This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
Calculating taxes with pencil and paper vs. electronic filing systems; making a cake from scratch vs. from the box. Some tasks are possible to do, but a time-sync when it takes a long time to do them. The same is true for multi-step mathematical problems without a calculator.
My school is located in an urban school district in the southeast U.S.
The vast majority of my students are 9th and 10th grade students from low-income, minority backgrounds. I teach primarily special education students (emotional behavioral problems, learning disabled, intellectual disabilities), who are in the general education setting and require many supports to survive academically. Our school focuses on science and research, as our curriculum attempts to expose students to these fields. My students are not always academically motivated, or given a strong push to succeed. Many have been discouraged from their educational experiences throughout their school careers, and require extra incentives, motivation, and support to buy into the importance of their education. The majority of their do not bring the basic supplies that they require on a regular basis.
My Project
The classroom set of calculators will better my students' lives by giving them an incentive to engage the mathematics we do in our course. Where they may be discouraged, if the problems require many steps, and give up, the calculators would help them not get stuck in the process. Rather, it would help them journey to the ending. It will also raise their self-esteem by helping to lead them to answers, while not doing the work for them. Calculators will help speed up the process of applying what they know to do operationally, and make the process more fluid. Simple, manual calculation mistakes during the process, which would normally invalidate their answers, would not be the same type of problem. They will use it for math assessments, projects, and classroom assignments. They will learn the various functions, keys, and how to use a scientific calculator.
Donations will make a difference by helping my students pass the End-Of-Course-Test, which none of the students with disabilities passed in my class last school year.
This will impact their self-esteem as well as help contribute to their quest towards graduation.
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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 Dr. Rose and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
