“A Little Ms. G for all of My ELL”
This was, in my opinion, the best of the three projects I reviewed and ultimately earned my donation. This project appealed to me for multiple reasons. Firstly, the title and subtitle were eye-catching because I thought the title was cute and in the subtitle, the teacher described very briefly, exactly what materials she needed and for what. This made me click on her page, where I saw a picture of her early childhood students, which I thought was cute. Her description was concise and appealing. She described that many of her students come from low-income and/or one parent households; the school was also rated as “high poverty.” The hook for me was that most of her class is ELL students. I wish I had helpful ELL classes/teachers when I first immigrated to the US; I saw this as my chance to make another child’s ELL experience better. I don’t have any points for improvement for this teacher except maybe add more pictures of her students.
“Chromebooks for Students with Disabilities”
I originally clicked on this because I saw that the donations would be matched by Google. Then I noticed that this was a teacher from Choctaw, OK, which made me want to donate. The teacher’s description was short but provided examples of scenarios where his students could use these laptops, which helped me better envision their classroom. My only concern was that the picture Mr. A uploaded showed every student in the class with a laptop. I was confused on whether he was trying to get better laptops or if this picture was of another class. I would advise Mr. A to either caption or change the picture. I would also advise him to make his title and subtitle more “catchy”; “my students need… to help them be successful” was too broad.
“Implementing a Sensory Diet for Students with Autism”
I clicked on this page because I was intrigued by the term “sensory diet” (turns out it has nothing to do with food). Ms. Sanchez had a short but adequate description. Her picture was of the classroom, which made me visualize it better but I think it would help to put up some pictures of students, especially since she teaches pre-K to 2nd grade. The school was rated as “high poverty,” which made me want to donate. The asking price was reasonable and she was very close to her goal, which also drew me to her page. I would suggest maybe adding some examples to make her project more descriptive and discussing how the items she is requesting aids students with Autism.
Tips for writing a Donors’ Choose profile:
1. Catchy title and subtitle! Most of the pages I selected were because the titles were cute, intriguing etc. Think of a way to concisely state your project and use key words, such as ELL, Alternative Seating, Hygienic products etc. so donors know exactly what your page is about. Humor and puns are personally always a bonus. 2. Pictures! Help donors visualize your classroom and how this project will be implemented in it. I think cute pictures of students definitely helps.
3. Describe your project with examples! Sometimes it is hard for donors who are not too familiar with education to understand how your materials will be used. Some of the pages I reviewed provided examples of how exactly the students will use these materials, which helped me better understand the reason behind the project.
4. Don’t overshoot. Some projects were asking for $1500+ and therefore, did not have a lot of donors. This creates a chain reaction, because when a donor sees that you have a high goal with a deadline approaching and not many donors, they will most likely not donate. If the materials you are requesting are pretty expensive, perhaps split it up into 2-3 projects? Just an idea.
5. I didn’t see this in any of the pages I reviewed but if I was doing a donors’ choose page, I would include a video of me in my classroom describing my project in place of a description (if that is allowed). This way, the donor puts a face and setting to the project, making it more personable.
This was, in my opinion, the best of the three projects I reviewed and ultimately earned my donation. This project appealed to me for multiple reasons. Firstly, the title and subtitle were eye-catching because I thought the title was cute and in the subtitle, the teacher described very briefly, exactly what materials she needed and for what. This made me click on her page, where I saw a picture of her early childhood students, which I thought was cute. Her description was concise and appealing. She described that many of her students come from low-income and/or one parent households; the school was also rated as “high poverty.” The hook for me was that most of her class is ELL students. I wish I had helpful ELL classes/teachers when I first immigrated to the US; I saw this as my chance to make another child’s ELL experience better. I don’t have any points for improvement for this teacher except maybe add more pictures of her students.
“Chromebooks for Students with Disabilities”
I originally clicked on this because I saw that the donations would be matched by Google. Then I noticed that this was a teacher from Choctaw, OK, which made me want to donate. The teacher’s description was short but provided examples of scenarios where his students could use these laptops, which helped me better envision their classroom. My only concern was that the picture Mr. A uploaded showed every student in the class with a laptop. I was confused on whether he was trying to get better laptops or if this picture was of another class. I would advise Mr. A to either caption or change the picture. I would also advise him to make his title and subtitle more “catchy”; “my students need… to help them be successful” was too broad.
“Implementing a Sensory Diet for Students with Autism”
I clicked on this page because I was intrigued by the term “sensory diet” (turns out it has nothing to do with food). Ms. Sanchez had a short but adequate description. Her picture was of the classroom, which made me visualize it better but I think it would help to put up some pictures of students, especially since she teaches pre-K to 2nd grade. The school was rated as “high poverty,” which made me want to donate. The asking price was reasonable and she was very close to her goal, which also drew me to her page. I would suggest maybe adding some examples to make her project more descriptive and discussing how the items she is requesting aids students with Autism.
Tips for writing a Donors’ Choose profile:
1. Catchy title and subtitle! Most of the pages I selected were because the titles were cute, intriguing etc. Think of a way to concisely state your project and use key words, such as ELL, Alternative Seating, Hygienic products etc. so donors know exactly what your page is about. Humor and puns are personally always a bonus. 2. Pictures! Help donors visualize your classroom and how this project will be implemented in it. I think cute pictures of students definitely helps.
3. Describe your project with examples! Sometimes it is hard for donors who are not too familiar with education to understand how your materials will be used. Some of the pages I reviewed provided examples of how exactly the students will use these materials, which helped me better understand the reason behind the project.
4. Don’t overshoot. Some projects were asking for $1500+ and therefore, did not have a lot of donors. This creates a chain reaction, because when a donor sees that you have a high goal with a deadline approaching and not many donors, they will most likely not donate. If the materials you are requesting are pretty expensive, perhaps split it up into 2-3 projects? Just an idea.
5. I didn’t see this in any of the pages I reviewed but if I was doing a donors’ choose page, I would include a video of me in my classroom describing my project in place of a description (if that is allowed). This way, the donor puts a face and setting to the project, making it more personable.