Completed:Building a Computer Lab, One Laptop at a Time, Part 3
"I teach fourth grade in a working class and immigrant neighborhood. Most of my students are learning English as a second language, some of them have special needs, and all of them love to learn. Our Title I school is an important safe haven for my kids, who are surrounded by poverty and gang activit...
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"I teach fourth grade in a working class and immigrant neighborhood. Most of my students are learning English as a second language, some of them have special needs, and all of them love to learn. Our Title I school is an important safe haven for my kids, who are surrounded by poverty and gang activity.
Fourth graders are enthusiastic and inquisitive learners. That’s a good thing, because in the California standards for education, fourth graders must demonstrate proper use of the Internet to do research! Teaching kids how to be good consumers of information on the Internet is fun, but my thirty students have to share three desktop computers, and they don’t get enough time at the keyboard to learn how to be Internet-smart.
We need a mini-computer lab, which means we need computers and carrying cases. We are building our lab one laptop at a time, and this is one request out of several. With new laptops, my students will be able to do Internet-based research projects including an exploration of California, creating a model to make our school more environmentally friendly, and performing a census of our school that models the U.S. Census of 2010. They will be able to take the laptops to their desks to work independently or in small groups. Our school is equipped for wireless technology, so they will be able to work anywhere in the classroom. With small, compact keyboards, these netbooks will be perfect for the little hands of my fourth graders.
With your generous donation, we will be able to build a computer lab that will send my kids soaring into the technological age. They will be able to explore the mountains of California, the habitat of the polar bear, and the challenges of executing a census project, all within their classroom walls. Thank you so much!
My students need a mini-notebook computer with a carrying case for their computer lab.
See Ms. A.'s class participating in this project!
(Enlarge photos)
Jan 24, 2010
Dear Dan, Harut, Aaron & Jennifer, Credit Suisse Holiday Charity Initiative and Anonymous Donor,
Thank you all once again for your generous donation of a Toshiba netbook and carrying case to my classroom. The addition of this laptop to our growing computer lab has already made a big impact to our class!
The first assignment I gave my students was to do research on Haiti. Since the recent earthquake, my kids have been asking a lot of questions about a country they had never heard of before this catastrophe. I had them rotate in groups at our laptop lab, which now consists of 7 computers. They had to do a "treasure hunt" of information--what is the population of Haiti, where is it located, etc. After they did their research, we compared their answers. My students were surprised at how many different answers to "population" they got. This was a great opportunity for them to learn how to interpret data, compare information, and evaluate the reliability of sources. What a fantastic lesson!
So, because of your support, our laptop lab is growing, and so are my kids. We all thank you!
With gratitude, Ms. A.
Ms. A. sent this note after the project was fully funded:
Jan 13, 2010
Dear Dan, Harut, Aaron & Jennifer, Credit Suisse Holiday Charity Initiative and Anonymous Donor,
Wow--thank you so much for your contribution to our project! I can't tell you how much we appreciate your generous donation to our growing classroom computer lab by providing funding for a Toshiba netbook and carrying case.
I found out today during lunch that the project was funded. Just before school let out, I told my kids the great news. Everybody cheered! One student asked, "Does that mean that all our groups get a laptop?" The answer to that is "Yes!" Our classroom is structured in five "pods" of six kids, so with the addition of this laptop, now each pod will have its own computer to use during the day.
Isn't that fantastic? My kids give you a hearty thanks, and so do I!
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Jessica M. (volunteer)
on Sep 14, 2009
