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free materials for STEM projects

3 Ways to Get Free Materials for STEM Projects [ep.78]

3 Ways to Get Free Materials for STEM Projects [ep.78]

free materials for STEM projects

Check out the full episode on 3 Ways to Get Free Materials for STEM Projects:  

 

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Episode Summary

Struggling to gather STEM supplies for our classroom seems to be a common theme for STEM teachers. There are many ways to gather materials creatively and for free. In today’s episode, I share three ways to get free materials for STEM projects.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • 3 methods for getting free materials for STEM projects
  • Tips for successfully using these methods to gather materials for your STEM classroom
  • Examples of how I used these methods to get free materials

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Many of us struggle to gather STEM supplies for our classroom and really any type of supplies as a teacher, let's be honest. However, there are a variety of ways to gather materials creatively and for free. In this episode, I'll be sharing with you three ways to get free materials for your STEM projects.


Naomi Meredith  00:53

Before we jump in, I wanted to give a special shout-out to my newest members of the STEM teacher bookshelf membership. Shout out to Audra R., Susan E., Laurie D., Julianna S., Georgia L., Tracy Y., Janessa D, Amy R., Jackie B., Megan B., Kandi S., Jackie M., Stacia A., Kelly H., Beth S., and Jacqueline F. I am so excited that you are all in this community with me and it is growing, and I love adding your name to my little bookshelf image. This is a community where we talk about STEM professional books and STEM topics that are important to you, have that space to connect with one another, and a live monthly Zoom call and, of course, opportunities to win the next month's book. It's only nine bucks a month. You can have your name read out loud and your name put on the bookshelf. You can join at naomimeredith.com/stemteacherbookshelf, and if you are part of the first 50 teachers in this membership, there are a few spots left, then I will send you a handwritten note in the mail along with a special, exclusive STEM teacher bookshelf sticker. So I'd love to see you in there. 


Naomi Meredith  02:13

Now for this episode, when we are talking about free STEM supplies. They don't call me a maxxinista for nothing. I am known for being someone to shop on a budget, and these are all strategies to get things for free. Some will actually have a cost to them, but I'm all about it. I graduated with both of my degrees, my undergrad and my graduate degree, 100% debt free. So I paid my way through college both times, so I have never had any student debt. I'm all about saving money and finding good deals when it is possible, especially if they are good deals that are free. So let's jump into these three ways that are definitely actionable that you can start tomorrow. If you are unsure of what you should actually be collecting for your classroom, and you might not get it all in the first year, but what should you be looking for, I've created a free spreadsheet inventory, which is actually based on my classroom. You can grab that naomimeredith.com/classroominventorylist. Of course, it'll all be linked in the show notes. 


Naomi Meredith  03:21

The first way that you can get free STEM supplies for your classroom is through outside donations. Now I have some creative ways for you to do this, so it's not your typical ask, and you shall receive blah, blah, blah, but actual creative ways. I feel like the more creative you get when it comes to asking for donations people haven't heard about it before, and they are probably more apt to tune in and donate rather than the typical giving tree and all that. That's super cool too. When you hang up something, people grab something as well. I talked about that, actually, in my Back to School Night episode. But here are some other creative ways to gather supplies. First, you could do a one-grade level at a time, asking if it's specific things that you are looking for in a project. I've explained this over the course of this podcast a lot. But my role teaching K through Five STEM has been very unique. There was a point where with our budgeting, I was able to co-teach with the classroom teachers in my building to help them implement STEM and innovation in their classrooms. I did a really cool project with first grade one year during the springtime, and we were talking about insects. So that was something that they were studying in their classrooms. I wanted to help them with this project, so we came up with them building their own insect and adding in all of the elements that they talked about that insects have. We did this by using Makerspace supplies. Now we know these consumable products that can run out very quickly, and especially if you're creating an insect, you want some things that are pretty colorful, and there actually is a reason why they have all of these colors. So we reached out to the parents of just first grade with a very targeted list of things that would work really well for this project, such as pipe cleaners, tissue, paper, toilet paper rolls, googly eyes, pom poms, and a lot of these things people had laying around in their homes. What I took upon myself is that I actually organized all of the supplies. I love using those pop-up fabric cubes, you can get the ones at IKEA that are really large or get the smaller ones. I have some green ones, actually a set of 24 that I use for all sorts of things. They were actually intended to be small green screens. But then, when I'm done with that project, I actually use them for other things. Anyway, I use those to organize all the materials. Then when I was co-teaching with students, they would come into my space when it was their time. Then we would do the lesson together. Now what was another great benefit of this is that all the extra supplies the classroom teachers didn't have room for, they let me keep it and put it back into my Makerspace, which was awesome and didn't cost anything. 


