DonorsChoose - Helpful Tips from a Volunteer Teacher Ambassador

Need help writing your first DonorsChoose.org project? I would love to help out! I am one of several Volunteer Teacher Ambassadors for the State of Florida!

Here are some step by step instructions for writing your first project:

(Want to print this out and save it for later? Download here from TPT)

1. Create your account on DonorsChoose.org
2. Login to your account
3. Click on “Create a Project” (blue button)
4. Click “Let’s Go” (green button)
5. Describe your students.
• Describe the demographics at your school
• Keep it positive
• Talk about special programs your school has to help students succeed
6. Click the green “Save and Continue” button.
7. Select a vendor for items you want for your classroom (you can combine more than one vendor into a single project).
8. Another window will open. Shop on the vendor’s website just like you would normally. Keep your total around $200-300 (the smaller the project, the better your chances of being funded).
9. Go through the checkout process on the vendor’s website, this will send your cart to DonorsChoose.org.
10. The vendor website will close and you will be back on DonorsChoose.org. You should see your items that you had in your shopping cart in a list.
11. Write a one sentence summary of what you are requesting. You will add a more detailed description later.
12. Continue through the project submission process. Follow the directions to describe your project and how it will impact your students. Don’t forget to check for spelling and grammar errors!

Important:

• When you receive donations, be sure to thank your donors each time!
• Once funded, follow the instructions for your Thank-You package carefully!

Are you a teacher in Florida who wants support with DonorsChoose.org? Please comment below with any questions you might have. Also, please come and join our Facebook Group!

My Classroom Library

My classroom library is the part of my classroom I am most proud of! It has been a work in progress for the past 18 years. I am sure I have thousands of books... I am not really sure of a total number (or amount of money spent!) over that time. 

My books (most of which came from Scholastic Book Clubs and many DonorsChoose.org projects over the years), are sorted by genre. Each genre is in a different colored tub/bin/basket from Really Good Stuff. 

The green bins are Informational/Non-fiction.

The yellow bins are Biographies. I am in the process of trying to add more biographies (specifically more about women and people of color) and I have had to somewhat rearrange this section and make more room for the books. (It doesn't look like this any more. I need bigger bins, and I moved it to a different spot where there were more shelves.) 

Here is my current DonorsChoose.org project requesting more biographies.

The blue bins are Fantasy books. Right now I am trying to get more graphic novels, specifically more DogMan books by Dav Pilkey! My students are obsessed and this rare photo of the DogMan books actually in their bin is only like that because we were cleaning out their book boxes for the end of the school year! Usually the DogMan bin on the bottom shelf is empty!!

Here is my graphic novel project on DonorsChoose.org.

The purple bins are Realistic Fiction. I am trying to add more series/popular characters.

Here is that project on DonorsChoose.org.

Brown = Historical Fiction

Pink = Mystery

Orange = Science Fiction

Red = Traditional Literature

All of my bins are labeled with these labels I found on TeachersPayTeachers. This set had ALMOST everything I needed. (No set could possibly cover my entire ridiculous classroom library, but this comes close.) Each bin has a colored dot with a number (the color matches the bin color) and all of the books have the same colored dot/number which makes them easy for my students to put away.

My students have their own book boxes. They trade their books every Monday. They are supposed to pick one from each genre (color) every week, to read a variety of different kinds of books. 

Oh, I almost forgot... This new section that I added this year has books by popular authors. This picture was taken before I finished labelling them, but the bins and books have white dot labels. 

I hope this helps you organize your own classroom library! Please comment down below with your questions or suggestions!