Tools for Speaking and Listening to Music (in Spanish!)
My students need these mp3 players so that they can record themselves speaking Spanish and listen to songs in Spanish that we are using in the classroom.
Our classroom is a dynamic place where the focus is on learning to communicate in our new language. We express our opinions, talk with our classmates, write letters to our pen pals, invent stories and books to send to children in Nicaragua, sing along with current music...all in Spanish, of course!
My students are brilliant and resilient young people.
Many of them come to school every day from tough neighborhoods and homes where poverty and violence are part of their every day experience. Some of them are not getting their emotional needs met at home, so our school is a place where they get the support that they need to be successful. As teachers, we develop strong relationships with our children and make sure that everyone who goes to our school is known well by at least one adult (having 250 students and a strong advisory program make this possible). These relationships give us leverage and help us push our students toward college. 97% of our student body attends college and most will be the first in their families to do so. Our students are also leaders in their communities. They are concerned about the problems they see in the world and we often integrate community service into our curriculum. I can't imagine teaching a group of more wonderful, inspiring young people.
My Project
My goals as a foreign language teacher are to help students develop proficiency in reading, writing, listening and speaking in Spanish. Instructing and assessing reading and writing are easy, but instructing and assessing listening and speaking skills requires more creativity and resources. I am a creative teacher and love incorporating technology, so currently I use my google account and voicemail to have my students leave me messages in Spanish. The class set of MP3 players that I am requesting will allow me to assess students speaking skills more easily and frequently because I will be able to have students record themselves and to assess outside of the classroom. I use music in the classroom regularly both to engage students and teach vocabulary and grammar. If my project is funded, I will load each of the MP3s with songs that we use in the classroom so that students can listen outside of class. I believe this will have a substantial impact on their learning and engagement.
The funding of this project will result in increased engagement and development of proficiency.
It will help my students reach more learning targets and state standards, but I also believe that having regular access to technology will benefit my students. Currently, our school is very limited in terms of technology. This creates multiple challenges for our students and teachers. I would love to be able to use technology on a more regular basis to increase learning and engagement.
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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. Paton and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
