbaum.com !
It seems to me, you are not right

Anonymous said...

I want to quote your post in my blog. It can?
And you et an account on Twitter?

Follow Me With Google