Naomi Meredith  06:06

Another quick and easy way is to have a donation box in high-traffic areas. When it comes to families entering your building, you could post a letter of typical things that you wouldn't mind seeing all year, and parents can donate to this box. This has been highly successful. I've got just the most random things in this box. I will collect all of it. Some of it, I will recycle. If it's too big, you know, my feelings about projects that are too big, they take too long, too many materials. But anyway, I will collect these items. And it's just so helpful to get these things year-round. I do have a donation letter template that is 100% editable, besides the cute little pictures. But all the content is editable for you, which you can get linked in the show notes and in my TPT shop. Back in episode 76, I talked to Jennifer Mahin, and she gave some awesome tips when it came to grant writing. Now when we were done recording, we were still talking off the air, and she actually had two tips that she said were okay if I shared, and I said I would give her credit because these are really good ways to get donations for your STEM classroom. The first one that she mentioned is posting any specific donations that you are needing on your school's social media pages, such as a Facebook page or Instagram. Maybe your school has a school-wide PTO or text messaging system, that could be another way that you could reach out to families. Again, this could just be things that they have sitting around, and they're not quite sure what to do with. Another cool idea that Jennifer mentioned is around the springtime, you typically are creating those classrooms supply lists for all of the grade levels. So if possible, try to see if you can add a couple of items to each of the lists and have different ones per grade level. So it could just be a small donation, and it would just make a huge difference. So maybe something like batteries, maybe rechargeable or not. If you have specific items that still use batteries, playdough, and maybe magnets, kind of thinking about those things, they're a little bit pricey, but not too much of a cost. Even if they donated one or two, think about if every kid brought one in that would make a huge difference in your space. So I thought those are some really creative and interesting ideas to get donations from outside sources and into your classroom. This one is kind of out of your control, but in a way, it kind of is in your control when it comes to donations. It's all about creating partnerships with the parents. So, especially if you're a specials teacher, it is hard to connect with the parents and have them get to know you. So just try to get involved in different ways that you can. Hosting after-school clubs is a great way to do this. But I randomly will get parent emails asking me if I would be interested in specific items that are not Makerspace related. I've been donated Snap Circuits that somebody has grown out of Duplo blocks, which are those larger LEGO bricks that a family didn't want, colored Dominoes, marbles, and just really random stuff that I can definitely use, which has been so amazing. So again, a little bit out of your control, but those are like hidden gems. Those are awesome when that happens to you. 


