The Innovative Educator’s Birthday Wish – Help Me Fund Innovative Classrooms By Supporting My Donor’s Choose Giving Page

A year has gone by since I had not 1, not 2, but 3 SPECTACULAR 40^TH birthday celebrations with family and friends in Napa Valley, Las Vegas, and the North Fork of Long Island. I spent nearly an entire month where all those close to me celebrated ME and I felt truly blessed and thankful. A year later I’m turning 41. I’ve had enough of celebrating me.

For my 41^st birthday, the best gift I can get is funding innovative educators. As @kevinhoneycutt rhythmically explains in this YouTube video, students need their teachers to learn and there are teachers who are stepping up to the plate. Please take a minute to take a listen.

Honeycutt shares this message with teachers in his video, “Kids are changing any fool can tell and the ways that you’re teaching have to change as well.”

Unfortunately, even though it is the 21st century, equity and access to modern resources is considered a privilege rather than a right and even students who have their own personal learning devices are banned from bringing them to school in many districts. Fortunately there are teachers ready to take on the challenge of preparing students for the 21st century, but they need our help. You may have noticed a recent addition on the right side of my blog where the DonorChoose.org widget has been established for just this purpose. When you click on the widget you are brought directly to The Innovative Educator's Giving Page at DonorChoose.org. All the projects are specifically focused on innovation. You can help grant my birthday wish by going to The Innovative Educator's Giving Page and clicking on the below widget on the right-hand side of my page or below.

My birthday is on September 20th and I’m asking for all my friends, colleagues, and readers, to make a tax deductible donation in increments of $41 dollars for my 41^st birthday. Early presents and late presents are encouraged! If you fund a project you will get photos and a letter from the teacher and his or her class too. My goal is to help educators raise $1000 dollars toward helping them incorporate innovative practices into their teaching and learning.

I’ve started off the process by donating my $41 dollars to a project called "Getting In-Touch With Our Latino Community". I have helped 125 students through this project and already received my thank you letter. Pictures will be coming once the project gets underway.

If you are an innovative educator who is looking for funding for your classroom please include your project on DonorChoose.org and I will add you to The Innovative Educator's Giving Page. Simply share your link and your request for donations as a comment to this post or email me with a request. You can challenge your friends and family to support the work you are doing with your students too. Everybody wins!

DonorChoose.org is a fantastic organization that I began using close to a decade ago as a literacy coach. I worked with teachers to write proposals to fund classroom libraries. Every project was fully funded. For my birthday wish, I invite you to please join me in supporting teachers who are doing this important work.

If you're an innovative educator who would like to spread the word about DonorsChoose.org I've created a short video overview that you can share.

Free online screencasting tool

You have read this article DonorsChoose.org / Education funding with the title Education funding. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2009/09/the-innovative-educators-birthday-wish.html. Thanks!

If you could have one innovative educational idea funded, what would it be?

I asked my Facebook and Twitter friends, "If you could have one innovative educational idea funded, what would it be?" Here's what they said:

David Give every kid a laptop. Turn it into a virtual textbook from the 1800s. Make them read it and write a paper synthesizing what they've learned. Either that or putting exercise bicycles (or just those yoga balls) for students to sit on in class.

Lynette

Automating performance based assessment so teachers could actually teach again.

Bill

Give every child a multiple-choice literacy test in January. Spend the two months before the test drilling them on the skills they will need for the test. Give them lots of practice tests so they can hone their test-taking skills. Make the data from these tests available to the teachers no later than July, so they can see what skills their students were having problems with during the school year.

I realize that this is the system that's in place now. But it would be nice to have it funded.

Lynette

LOL.

Nicky

I think bill is on to something

Bob

Have Google put each grade level curriculum in an easily accessible format for self learning. Provide every child with a laptop. Get rid of all schools, textbooks, teachers, and boards of ed. Let the kids and their parents take responsibility for their progress. Huge tax cut for all with money not being wasted on inefficient school system.

Shea

Portability (netbooks + wi-fi + online collaboration) leveraging social media to create more change.

Byron

Laptops (small) for every student, with software

Leslie

Install streaming servers in every school and load it with best practices and videos

Jeff

I would have to say.......training for teachers in the use of technology.

Juliette

Mobile learning would be my choice

Elora

Creative globalization - encouraging students to become actively involved in creative change in community, nation & world about.

Christa

Provide each one of my students a Kindle

James

I would have the greatest resource funded...teachers...teachers are my districts greatest and most innovative educational resource.

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For more ideas join the "One Innovative Educational Idea" discussion on Classroom 2.0.

You have read this article Education funding with the title Education funding. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2009/04/if-you-could-have-one-innovative.html. Thanks!