Imagine sitting at a desk for almost seven hours a day listening to lectures. While this is part of many adults' days, are they happy doing so? Not usually. Neither are students. Students need motivating and engaging materials in order to learn, or else those seven hours are wasted.
My students are 6-8 years old and are all classified as having Autism.
It can be a challenge to motivate them to participate in activities and learn necessary academic and social skills. I incorporate technology, movement, and the arts into our day to help students remain engaged and motivated to learn. I have to find materials and activities that they are interested in, or else they act out, fool around, or ignore me. And I don't blame them. I, too, get bored teaching from a textbook and so find ways to liven up the day. We participate in an arts integration program, daily yoga and already have an iPad that we use. Through these programs I have seen increased engagement and therefore more learning is taking place. Students who do not like math class, for example, will request to play math games on the iPad, and I am thrilled to see them succeed during their "play-time."
My Project
The iPads I am requesting will be used daily by students for academic and social reasons. Both my literacy and math curriculum have apps that students will use individually. The apps that I will be using are RAZKids.com and Go Math! Daily Grade 1. The iPads will not replace whole group lessons. Instead, they will allow me more time to target certain students who require further help, while others work independently. The apps also track progress and allow me (and parents) to see trends as well as keep my data in one easily accessible place. This will save me time and energy as currently I do this on my own. This will create more time for enrichment activities like cooking and gardening. In addition to these apps, students can work for games on the iPads at the end of the day. The use of technology is very motivating to students and teaches the consequences (good and bad) of their behavior.
These iPads will provide an engaging way to work with academic material.
Students will be excited to work on math and reading simply because they are using an iPad!
Technology is an important part of modern society, and students need training in how to use it. The iPads will teach them academic skills, reinforce good behavior, and the necessary technological skills to succeed in today's world.
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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. Skalski and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