Naomi Meredith  09:17

Another way to gather free supplies for your classroom is to have a donation box in your teacher's lounge and make this donation very specific. I'm doing a project with our art teacher. It's a collaborative art project where the students are going to build something in art, and then when they come to me in STEM where we're going to do the electronic components. Now this is a new lesson for me that I have never done. That's all I really going to share because I don't know what is going to happen next. I actually have to learn the technology myself. But we need a lot of thin cardboard, like cereal box cardboard, so we put a donation box in the teachers' lounge next to the microwave. So when teachers are opening up their microwave meals that are Oh So Delicious, then they can put the cardboard in there, and then we can use it for our projects. So just a quick and easy way. They're gonna throw it away anyway, but we can give it new life in our project. You could do this for other things like K-cups, the coffee cups, and maybe some bubble wrap when people get orders in. So just think of typical things that are in your building already that end up in the trash or recycling. But you can have one little hub in the teachers' lounge to gather those things. Likewise, the spring and back-to-school time is an awesome way to go garage saleing in your own building. When you're thinking about the new curriculum that is being developed, or if those storage spaces need to be cleaned out and there are things that teachers don't want anymore. Put out a radar in teachers' minds that you are happy to collect all of those things for your STEM classroom. So you need science, technology, engineering, and math items. I have gotten so many things this way: unifix cubes, balances for measuring, and rulers. I got a huge bucket of wooden blocks one time dropped off at my door. So I'm always looking for these items, those non-consumable things. Again, it might be too old, or they have just duplicates in their classroom, they just want the newer version that was sent to them in the curriculum, and they don't have places to store the older stuff. Well, this is a great chance for you to take it upon yourself. I have a guest coming out sometime soon on this podcast, and she did this exact thing and had a cute story about this. So definitely a good way to get some free stuff. Another quick and easy way is just to send out a staff email. If you have an upcoming project and you need something specific, send out an email and see what people say. When I'm doing projects where students are building things and when they're saving their work over time, I like them to save their work in grocery bags because everything fits inside and they can tie the top. So certain times during the year, I just send out an email blast, and people will bring in grocery bags for a week or two. It's just super helpful and, again, gets it off of their hands. It's another great way to get free stuff. 


Naomi Meredith  12:03

The last way to get free stuff for your classroom, and this isn't always just Makerspace supplies, is writing grants. There are two past episodes that I've had before this one that you definitely should check out when it comes to grant writing. One is from Jennifer Mahin, to talk about the tips and tricks when writing grants. She's been very successful with that. Also, if you're a little bit more nervous, check out the one from DonorsChoose. They lay things out super, super easy, and they even handle all the purchasing for you. I know that they have a spring incentive coming up. So this is a really good time to try it out. I know that it's scary and it is a little bit of extra work, but you do get better with it over time. But again, this is a really cool opportunity. You're going to feel so proud of yourself when you do get a grant funded. There are times, as I've talked about you do need higher-level products to do higher-level things. Yes, you can do Makerspace all year, there is nothing wrong with that, if that is the class you teach, hey, that's awesome. But if you're thinking about adding in more variety, or you're just seeing that your kids are stagnant or need more engagement, having some of those higher-level things that can be reused for multiple grade levels is definitely worth checking out. So check out any local grants in your area. Any national grant or statewide grants DonorsChoose, again, is another great place to check this out. But try writing a grant and make that your goal at the end of this school year or going into the next school year when you're thinking about summer planning. Set a goal for yourself that you want to write three grants, and hopefully, one of the three can get funded. So definitely try it out. Everything new is hard at first, and, like I tell my students, it's definitely worth your time. 


Naomi Meredith  13:49

As a recap, here are three ways to get free materials for your STEM projects. First, check out different ways to get outside donations. Next, get creative with those in-school donations. And third, make it a goal to try out some grant writing. If you want to dive in more when it comes to gathering materials. And when it comes to grant writing, which will be something new, I will add in the upcoming future. Definitely join me in my STEM teacher 101 course, this is a section to get you started for the school year. So if you're thinking about going into the summer, this is definitely something great for you to jump in. And I do have a private podcast for this course. So you can actually listen to all of the modules on the go. You will get forever updates and all of the things inside of there. So definitely jump on in you can get some credit when it comes to professional development, credit, and definitely all the help that you need to set up a good foundation for your STEM space. Thank you so much for listening, and I will chat with you in the next episode.

free materials for STEM projects

 

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

grant writing tips for teachers

Grant Writing Tips for Teachers with DonorsChoose [ep.77]

Grant Writing Tips for Teachers with DonorsChoose [ep.77]

grant writing tips for teachers

Check out the full episode on Grant Writing Tips for Teachers with DonorsChoose:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

In today's episode, I sit down to chat with Brittany Walker, who is the Senior Engagement Community Associate at DonorsChoose, to discuss what DonorsChoose is and how it works. Brittany provides grant writing tips for teachers and highlights some of the successful STEM projects that have been funded through DonorsChoose. If you are a teacher who has been wondering what the process is for writing a grant and how to gather STEM supplies for your classroom, this episode is for you. 

