My students need 1 video camcorder with flash memory slot, video input adapter, 2 SD Memory Card, 1 external DVD burner and 150 blank DVDs to record dissection labs for review and electronic portfolios.
I teach middle school science (Physical, Life and Earth) at a Recovery School District (RSD) public charter school in New Orleans, Louisiana. Our school was damaged during hurricane Katrina, reopening its doors July 2007. The school’s first floor was under water, destroying library books, administrative records and technology equipment.
Last year middle school students were organized into single-gender classrooms for the first time. Our student population is made up of 99% free and reduced lunch participants. The housing project down the street from the school, where many of our students and their families lived, was demolished post-Katrina and is being rebuilt. Some families are still in the process of rebuilding their homes, having lived in FEMA trailers until recently.
This year will be the third year that Math and Science High School anatomy students work with my 7th grade life science students as peer teachers, bringing lab supplies with them. Together they dissect bone/muscle, and hearts and brains in similar size to their own. Botany students dissect plants' reproductive systems. Their high school teacher believes in cross-community efforts in education; his students are role models for the younger students.
After the first year of implementing this program, students in grades 4-6 offer to "volunteer" in the lab until they get to 7th grade. It is exciting to see that my middle school girls dare to aspire in science since the separation of sexes in the classroom. Computers were replaced and SmartBoards were added after the storm but science equipment was permanently lost.
I would like my students to document, record and analyze the dissection labs, saving their projects on DVD using Window Movie Maker as part of their electronic portfolios. Integrating technology into science as a learning tool requires collaboration, expands creativity and provides an arena that allows authentic learning. It is imperative that students learn to use technology to communicate in a global community.
After 25 years, I changed careers from a Systems Network Analyst at a school district in Southern California to science teacher in New Orleans. I moved here post-Katrina to help rebuild the city by educating its children. The implementation of single gender classrooms showed an increase of knowledge for my female students when compared to the girls from the previous year’s heterogeneous classrooms.
I want to use current technology hardware and software in place with experiences from my career in technology to help narrow the gap of gender equity in science, technology, engineering and math. You can help foster an interest in science and technology by supporting projects such as Daring Divas Demonstrate Dissection (part I).
Thank you for your help and interest in educating the children of New Orleans.
Nearly all students from low‑income households
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