"I love your class because everything is always okay." These are the words of a student in my class as he attempted to complete an assignment. When I asked him what he meant, he explained, "it's okay when we don't know how to solve a problem, and it's okay when our projects don't work out like we had hoped. Everything is always okay." This exemplifies what our school stands for.
As a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) school, we embrace the noisy, exuberant mess that embodies STEM.
We believe in hands-on learning where the students collaborate, plan, and engage in inquiry-based learning. We believe in productive struggle and learning from our failures and our successes. My students are continually learning problem-solving skills and learning through their own discovery.
Our classroom is a diverse mix of cultures, races, abilities and socioeconomic levels, and as a result, I have witnessed the students develop traits like understanding, compassion, and acceptance. I know my students would feel such excitement and joy seeing every one of their classmates with the same access to technology.
My Project
Imagine a 4th grade class; maybe even imagine your own 4th grade class or your child's. Students are seated at their desks watching the teacher as she navigates an interactive website on force and motion on the board. The students are not engaged, motivated or interested.
Now, imagine a class where students are gathered around their chromebooks and devices to research and explore.
The students are navigating through a google drawing in order to learn about details of each of the simple machines. The students are able to work at their own pace, watch videos about the simple machines, and are able to devise a plan to create their own simple machine. The students are enthusiastic about their learning, are collaborating with their peers, and are learning through discovery.
Having a set of Chromebooks will allow my students to experience a classroom where learning is FUN and ENGAGING. It will allow them to access online texts, research for classroom projects, explore the new google drive movement, and share their work with other students around the school.
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 Ms. Trocina and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
