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This teacher needs your help!

Mr. W. from is requesting technology through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

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Incentive to Learn

My students need motivation in the form of 3 iPod shuffles to master the background knowledge they need to continue in school.

  • $327 goal

This project expired on March 8, 2009.

This project expired on March 8, 2009.

Classroom photo
Mr. W.
Grades 6-8

I teach at an alternative school for behavior. The grades of the students I teach range from 5th to 12th grade and in a normal year we will see 150 to 200 different students from four different school districts. Ninety-five percent of these students are free lunch or reduced lunch program attendees and come from lower income families. In my research, I have determined that most of the “behavior problems” are due to documented lack of background knowledge.

How can I help these students? You can help me by buying incentive items that will help the other teachers and me to motivate the students to try to fill in that background information. A lot of these students have been socially promoted at the insistence of various professionals to prevent social stigmas. The students have learned from early on they can do nothing and still get rewarded. If you go back in their records and dig deeper, somewhere along the line they had a major illness or event occur during their young school life and they missed out on key background knowledge. Now instead of asking for help to learn the background knowledge, they act out in class so they will not have to demonstrate to their peers how much they do not understand. Some are at the point of giving up on school in as early as seventh grade instead of filling that void.

Over the years I have used various incentive programs to reach the students, to have them attend school and to really try to do the work they need for school now and life later. The school district recognizing the problem has purchased the use of several software suites to help these students fill in their background knowledge. I eagerly use these to help as the students will normally work better with a computer than with a teacher showing them knowledge they consider beneath their grade level even though they can’t do it. In the various program, I work with the students as individuals and as groups, depending on how well I think individuals will react to the areas we are covering. I have notice that sometimes a little extra motivation can be used for the students to finish an area or work on a difficult are. Those I can handle with the things I have available but for them to really succeed I need extra help. The students of today love music and I am hoping that a chance to win an IPOD will inspire them to really focus on their work and strive for better results than I get now. If successful, the students will feel winners but also they will win as they had to grasp concepts they use to avoid.

Please don't fixate on the IPOD, fixate on the knowledge they must learn to get one. Studies have shown that if we can motivate a student to learn new information and new ways to learn, they keep using those skills in the future. At this moment I have several students who refuse to read and all my professional attempts and resources have not improved their desire to read. They have some phobia about reading and taking tests on reading that I can’t get around. Let me have this new bit of ammunition to put into my arsenal and break down the wall of resistance they have to reading and math. Without your help, I may fail and if I fail, a student fails to live up to his or her potential and ends up costing us more in money and costing the student a better life.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

150 students impacted
Mr. W. Grades 6-8

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

150 students impacted

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Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
IPOD SHUFFLE 2G CLAM 2ND GEN BLUE-USA • Best Buy $69.99 3 $209.97

Materials cost

$209.97

Vendor shipping charges

 $21.00

Sales tax

 $14.70

3rd party payment processing fee

$5.25

Fulfillment labor & materials

$17.00

Total project cost

$268.00

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$58.83

Total project goal

$326.83

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. W. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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