Projecting the Future: Lessons with an LCD Projector

I am an English Teacher/Reading Specialist at a high school in New York. We are a new school that has quickly risen through the ranks to emerge as an excellent public high school in the city in just four short years. Even so, our students still face all the challenges typical to life in an urban environment, from gang-related violence to single-parent homes or worse, but they – and we, their teachers – are an indomitable bunch who’ve set out to beat the odds. And we’re winning! There are still many areas where we can improve, however. For me, I’ve had much success presenting technologically rich lessons using a computer and LCD projector. I find the students are more easily engaged in the lesson and their ability to recall information seems greater. I would like to present such lessons more often than I do, but to do that my classroom needs an LCD projector of its own. The school has been able to provide one projector for each department, but in my case that means 8 of us are vying for the same projector almost daily. In an ideal world each teacher would have his or her own; fortunately this is one ideal that could come to pass with your help and a little resourcefulness on our part. Having an LCD projector means several things: • It means students receive lessons suitable to a 21st century audience used to audio-visual stimuli. In lieu of the chalkboard or whiteboard, I can present information daily via PowerPoint presentations that move faster and look sleeker than the traditional alternative. Furthermore, it makes a world of difference in terms of classroom management when you don’t have to turn your back to the students or take the time to write things out on the board – with a PowerPoint I can keep my eyes on them and keep them engaged by presenting the information much more quickly. • Likewise, students can present research projects to each other through the same means so that the presentations they give in class using the computer and projector will look more like the presentations they’ll be expected to give in their college and professional lives. They will also develop the skill of setting up and taking down the projector apparatus and the ability to trouble-shoot when problems arise. • In addition, the students and I will be also able to: model how to edit writing with greater facility, prepare animated review games, create blogs as a classroom community, access websites (and discuss why they may or may not be trustworthy!), create our own websites, project works of art to discuss in connection to our literature study, project quizzes and prompts, screen student film projects, show film clips with ease and…the possibilities go on and on. Your donation will greatly enhance my students’ learning experiences and, consequently, help our school as a whole continue to evolve into the rigorous academic institution it is already becoming. On behalf of my students and myself, I thank you wholeheartedly.