This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Students
I just started my 12th year teaching at the same school in CPS (Chicago Public Schools) and feel lucky to be able to say that. Working in CPS, I've surprisingly never felt the money-pinch when it came to asking for supplies and materials at my school, until this year. Our school lost a significant amount of money even though our enrollment is growing. Our enrollment is 980+ students in pk-8th grade and our racial/ethnic breakdown is 90.2% Hispanic, 2.7% Caucasian, 3.2% African-American and .2% Asian Pacific.
The students at my school are special and I feel grateful to teach them each day.
I want my students to love school.
My Project
Students in my 8th grade language arts classroom use technology daily.
Through Google Classroom and Google Drive, my students work through the writing process using their account on a Chromebook.
I have seen the level of writing change drastically when I switched from having students using notebook and pencil to technology. Students are not afraid to "just start writing" because they know we can cut-copy-paste and move things around during writing conferences. It is a lot less scary for reluctant writers to type and be able to make mistakes, fix spelling, etc. More Chromebooks would make it possible for each student to work on their own piece of writing rather than having to share.
I am huge on independent reading and devote 2 hours a week to this in my classroom. I grew up hating to read because my teachers didn't invest in creating classroom libraries with books that kids actually want to read. I'm proud to say that no one leaves my class each year without a changed mindset. I teach the students about genres, authors and my favorite titles and in turn, they teach each other through Book Buzzing (BookTalks and BookBlogs). The students have to do 2 total each quarter. This is why we need Chromebooks!
I also teach one class of intervention each day where I take the students who are struggling the most with reading and/or math. On Wednesdays we devote our one hour together doing Genius Hour. The students choose a topic of their choice to research and take through the writing process using technology. More Chromebooks would mean less sharing!
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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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. Hanlon and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
