Skip to main content

The "Ripple" Effect ~ DonorChoose.Org

Like thousands of other teachers, I was amazed, excited, and very grateful to a company I'd never heard of called Ripple.  Many already know that Ripple donated 29 million dollars to DonorsChoose.org and funded over 30,000 teachers!  What an amazing gift for students and teachers!  If you didn't hear about it, check out this broadcast!




I know that everyone just wants to know the amazing items I got for my classroom.  Well, it was 1 item really, with some accessories.  I asked and received a 3d printer (This is a FlashForge 3D printer.  You can check it out HERE)
and the filament for my classroom due to the generous donations of family and Ripple!  I can't even begin to explain the excitement when I told my students.  They have been researching and telling me about all the cool projects we could do with a 3d printer, and I already have several plans up my sleeve!  One includes making catapults for a measuring and data collection project.  I am soaking up any and all information I can find about 3d printing, so if you have a resource feel free to send it my way.  The last time I worked with 3d printers I was using a MakerBot printer so I'm hoping this one isn't too much different.  I would like to formally thank Ripple for their generous donation, and Pinterest for adding ideas to my head! 

Are you a teacher who was funded because of Ripple's generous donation?  I would love to know what you got, and what your plans are!  Stay tuned in the future to see our projects!   

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Inspiration and a Smart Pen

I finally figured out how to work my little interactive white board tablet in my room.  I used it on Friday and my kids loved it.  I like it to, and it was really my inspiration behind getting my Echo smart pen.  When trying to figure out how to use my interactive white board tablet (we will call it IWBT) I thought well I'll just google it and go from there.  Turns out... it isn't made anymore.  Never the less, I was able to figure out what I was doing, and it is great for my classroom.   It operates a lot like a Think Pad.  At any rate, I've seen several blog post referring to smart pens and LiveScribe on several blogs I subscribe to and I thought I would check it out.  I found an Echo pen in Best Buy and fell in love.  I was on a spending splurge today and decided this was going to go one of two ways.  I either was going to get an iPad, or a Smart Pen.  Well... I got the Smart Pen. So I've been sitting at home and right now the new drivers are being done on my new p

A disappointment stumbling block.... (sigh)

Well I must admit I thought we were rocking along in math class, and then I get to test day.  I realize two things: 1)  The kids don't know the material like I thought they did. 2) Since so many of them don't get it, I know the problem is me. So today I am spending time trying to find a million ways to teach my kids about positive and negative integers and about greatest common factor and least common multiple (this for my 6th graders) so that we can retest on Wednesday.  I feel bad for the kids that completely aced my test, but I'm more worried about the ones that failed dramatically.  20%, 30%, and yes I even had a 0%. It is official.  Come Monday I will be off track on the lesson plan the teacher has left for me to teach.  It is also official that my teacher will be coming back November 16th, and I need to ensure when she comes back in it was like she never left.  There is a lot of pressure for a long term substitute.  It is much more different than if it was you

STEM Professional Development

Let me be honest.  I live for the summer.  I always knew teaching would be the perfect job for me because when I wasn't a teacher and spring hit... oh it was so hard to sit still in an office.  The last job I held before I taught was perfect for that!  I was able to turn off my fluorescent lights and open the blinds and let the natural light come in, and I would make excuses to visit clients so I could get out of my cubby and go!  Now, I just wait for that last school bell to ring and give my goodbyes for the year to my students and plan on a summer of organization, exercise, dieting, travel, crafting, sleeping in, and a new me.  Oh yeah, and I always intend to blog so much more. Reality is, I do a little bit of all of those things, and sometimes I even feel I've accomplished something, but partway into the summer...I get bored. There I said it!  The nerd in me gets bored and I start researching cool technology and thinking about all the new things I'm going to use in my