Heard the day before a paper is due:
"Miss, I use the computer at my aunt's house and her Internet is down."
"The library computers are full!"
"I only get half an hour at the public library and I don't have the money to print."
"This computer is so slow! The bell is about to ring!"
I teach English and Creative Writing in a diverse urban high school in Arizona.
Because of our magnet programs and our urban population, our diversity goes beyond just socioeconomics. Our halls are filled with artists, musicians, mathematicians, dancers and scientists, and,as in most schools, a large population of students who are only just developing a vision of themselves and their futures.
My Project
Arizona has undergone severe cuts to educational funding. I teach in a school that has historically been "privileged" in terms of technology resources because of its magnet programs and large student population. However, during the last three years, cuts to technology support and lack of funding to replace aged equipment has made computer access a growing and palpable problem for our students. Many of them have no access to computers at home and even getting to a public library to use a computer can be a challenge.
We need a laptop computer to extend student access to computers at school. Having an extra computer in the classroom will make a huge difference for our students in their writing and research. I have worked with our school technology support coordinator to identify the exact model of laptop that will be compatible with our school network and the most easily supportable by tech staff. I have also worked with our librarian to win a grant to purchase additional laptops.
I have big ideas about the many applications for technology in the writing classroom, some of which I have already implemented and had to abandon.
I hope to build a small classroom "lab" of computers through small grants, one at a time. One grant has been funded; others have failed. I'm hoping that if I build up our collection one by one, we can start with at least something, rather than nothing. Please help my students become 21st Century writers!
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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 Ms. Hinton Sainz and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