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • What DonorsChoose is
  • What the process is for getting a grant through DonorsChoose
  • Grant writing tips for teachers
  • The importance of building community between teachers and donors
  • How DonorsChoose supports teachers with getting materials for their classrooms

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi M. (00:00) Have you always wanted to write a grant to gather STEM supplies but are not sure where to get started? What is the process? What should you say? And how do you even get the materials? Today I am talking with Brittany Walker, who is the Senior Community Engagement associate at DonorsChoose, and she is giving you all the insight to answer all of your questions. In this episode, we discuss what DonorsChoose is and how to get started, types of project ideas, and tips to be successful when writing a grant through their platform. Speaking from experience, if you haven't used DonorsChoose before, this is an excellent resource to use as a teacher when it comes to gathering supplies for your classroom. You're really going to love this episode and all of the helpful tips, and I can't wait for you to listen. Well, thank you so much, Brittany, for being here today. I am so excited to have you, and I know that, , our teacher audience will be really happy to hear from you too. So, <laugh>, it's funny cause you have a really interesting background in teaching, and, I'm happy and excited to hear about that. So if you wouldn't mind telling us more about yourself, your background, and then what your role is at DonorsChoose.

 

Brittany W. (00:57) Of course. So I'm so excited to be here today. First of all, I am a former educator. I actually taught science for about five years in Washington, DC. I taught at the elementary level, so grades one through four. I wore a few different hats during my time in education, as many teachers often do. I actually started as a resident teacher, you know, like learning how to do the real thing. <laugh> Yes. And shadowing others. , and that was with first grade. And then, I went on to teach science for the rest of the elementary grades. Also helped to develop some science curriculum, and led our school science club as well as like our, we had a YouTube channel and a, a whole bunch of things and that was one of my favorite roles for me cause it fostered like a real love and excitement for community engagement, and creating educational programming. And so I've been so fortunate to transition into my role at DonorChoose where I am the community engagement lead, , pie living, building, and managing initiatives, , building a community amongst our teachers and donors. So it's, it's a huge one. , get to do what I love. So yeah.


Naomi M. (1:07) <laugh> That is so cool. Like your background. And it's perfect for this podcast because we even have some science teachers who listen in the elementary space. So similar roles as you, a lot of STEM teachers in elementary, and even a lot of classroom teachers who are interested in implementing STEM. So I'm really excited to talk with you and, yeah, this is like perfect how this all works out because you're like the perfect audience. Like you're like, like our audience with your background.


Brittany W. (2:04) – I've lived it.


Naomi M (2:04) – Yeah. Yeah. So you know, you know how it goes. , so with that in mind, so you work at DonorsChoose. Yes. And for people who haven't heard of DonorsChoose, what is it, and how does it actually work? Because I've used it, and I love it, and it's super user-friendly. , but for teachers who haven't, what is the whole point of it?


Brittany W. (00:02:28) – Absolutely. So DonorsChoose is really the leading way to give to public schools. About four out of five public schools across the US have a teacher who has posted a project on DonorsChoose. What we do is make it easy for any public school teacher in need to request the materials and tools they need in order to really transform their students' learning experience and have a great education. We've been around since the year 2000, and our donors and partners have contributed about 1.4 billion to support 2.5 million teacher requests. It's been a huge help for many teachers. What they do is they use our platform to request classroom resources. Donors who feel inspired to give to certain projects or support a certain resource type are able to search the site and directly support that teacher. Each request is vetted by our DonorsChoose team, and we ship the funded materials directly to the teacher's school.


