Welcome back! In my last post we started talking about why you need to start writing grants for your classroom. (You can catch up HERE if you missed it.). Today I want you to see how EASY writing grants can be.
I want to tell you about one of the hardest years I’ve ever had (I’ve had some hard years… My teaching career has not been all roses … or Mr. Sketch marker-y) But today I want to tell you about four years ago.
I was all set to teach kindergarten, my all time favorite grade. I was really excited. I was going to be teaching with my ‘teacher bestie’ at the neighborhood school that my children attend.
I spent the whole summer prepping, getting things just right so that the year would start off smooth. I was sure this was going to be my year.
Have you heard the quote “If you want to hear God laugh tell him your plans”? Yea, this is that kind of story…
So, the year started off great. By the 8th day most of the criers had stopped crying and the runners had stopped running. We had set up some routines and my sweet little class was doing great.
That is the day that we found out our school was losing a kindergarten unit. And I was told that I was moving to second grade.
I was REALLY upset.
This was not ‘the plan’. I had never taught second grade… and had never really planned to teach second grade.
I cried when I packed up my beautiful K unit that I had poured my heart and soul into. And then I cried even harder when the 2nd grade unit was delivered.
It was 4 boxes of curriculum and the saddest classroom library you’ve ever seen. And it was all a mess.
There were no math manipulatives, extra books, no toys/fun stuff, minimal supplies. SAD. I have always been a very ‘hands on’ teacher and I believe that students learn through doing so this was very, very outside my comfort zone.
Then there were the students. They were that class.
Let me be really clear that I grew to love this class very much. There were many, many wonderful things about them.
But they were loud.
And very active.
They didn’t get along great in the beginning and they weren’t “sit in your desk” kind of kids.
So there I was. With pretty much no “stuff” and a class that needed lots of stuff. Oh, and my not so great attitude. 😉
Maybe you can relate? Maybe you’ve been there… If not you probably know another teacher who has. Because what makes this story so sad is that it is not very unique at all.
So, as we eased into the year I started making lists of everything that my students needed… hands on math and science materials, a better library, some flexible seating, playground toys… the list went on and on.
I needed so much that there was no way I could buy it all like I’d done in past years. So one day out of complete desperation I wrote a Donors Choose project.
And it funded. We got the materials we needed within just a couple of weeks. So I decided to try again. And guess what? That one funded too. So I just kept going. I wrote and wrote and wrote.
And by the end of the year had received over $10,000 for my classroom. This second grade unit was now the BEST stocked unit in our school. I had everything I needed and then some. I had flexible seating, beautiful books, art supplies, a “stocked” Fun Friday closet, rewards, beautiful supplies… EVERYTHING and more that I could have wanted… everything these students needed. They got it all!
Here’s the thing I want you to know… I didn’t do anything special. I am not especially gifted at this. I didn’t have experience writing grants (all I had was a bad attitude).
If I could do it… with my challenging class, with my terrible attitude, with my 4 kids at home… YOU can do it too! Because it’s not hard. It’s really not.
In the last 3 years I’ve continued writing grants. I have helped my children’s teachers, my teammates and other teachers at my school get started with grant writing too. In the last four years I have written grants for over $26,000.
I want to help you get started and to make things as EASY as possible for you! Make sure to grab my Free Guide to Grant Writing. This guide will walk you through my 4 Step System to writing grants QUICKLY!
There is FREE MONEY out there. And your students deserve it. (And so do you 💛 .)
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I think you have mentioned some very interesting details, thanks for the post. Reba Gery Dorwin
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