A typical day in the chorus classroom is filled with good singing and great learning. At the end of the year I would love for my students to be better musicians all around and in doing so, be better contributors of society. One challenge is incorporating effective technology into the classroom.
My students are truly wonderful.
They are teenagers, so take that statement with a grain of salt. At their core, they are doing their best. The school is a good school with minimum discipline/behavior challenges but the administrative team is very supportive and doing their best. Many students come from single parent homes, and some students are even homeless while some come from two-parent homes. We have a great representation of differing socio-economic households.
We hold many fundraisers through out the school, raising funds for many great ventures and the surrounding community is very supportive.
Academically we are doing very well. Many students received placement in AC classes and many are taking high school level credit courses. The teacher's sponsor many different after-school activities that keep the students very engaged.
There are some students who are not achieving academic gains as they should, and we are working to close the achievement gap with those students.
My Project
The ipad mini will be used to support music activities in the chorus room. Right now, we have 20 mac-books that were purchased in 2002. Only 8 of them still work. Our school is a BYOD school (bring your own device) where students are allowed to bring electronic devices for certain classes with permission of the teacher.
There are times when I would like to have the students use Finale to notate music they've created, or garage band. With our current technology they are unable. I have a subscription to Smart-music to help with sight singing activities which provides instant feedback for student achievement but we are unable to utilize this app on the mac-books. I have implemented the Haiku learning system app where students can record themselves singing something we are working on in class and upload it for me to hear. The use of the Ipads will allow more students the opportunity to do this in class because some of them do not have a computer and/or internet services at home.
Donations to this project will improve my classroom by allowing more students to have access to technology.
In this fast-paced digital age in which we live, it's important to keep students engage in learning & every little bit helps. The Ipads will assist those students who do not have their own device.
The students will, after using these, have a sense of accomplishment and achievement. Because they feel successful, they will have a positive self-image leading to greater gains elsewhere.
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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. Madison and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.