Naomi M. (00:03:31) – It is such an awesome resource, and I used it. I heard about it when I was student teaching. So at the time of this recording, what I don't know, 13, 14 years ago. So I heard about it then. And then I know for even just my experience, like checking in and like putting a request, it's really improved and really grown. And I know, like the materials that you can request, especially when it comes to STEM, there are so many different partnerships that you guys have when it comes to materials. And I love how you do all the work when it comes to ordering and then delivering it to us. And there are some really cool ideas out there, and it's literally a template, right? Like you just put in what you want.


Brittany W. (00:04:13) – Definitely. So, teachers, they're able to request the exact amount of the amount of materials, the exact materials that they want. We partner with certain vendors in order to get the materials that they need. And once they select the materials, they also like to describe the need for the materials in the form of a short essay. And yeah, the process pretty much takes them straight through once, once their request is screened and, and their project is live and other donors and even like their family or friends, whoever would like to can give. We also provide teachers with templates, email templates, and graphics for social media or, just to share within their network so that their community knows about, what they're fundraising for.


Naomi M. (00:05:00) – Oh yeah. I love that cuz I think as a teacher, it can, and you probably have this experience, it can be overwhelming thinking, how am I going to write a grant? What do I even say? What do they want? Where do I even go to do a grant? There are opportunities out there. So I love how it's super user-friendly, and the templates are really nice cuz we're busy teachers. <laugh>


Brittany W. (00:05:23) – Definitely,


Naomi M. (00:05:24) – We dunno what to do. So <laugh>, it's super streamlined. And when it comes to projects, have you seen any certain ones that have been great when it comes to STEM or things that have gotten funded over the years?


Brittany W. (00:05:37) – Yes. , one, for example, we have a teacher, Mrs. Dixon, at Woodmore Elementary School, she hosted a STEM Family Fun night, and she was able to request materials for various stations such as DNA extractions. They were able to extract DNA from the strawberries. Also, kaleidoscope making, slime creation, building circuits, and balloon race cars. , and that was just for one project to support 200 students. We have, for another example, Mrs. Coates at Rustic Lane Elementary School requested programmable handheld game consoles that her students could use, with Microsoft Make code. And her students were able to really take advantage of that video game technology and be active creators of it. , and it can go from the small things like Lego blocks and magnet tiles to big things like Makerspaces and helping all of the hands-on activities that our STEM teachers love to do and get their students involved in.


Naomi M. (00:06:45) – I love that, but I would never have thought of writing a grant when it comes to community engagement when it comes to a family night. That is a really creative and great idea when you're thinking maybe you are a teacher who actually has what they need in their classroom, which you probably don't, but maybe you have a pretty well-stocked room. So that's a really cool way to utilize donors, choose to have some just more unique projects when families are coming in. I love that idea.


Brittany W. (00:07:15) – Absolutely. And what we've seen on our site is that our teachers, really think outside of the box to get these materials ready for their students. And, even if, as you said, even if their classrooms are well stopped, then they're thinking more out of the box on how to, like, create these engaging, diverse learning experiences, with new products that they may not have had a chance to do or have had access to before.


Naomi M. (00:07:40) – Oh, absolutely. And I love even that video game when you're talking about, I was talking to another STEM teacher, we were talking about just grant writing in general, and she's in a similar role like me, we've had our classes for about five years, and when you first get started, you probably saw this too when you were teaching science, when you first start, the kids like you kind of can do the same thing with a lot of the kids because they might not have used a tool before, but then as you get going over the years, they need more of a challenge, and you might have to be getting materials that are just at a higher level or just different, or it needs updates because the kids' skill levels haven't increased, which is awesome. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So that's a really great way to extend like differentiation opportunities too.


Brittany W. (00:08:25) – Absolutely. And what we see is that many teachers write that into their stories when they're requesting items so that potential donors can, can see like exactly how they're supporting their students by providing those differentiated learning materials. And it's, it's like a win-win for, for everyone.


Naomi M. (00:08:42) – Oh, that's a really good idea when it comes. Yeah. I've never thought about that, either. Say, I'm so glad that you're here because <laugh>, you, you see a lot of these projects come through <laugh>. , so when it comes to those projects, when writing a grant, so you guys have the templates, you have examples, but do you have some recommendation with, when it comes to ensuring that a project will get funded and just the way you should word things and be very specific, what are some things that teachers should keep in mind?


