Help me give my students pocketalk translators so that I can better communicate with their families during parent-teacher conferences.
FULLY FUNDED! Mr. Van Allen's classroom raised $322
This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
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 Project
I am a high school social studies teacher at a small Spanish/English bilingual immersion school. Many of my students come from families where Spanish is the only language spoken in the household. Most come from families that immigrated from Central/South America or US territories and all students at my school receive free lunch. I teach my subjects in English and do not know Spanish very well, which can often make communicating with my student's families difficult. This is especially the case during parent-teacher conferences. We have some great translators who help us, but we often simply do not have nearly enough on hand to meet the high demand at our school.
Pocketalks are handheld translation devices that would allow me to easily communicate with my student's parents during conferences without the need for a translator.
This would allow me to better address my students' strengths and weaknesses with their families and address concerns without worrying quite as much about language barriers. Additionally, if I have two that will give me a backup and one that I can share with other teachers on my floor who would also benefit from better communication with families.
Including parents and family members in what is going on at school is critical to the success of our students. Our parents are very supportive of our work in the classroom, but one of the biggest obstacles is cross-language communication. Pocketalk devices would help immensely with bridging that divide.
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 Mr. Van Allen and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
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