This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
The challenge that faces my students is to have quality coloring tools. They work at centers with a tray of supplies, colored pencils and sharpeners, but the colored pencils break and do not sharpen correctly so I am trying another solution. Colored pencils that don't need to be sharpened.
My students range from a low economic to middle income families who are mostly African American and some Hispanic.
For the most part they are good children and behave in class. They have not been exposed to cultural enrichment and hands-on creative activities in their young life. They want to learn but need to be motivated and given the confidence to try to go a bit further in their creative exploration rather than giving up and saying "I'm done"! I would like to expose them to many ideas, art techniques, varying media and educate them on how to use the many different tools in art class. Some of my students don't know the difference from a crayon to an oil pastel. I try to have them experience all types of medium so that they become more accustomed to knowing about them and using them. With the age of electronic devices my children don't enjoy the process of just sitting and drawing and coloring an object or a thought that comes in their heads. No matter what these students can learn.
My Project
I believe the more I have of diverse tools for my students to use and tools for myself can enhance a positive effect on what I teach and how they learn. The Microsoft RT will be used to take photos of individual art work and our photo wall which can be attached to my art web site for their parents or my administration to view. I can work on my website when I am not at my classroom computer to update what is happening in our art room, tell parents what supplies their children need to bring to class, and just inform them about what they need to know. As far as the colored pencils I am trying to find an alternative to student's sharpening their pencils and coloring pencils all the time. The lead breaks in the pencil and because the pencils are made so cheaply now they sharpen on just one side leaving wood on the other side. Sometimes the students and I spend more time sharpening then working. My goal is to keep my students in their seats, working, enjoying art and on task.
These donations will make a difference for the students since our school budget is limited and it is difficult to purchase quality items and a good supply of them.
Almost all art supplies are consumable in that they get used up by over 400 students. What I am ordering is just enough for using one medium (colored pencil)and enough for one year. There are a myriad of different art supplies needed to create a varied art program. As for the Surface 2 it will enable me to showcase the students work.
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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. Pierre and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.