Brittany W. (00:09:11) – Absolutely. We found that while it is easy to post a DonorsChoose project, we like to provide teachers with the best tools for success that they can have so that as soon as a donor sees their project, they feel moved to support it. And we really recommend four things. One is to be specific. The more specific in detail you can be with your request, the clearer it is to that donor, what it is you're looking forward to really enrich your students learning. Second, we ask, you to tell a story, and put us into your classroom. Describe why and how the project will help your class and how it will feel for your students to experience these resources, maybe even what it may look like in your classroom. , thirdly, we ask that you let your students shine <laugh>. They're the beneficiaries of these materials. And so when writing about your students and your DonorsChoose project, really focus on their interests, strengths, and dreams, not just their struggles.


Brittany W. (00:10:11) Ask yourself if your students and their parents will feel proud of themselves after reading your DonorsChoose project. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And lastly, be strategic with your project. Smaller requests are more likely to get funded quickly. We like to say that within the range of anything, , projects under $200 have a 90% chance of being funded quickly, while projects over a thousand dollars are funded only about 43% of the time. So as a teacher, you can just ask yourself, are there some ways I can lower the cost of my projects or maybe like break a project up into two or three different projects so that, when donors look at it, they are more, more pulled to maybe even like finish the project off and you know, cover the whole bid or, you know, just breaking it down and making it smaller.


Naomi M. (00:11:03) – That's really good advice, just seeing those trends on there because I think a lot of us when we're writing a grant or new materials like I need a thousand dollars right off the bat. And then you put like all the things like Lego bricks, magnet tiles, glue, and crayons. Like, so that's really smart, just breaking it apart and making it more tangible.


Brittany W. (00:11:24) – Definitely. And we see teachers being really creative with that. Just for example, back to the examples of the STEM project, they're teachers are able to like title their project, and if I'm a donor and I'm seeing something like a STEM family fun night, I'm like, Ooh, what is that? You know? So teachers really also really think out of the box on the titles and how to, , really off the bat engage donors and get them interested in their stories.


Naomi M. (00:11:52) – Oh, totally. Do you feel like STEM projects, in particular with outside donors, do STEM projects, do you feel like get funded faster or does it not really matter from what you've seen?


Brittany W. (00:12:04) – I haven't really noticed any difference, specifically for, say, STEM versus any other subject. I think it may go down to again, like, the size of the project as well as the storytelling bit and uh, yeah, if a donor more, more able to, to really like put themselves in that classroom and, and really can, can see the need for the materials. I think I think any project, uh, with a great story, engages donors all the same.


Naomi M. (00:12:37) – That's a really good story. There's so much impact in storytelling. We love stories <laugh>


Brittany W. (00:12:43) – And, I also will say I think every donor is everyone who wants to give to a classroom in need is so different. And so you may have, former science teachers who really like us, love STEM and science, have a passion for STEM and they may seek out those projects. Donors do have the freedom of selecting their resource type and subject area. So, we do see a lot of that as well.


Naomi M. (00:13:10) – Oh, that's so cool. I actually donate myself. I actually look for, STEM classrooms that I'll


Brittany W. (00:13:16) – Really


Naomi M. (00:13:16) – Back to. Yeah. Every quarter I'll go look and find some STEM projects and use some of my business funds to help other STEM teachers out there. Awesome.


Brittany W. (00:13:25) – That is so, so beautiful. Yeah.


Naomi M. (00:13:28), so when you had the projects on there, is there a certain timeframe that they have to get funded or, also, how long do projects typically get funded? I don't know if that's the same or different when it comes to DonorsChoose.


