Located in the Nation's capital, the school where I teach serves the needs of a diverse community of students and families. My work is complex as I navigate how to build relationships and community across lines of difference like race, class, language, and country of origin.
As a Language Arts teacher, working with primarily English learners, my most important task as a teacher rests on my ability to fully articulate the power, complexity, and impact of language.
To communicate is to learn to advocate for oneself and one's community, and that reality is the cornerstone for what I do.
My students learn the importance of vulnerability as they develop their capacity to communicate through reading, writing, listening, and speaking. No experience is more humbling or profound than when a student potential a student has fully realized through their dedication to themselves and their pursuit of knowledge and self-expression.
My Project
My students love reading, and as an English Language Arts teacher, this makes my job exciting and interesting. I always like to bring high-quality lessons and materials to my classroom, but sometimes this isn't possible. When we read a specific text as a class, I hope that every student will have that book in their hands. However, this is not the case.
I do not have enough copies of texts for students to have their books when we read.
Unfortunately, this means that I spend a lot of time making low-quality photocopies of texts instead of focusing my time on making my lessons even better.
I am requesting twenty copies of A Symphony of Whales, a beautiful story about how a girl and her village work together to help whales make their way safely back to the ocean. This request will ensure that my students will be able to see the beautiful illustrations in each of these books. As well, they can understand the themes of the stories in a more accessible way.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Norton and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
{"pmaHash":"","schoolCity":"Washington","showProjectRecommendations":true,"teachersOnPage":[1041312],"isTeacherViewingTheirOwnProject":false,"hideTeacherDetails":false,"schoolState":"DC","teacherPossessivePronoun":"his","PMsManager":null,"schoolGradeType":{"id":2,"name":"Elementary School"},"TeacherPMForms":{},"proposalId":4842635,"proposalMessageFormModel":null,"numActiveProjects":0,"completingDonationAmount":0,"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"proposalURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/project/a-symphony-of-whales-a-text-for-every-s/4842635/","verifyShowPhotos":"","eligibleToBeCopied":false,"mayHaveReplacements":false,"numStudents":42,"teacherScreenName":"Mr. Norton","isEquityFocus":false,"authorIds":{"1041312":{"owner":"Mr. Norton","donationSalutations":{}}},"displayedPercentFunded":1.0,"proposalsOnPage":[4842635],"proposalHash":"-694517774","isApplePayMobileOnly":true,"progressBarPercentage":100.00,"pmaId":"","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp1041312_272x272.jpg?width=136&height=136&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1471811732395","teacherHasProfilePhoto":true,"currentWorkflowStatusCode":21,"teacherChallengeId":207016,"photosPublished":false,"queryString":"","DonorPMForm":null,"isApplePayEnabled":true,"fundedByTarget":false,"activeProject":null,"donorIdsForImpactPhotoCheck":[],"teacherId":1041312,"schoolCounty":"District Of Columbia","fullyFunded":true,"isStudentLed":false,"isExpired":true,"schoolStateObj":{"code":"DC","name":"District of Columbia"}}