Students in my village have limited access to words- no billboards or menus, few books at home, and a very small school library (that doubles as the community library). Our class encyclopedias were published in 1979. My students need accessible, interesting, current, and relevant information.
My students are Alaska Native and live in a small Alaskan village.
Our school is K-12, and the largest class size is 18. My students enjoy learning about different cultures and love hearing me speak words in different languages. For the Christmas program, they sang "Feliz Navidad". They enjoy watching educational videos on Brainpop, drawing goofy pictures on their whiteboards (especially pictures of me being eaten by creative creatures), practicing multiplication, and finding hidden pictures on coordinate planes.
Our students have limited computer literacy, as the school is the only place in the village that has internet access, and computer time in my class is one of their favorite parts of the day.
Although I teach fourth grade, our school's small size would allow every student in the school to have access to the electronic encyclopedias. With high truancy and low graduation rates, this project could bring students back to school, and take them to graduation.
My Project
I would love to use these encyclopedias to foster my students' love of learning. They will use the encyclopedias to investigate their favorite topics, and discover new things they might also be interested in.
Our school is an intervention school, which means the students have been under performing for so long that no one really knows what to do to bring the students to grade level. The features on the electronic encyclopedias make learning fun for students, improve computer literacy, and the adjustable reading levels will allow older students to access the information on their level. I want learning to be accessible and engaging for all of our students.
The ability to search for new topics, find related information, and navigate from topic to topic means that my students will have control over their own learning. They will choose what they want to learn about the Revolutionary War, Albert Einstein, and Italy. They will want to learn and know where to go to discover new things.
Your donation will allow my students (and all of the students at my school) the opportunity to engage more fully in the learning process.
They will learn how to teach themselves, how to investigate their interests, and how to expand their horizons. This will inspire them to go further, and will translate to increased success in life and in school. These children will have access to words, information, and opportunities not otherwise available to them in the village.
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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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. Geoghegan and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