Brittany W. (00:13:42) – Sure. I think it can take anywhere from, I've seen projects funded in as little as a day, and teachers will come into the community and say, oh my gosh, I just, the this, my project just got approved yesterday after, you know, being vetted by our team. And today is, you know, I got my rocket. That's my celebratory email we sent to them. , I would say anywhere from as soon as the project goes live to two weeks, there's no, specific timeframe on, that teachers or deadline that teachers have to get their project funded. , yeah, they can, they can keep it up for as long as they need to. Ok, that's cool. Or keep requesting the items for as long as they need them.


Naomi M. (00:14:23) – Does it change for summertime at all or when it comes to long winter breaks? Are there any parameters around that since we might not be around during the summer to get things delivered? Or how does that work?


Brittany W. (00:14:34) – There is, with our customer support team, we do, I believe there may be a, a slight pause in shipping certain items, but that's not to also say the teachers can't order them. Uh, it just takes maybe one extra step to coordinate the teacher in their school on getting those, making sure that those materials are delivered safely.


Naomi M. (00:14:55) – Oh, okay. So they could just still write the project. It could still get funded. Absolutely. And then, when the school year starts, the supplies can get delivered at that time?


Brittany W. (00:15:04) – Absolutely. It's, it's year-round. Oh cool. Year-round operation when getting those, uh, materials delivered to their classrooms.


Naomi M. (00:15:11) – So that's good to know because I feel like it sometimes could just feel overwhelming. I don't, I wanna write a grant, I just don't have the time Right now, it's the end of the school year. So some teachers might sit down and write it out over the summer, get it approved, and then hopefully it gets funded and then they can get the supplies mm-hmm. <affirmative> like a month or so later, which that's good.


Brittany W. (00:15:29) – Definitely. And what we've also seen is teachers are starting may start now, like in March, thinking about the beginning of next year, and they may start writing projects, so that they can already have those materials in their classroom when they open that door too, to the new school year. Some teachers are our, I will say again, our teachers are very crafty, they're very strategic when it comes to getting the materials they need for their students. So, , yeah, they, they make sure that they have what they need, and we work again all year round to make sure that their items are delivered and in a timely manner to their schools.


Naomi M. (00:16:04) – That's so good. And I, I can tell, I mean, they obviously hire teachers, you are a teacher, but, you guys are very teacher and student focused and just really trying to make the process easy because, like we said, it's hard to get materials and just knowing what to get, how to order it, just where does the money, like all that stuff is just mm-hmm. <affirmative> so nice how everything is laid out on there and just, it makes it like, takes so much stress away because, I mean, it's funny cuz us as teachers, we don't usually go to college like, oh, I'm gonna learn how to write grants. Like that's not something that <laugh> you really know how to do. It's not something you ever thought you would have to do. Especially with STEM materials, it can get expensive, and if, when you teach all the kids, it's a lot of materials. Like what I need for kindergarten is so different than what I needed in fifth grade.


Brittany W. (00:16:53) – Oh, absolutely. Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. We definitely do serve the elementary, middle, and high schools. We want it to be a space where no matter the age or grade level, teachers can, you know, request whatever materials that they need. And again, as you said, we really try to take the work out of it for them, so that, , they're not spending hours writing up a project, and they can focus on more. So telling their story and tell the story of how amazing or how transformed their classroom is about to be with these projects. I will say one example is, and I just love, we've been having like a lot of science, a lot of STEM, , examples Oh good. Mainly come through in our teacher Facebook community. , one teacher, , just shared how she's doing a unit on animals and or on animals and they are hatching chickens. Oh


Naomi M. (00:17:49) – Yeah.


Brittany W. (00:17:50) – And she showed, she shared the pictures of the, the students in her classroom, you know, playing with the, the, the, the newly hatched chickens. We could see them taking notes in their science journals. So we, yeah, we wanted to get to that with, with the teachers. We wanna be able to celebrate their rockets and make, , the heavy lifting of the grant writing. , not as time extensive.


Naomi M. (00:18:12) – I love that. That's a great grant. I did, uh, chickens when I taught third grade, and that is a great project if you're allowed to have animals in your building. Didn't


Brittany W. (00:18:21) – Didn’t know it was a thing. <laugh>.


