Essentials for an Excellent Education

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

It seems so simple: paper, pencil, marker, crayons... These essential items are something every student is supposed to have in their backpack. Every student is not supposed to worry about having these items when their teacher tells them to take out paper and a pencil to begin their writing. However, every student does not have these items. In fact, more often then not, my students rarely have these items. And for them, they are afraid to even say that they do not have them because everyone else in the class may know that they may not be able to afford a pencil. As simple as it sounds, school supplies are something that many of my students can not afford. When it comes down to it, I never make my students feel that they are not prepared if they don't have a pencil. However, we still need to have a productive learning environment and in order to do that we need supplies. In one year alone, my students will go through about 1000 pencils and pens which they will use on approximately 5000 sheets of white paper alone. We do a lot of writing. I do my best to make sure these supplies are available to them because it is important for them to be able to move through the writing process effectively and efficiently. This is why I am asking for the basic supplies for a writing center. I am fortunate enough to have lined paper, pencils, and pens but there are other items are just as important and not provided for myself or my students. These items include: - Yellow legal paper for the students to write a draft of their work on. This makes it easier for the students to move from one version of their work to the other as well as making their final product stand out as it is the only one on white lined paper or typed. - White-out for the students to use on final copies of their work if they make a mistake. - Post-Its for the students to use during the editing and revising process. It is important for the students to make notes of each others work and help them see their mistakes or to ask questions. - Colored pencils for the students to use during the editing and revising process. The students will use these to make their corrections visible. It allows the students to see their editing and revising with out a lot of black and blue ink crossed out all over their paper. Sometimes there are so many changes that without the colored pencils it would be difficult for the students to read what they wrote. - Scissors for my students to use during the editing and revising process. My students write drafts of their work and then cut out each paragraph or sentence and paste it onto white paper. They are then able to work there the rest of the editing and revising process with more space to make corrections. - Markers and crayons for the students to add to their work. Many of the students are very proud of their finished piece and often times what to enhance it with pictures and drawings. Many of my students are visual and their work is better enhanced with drawings and pictures. - Pencil sharpener for my students to use to sharpen their pencils and colored pencils. Sharpeners are used all day in the classroom and it is something that the students rely on. For my students writing is one thing they I make sure they all can do. I make writing more then just an assignment. I make it outlet for their creativity. Please help us be as creative as possible by adding to our writing and helping us bring out our creativity.