Students with communication delays and developmental disabilities often have difficulty learning the most simple concepts, including road signs, safety signs, and even food items. A black and white picture just isn't enough for me to teach that red means stop! Please help my students communicate!
My students all receive a "free lunch," meaning that they often live in impoverished neighborhoods, with many family members, and sometimes without basic life needs.
Most of my students have autism, meaning that they struggle to communicate basic needs and do not receptively understand even basic commands. I teach functional skills (like math and community sight words) for half of a day, and for the second half I go into the community with my students where they learn job skills. I must teach them about stop signs, exit signs, snow, rain, and everything else that all students must learn--but I am currently struggling to do this because my kids need to see pictures in color. 2/3 of my students are non-verbal and they communicate via pictures--a colored picture is more attractive and attention-getting to my students, not to mention the fact that the students understand pictures better "in color!" Imagine how they feel when they cannot communicate basic needs--very frustrated!
My Project
Since I use lots of assistive technology in the classroom, my kids often communicate needs, wants, and knowledge via the exchange of pictures. Sometimes a black and white picture just isn't enough. I have attempted to teach them about snow using a black and white picture and it just won't work! My kids also need to see color on road signs, safety signs, and using their PECS in class. With a color printer, we will be able to do this with ease. My kids need to practice safety skills in the classroom in addition to out in the community, and they simply can't practice these signs without seeing them in color. We all know that red means stop, green means go, etc.--and my kids need these color prompts because they cannot read in most cases! In addition, since I do teach so often with pictures, my lessons will be more exciting and interesting: a color picture is so much nicer than a black and white picture! I can make new color boards for my assistive technology devices as well!
This project is important to me because I care so much about my students and I want them to learn and be safe.
Their learning is greatly impacted by what resources I, their teacher, have in my room. With the addition of a color printer, I can help them learn more and save myself time: coloring pictures of food items takes away from time I could spend on planning a new activity. In addition, my students love to see themselves in pictures--imagine how different they will look in color!
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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. Silvia and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.