Naomi M. (00:18:22) – Yeah, it is. So, they're so cute and soft. They're like the softest little things. <laugh>.


Brittany W. (00:18:31) – Oh my gosh, now I need to experience this at least once.


Naomi M. (00:18:34) – <laugh>. Oh, it's so cute. And what, this is pretty naive of me, but I guess the reason why there are different colored eggs, it's different breeds of chickens and so when they're born, Oh yeah, right. It's not like how healthier, it's just a different breed. <laugh> <laugh>. But when they're born, they hatch out, and then they try to give you different colors of different breeds of chicken, so they hatch in their different colors and it's so cute. <laugh>.


Brittany W. (00:19:01) – Oh, mg uh, okay. I need to do a YouTube bath.


Naomi M. (00:19:05) – <laugh>. Yes. They're so cute. They're cute as little things <laugh>. Uh, yeah. The great project, though. , so when it comes to anything else, is there anything that I'm missing or any other things you wanna tell teachers when it comes to, , DonorsChoose, or anything else that I didn't get to?


Brittany W. (00:19:24) – Absolutely. We are gearing up for our Teacher Appreciation Week. It's always a huge thing at DonorsChoose. , which this year it falls from May 8th to the 12th. It's one of the biggest times of the school year for donations to school projects. We're hoping to help teachers fund up to 10 million on DonorsChoose projects that week. Wow. Right. Huge goal. But I know we're gonna get it done, and teachers can sign up for a DonorsChoose account, join the community and follow us on social media to get the latest about funding opportunities during Teacher Appreciation Week. And just to give some more insight on our teacher Facebook community, we do have a, it is called DonorsChoose Teachers Community, and we have about 30,000 teachers who are in the community. They share tons of tips for project funding and project creation, and they share important updates like the chicken hatching and <laugh>, like the family fun nights, and just the awesome activities and projects that they do with their classroom. We get to see the materials that they got funded through DonorsChoose in real life and, it's an amazing community.


Naomi M. (00:20:38) – Oh, I love that. I'm gonna link all of this in the show notes and this will definitely be playing thank, you before teacher appreciation. So that's really good to hear. And that's just really cool how you guys are just trying even outside the grants, just building a community and giving that inspiration and just seeing, that's the whole thing we love about teaching is like, what is the outcome of this and the story and how is this impacting our students? And, that's really cool that you guys get to play a role with that and really make like just really powerful experiences happen and, just really cool activities.


Brittany W. (00:21:12) – Yes. And one more thing, this summer, we always encourage teachers, again, as I said before, to get a headstart for the next school year. Most of our DonorsChoose teachers will start posting the resources they need for the 2023 –  2024 school year as early as June or July. So we recommend that as the year starts coming to a close, start thinking about some of those projects, head of the mind before the school year closes out, just as a, a friendly reminder.


Naomi M. (00:21:40) – Oh no, that's perfect. We need all those reminders <laugh>. We do, we do <laugh>. No, I love that. Well, I appreciate you so much and all of your knowledge and just explaining the background of that, of DonorsChooseand how, , you and your team helped support us in the classroom and just making it just sound very easy and it is like based on experience, it's very easy to do. Yay.


Brittany W. (00:22:05) – Love that you have that experience.


Naomi M. (00:22:07) – Yes, it's very easy and just, it's actually kind of fun too. And, just a great way to get started, especially if you've never written a grant or even if you have mm-hmm. <affirmative> just getting better at that writing piece, and Yeah. , telling that story. And again, of course, getting those awesome projects in your classroom. So thank you so much for your time today. Definitely.


Brittany W. (00:22:27) – Thank you for having me, <laugh>.


Naomi M. (00:22:29) – Awesome. Well, we will post everything, and I'm sure you're gonna see a lot more projects coming your way. More STEM projects soon.


Brittany W. (00:22:36) – Yes. Bring them on. Bring them on. <laugh>.


Naomi M. (00:22:39) – Well, thank you again, Brittany.


Brittany W. (00:22:41) – Thank you.

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!