Many apologies for my lack of posting. Planning my wedding and end-of-year details have gotten the best of me at the moment. That being said, I did have an amazing visit to my friends at DonorsChoose yesterday and I wanted to share about it.
Over the past few weeks I have been in touch with one of the folks at DonorsChoose because I sent a group of students there on a field work visit to learn how they use data (the students are now knee-deep in their own project on their own data). This turned out to be one of the best locations to send the students due to their focus on using data to analyze what they do and make their work better.
Yesterday I decided to visit their wonderful headquarters in Manhattan and was pleasantly impressed by their work, their vision, and how they use their space to support teachers and students across the country.
Yesterday I decided to visit their wonderful headquarters in Manhattan and was pleasantly impressed by their work, their vision, and how they use their space to support teachers and students across the country.
Their physical layout is similar to the Internet startups: very open with modular spaces that can be used for a variety of tasks. The space shown in the photo to the left can be use for meetings, small gatherings, lunch time, or repurposed for their projection screen (probably more options exist also). The two doors on the right open into various conference rooms with names like "The Art Studio" and "Homeroom" to mimic class at school.
In the rest of the office there are rows of calming desks with an open design that is not claustrophobic in the slightest. The organization of the desks matches the process you go through to make, craft, and get projects approved. They even has space for teacher and student interns/volunteers to help out. It's quite innovative and inclusive to have those folks come to assist.
In the rest of the office there are rows of calming desks with an open design that is not claustrophobic in the slightest. The organization of the desks matches the process you go through to make, craft, and get projects approved. They even has space for teacher and student interns/volunteers to help out. It's quite innovative and inclusive to have those folks come to assist.
Probably my favorite part of the office is that the suppliers often send examples of what they can offer teachers. These examples are strewn around the space in shelves and on desks to motivate the workers there. I saw a 3D printed model of the DonorsChoose text and then noticed the Makerbot Replicator 2 3D printer right next to it.
The folks at DonorsChoose are truly amazing. They have various levels of experience in education - some from the Peace Corps, some from inner-city schools, and elsewhere - and are all dedicated to the cause of helping teachers and kids get what they need to learn. While I sometimes question the need for an organization like this to exist because I wish all schools had the funding they needed, this is a great way of making sure we can all support future generations.
The folks at DonorsChoose are truly amazing. They have various levels of experience in education - some from the Peace Corps, some from inner-city schools, and elsewhere - and are all dedicated to the cause of helping teachers and kids get what they need to learn. While I sometimes question the need for an organization like this to exist because I wish all schools had the funding they needed, this is a great way of making sure we can all support future generations.
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