Creating and Consuming Content on Chromebooks in English Class
My students need 25 Chromebook laptops to become proficient writers, conduct fun, self-selected research projects, and collaborate with students all over the globe.
In my building, with one library housing 30 archaic computers, there are 1,000 kids from two middle schools forced to divide the "resources." Actually, there is a laptop cart with 15 Compaq computers that all take four hours to charge and stay on for 15 minutes. My students deserve better.
I teach 110 kids and more than half of them don't have Internet access at home.
That's common for kids in the district I teach in. How can they be prepared for college and success in a 21st century world without understanding the Internet and being comfortable using a computer? It's virtually impossible.
That's why I need your help. Having a class set of Chromebooks would allow students to learn, discover, present, collaborate, and produce in ways they'd never imagined. My students will be able to work together on papers and projects in Google Docs.
Other ways the Chromebooks can be used: hanging out with authors of books they read, debating topics with kids on the other side of the country, researching topics that my students choose, and creating content that others consume.
I imagine each student creating and maintaining their own blog for class, giving these kids something they yearn for - a voice and forum. These Chromebooks are the perfect piece of technology that would allow my students to do all those things.
My Project
Chromebooks in my classroom would allow me to differentiate and tier my instruction in a way I haven't been able to before. Students on different levels would complete different assignments found on a different part of the class website.
My students would be able to research topics more freely, quickly, and efficiently, without having to book the library three months in advance. (Animal Behavior, Hydrofracking, Child/Student Rights, and Vampires vs. Werewolves Persuasive Essay are some of the "odd" but engaging topics we cover)
Every student would have their own blog. Kids are more invested in their work when what they do is published and viewable. Students would love replying to their classmates' posts and seeing replies to theirs, more feedback.
Students can conduct peer reviews, and see comments added in real-time to assignments that they're working on in Google Docs. They can also video chat or "Hangout" with students from other schools, and authors of books/stories they read.
With your donation, I'll be able to provide a group of students the chance they wouldn't have had otherwise.
The ambition and desire to learn that they somehow muster up every day can be accompanied by actual opportunity.
Having Chromebooks, access to every cool program they offer, and everything on the Internet, would be absolutely world-changing for these kids.
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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. Davis and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
