Saturday, October 12, 2013

Guess what my class is getting?!?


I am SO EXCITED, I almost posted twice in one day!! But with a little self control, I managed to wait until this morning. My class was selected for a grant from The Walking Classroom!!!

After reading about it on one of your blogs (I can't remember whose), I decided to apply for a donated set of WalkKits. Yesterday afternoon, I got an email from Laura, the founder, that our project had been funded! They will ship on Monday, and we should be able to start walking next week!

In case you aren't familiar with the program, here's the rundown: The idea is to get your class moving, walking a regular route around your school (inside or out), while they are listening to educational podcasts. Students reap health and educational benefits!

The Walking Classroom program consists of mp3 players for each student that come pre-loaded with educational content. The content is aligned with Common Core standards for 5th grade ELA, but also includes some Social Studies and Science topics. Each podcast also includes a short message about health and wellness.

They're pretty pricey ($3000 for a class set of 30 w/ a teacher's guide), but there's an option on the site to apply for a donated set. When you receive donated WalkKits, you are required to do a little work for them, but I think it's totally worth it! Your class has to write thank you letters to the benefactor (which they need to learn to do anyway), I have to submit photos and updates twice a month to their forum. No big deal if you ask me!

I can't wait for our set to arrive so we can get started walking! I'm linking up with Joanne's Spark Student Motivation Saturday, because I know they will be so motivated to get walking and to listen intently once we get these!

8 comments:

  1. CONGRATULATIONS! That is great news! I think one of my teammates is going to apply too.
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

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  2. Wow - that's awesome! What a cool idea. Can't wait to see them in use in your classroom!

    Sara :)
    The Colorful Apple

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  3. Congratulations! What a great way to get your class moving!


    Sarah
    MissKinBK

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  4. Congratulations! You made it sound so easy-I think I might apply for a grant! They're going to go crazy when the kit arrives!!!! How exciting! Can't wait to see your pics! Thanks for sharing and linking up Kristen!
    Joanne
    Head Over Heels For Teaching

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  5. You may have read about it on my blog (because we just got our kits, too) or Teaching in Room 6 :) I'm going to start training kids this week!!

    Diane

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  6. That is awesome! Thanks for posting! I'm going to try for some, too! :)

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