"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
- Source debated, but the sentiment is sound.
The enthusiasm of six and seven year olds when discovering something wondrous certainly seems like a lit fire! A sure fire spark to learning is use of tools such as the iPad.
I teach a lively group of first graders in a public school in northern California.
My students come from varied backgrounds and cultures. One of the special joys of teaching first grade is that the children don't see their differences, but embrace the things they have in common. Without exception, my students are eager to learn about their world and are enthusiastic participants in our classroom. The range of my students' proficiency in reading, writing, and mathematics is great. Some of my students have been fortunate to have lots of technology in their homes, while for others their only exposure to these tools comes from school. The donation of two iPads to our classroom will help me provide differentiated instruction to my students and help them develop the technology skills needed in their futures.
My Project
We will use the iPads during independent and partner work across the curriculum.
I will be able to select specific apps to support the individual learning needs of my class. For example, students who need to develop phonemic awareness will enjoy the interactive apps available for this purpose. All students will enjoy the richness of listening and reading along to interactive books. My English Language learners will have an engaging, accessible tool to learn content vocabulary and hear the spoken language. Students will practice math skills and develop critical thinking skills as they play math games on the iPads. We will use the iPhoto feature to capture moments in our class and use these as inspiration for our writing. My budding scientists will use the iPads to research everything from castles to bees!
There are few things as gratifying as witnessing a child light up with the joy of new learning, or of mastering a challenging skill.
Finding the right ingredients to set off those fireworks for each child is my task as a teacher. The donation of two iPads to our classroom would fuel that quest and ignite the imaginations of these young learners.
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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 Mrs. Adcox and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.