Tried it Tuesday

How long has it been since I've linked up with my dear friend Holly??  Too long!!

And not because I haven't tried anything, it's just a matter of getting it written in this little ol' blog!!  I need someone to help me with time management...for real...

Ok, so that's obviously not my tried it since I haven't been doing a good job at time management so we'll just move on...unless you have some tips...of how to plan, teach, grade, be a mom, blog...you get the idea.  Any advice is welcome!!  Bring it on!!  :O)

Ok, sorry for that tangent...

So, I'm sure you've heard of Donors Choose, right?

Me too. 

It terrified me.

I mean, what if no one wanted to donate?

What if they thought my project was not worthy?

I don't deal with rejection very well. 

Does anyone?

I don't think so.

So, I was chicken.

Bach Bach (yes, I'm making chicken sounds at myself because I can make fun of myself with the best of them!)  ;O)

But, then one of my colleagues got an iPad mini through Donors Choose.  Then, she got an iPad.  

Then, I was jealous.

Not really.  More so curious.

So I talked to her about it.  

And I got motivated to try it.

This is what sold me:

Did you know that Donors Choose matches donations dollar for dollar for the first 7 days.  Dollar for dollar.  There's a code.  It's INSPIRE.  If you didn't know about, it's very useful.

I've been dying to get some technology in our classroom.  Our county, for some reason, is way behind on this.  They are creating their very own tablet for our schools.  The guy in charge is anti-Apple.  

I'm not going to tell you how I feel about THAT.  Since I have an iPhone 5 that I absolutely love, I just can't speak of this.

So, I heard that this new tablet was built just for our system.  And so apps made for it would be very limited.  I was a little mad sad about this. 

BUT, if a tablet is bought and brought into the school, they are all for it.  It just can't be bought with school or county funds (as if I get enough funds for a tablet anyway).

So, here is what I did.

(I was very nervous about it.  But, my colleague had done it so I could at least try, right?)

I shared about Donors Choose to the parents of my students at our Curriculum Night- which is when they learn all about 4th grade.  I explained how I wanted to add some technology so we could use it during workshop time and for differentiation.  I talked about the teacher at my school who had done this and had gotten two tablets.

They were pretty open to it, even though a few thought I should try for a Galaxy instead.  But I don't know how to use those and I'd already gotten my project for the iPad Mini accepted.  So, it was too late for that.

I told them about the dollar for dollar matching and then they were motivated, too.

Our school is in a pretty nice area, but it is changing quickly.  So, I knew there would be a few parents who would like to donate and would be able to while many couldn't.  My thing was, it doesn't hurt to try, plus I'd have to tell them about it eventually anyway if it was funded, right?

And, some of them work for businesses and so I thought they could share that with their business if they were interested in getting involved in the community.

So, anyway, basically I had some parents that donated and used the code to have their dollars matched.  This helped a lot!  In the end, I paid for about half of the iPad Mini before the 7 days were up so I could get the dollars matched.  So, it was really half of half.  If that makes any sense?

I knew this could possibly happen so I had saved some money from our TpT store payout to put towards it.  So, technically, those of you who have bought anything from our TpT store, you helped fund this iPad Mini, too!  I'm sooooooooo grateful for your support!  If we didn't have that store, there's no way I could have gotten this!!  So, a huge THANK YOU to you!!

I know this is not an ideal situation for most, and I surely can not try to fund another one again like this, but since it was my plan B (to have to try to fund it myself), I was ready for it.  Although I will say that you can only get $100 matched from a donation.  Once you've donated that $100 and they've matched it, then they won't match any of the donations from you anymore from that email address.  So, my husband donated some too so I could get it fully funded.  Wasn't that nice?  ;O)

So, my project has been fully funded, and my iPad Mini is on it's way as we speak. 

I'm super excited!!

I also had a parent tell me that night that they had a first generation iPad that they don't use and she'd be glad for us to use it in class.  I know it can't do some of the fancy stuff the new iPads do, but I'll find a use for it, you can be sure!!

So, if you have any apps or advice for me, I'm glad to hear it! Then I can try it out and link up for another Tried it Tuesday!!  

So, if you are thinking of trying Donors Choose, don't forget about INSPIRE.  It's handy!

Have a great week!

Amanda

PS- A kindergarten teacher also did the same thing that I did at Curriculum Night and she got hers fully funded except for $50 that she put in herself.  So, it's worth a try maybe?

{Thank you for the kind words that were left for me yesterday!  It is definitely an honor to be our school's Teacher of the Year...but I will admit that I have a hard time with recognition like that.  Only because I know everyone works so hard every day so it makes me a little uncomfortable.  But, I don't take it lightly and it really is an honor!!  And thank you Stacia for the sweet post!}