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
I have the privilege of teaching at an amazing all-girl school in the inner city. With these outstanding girls, it is my goal to bring science education to the forefront. I want all my girls to know and understand that they, too, can conquer the world of science in the classroom, in college, and with a career as well.
All of the students in the entire school district receive free or reduced-price lunch.
In addition, the majority of the students who attend the school are living below the poverty line.
Despite their challenges, my students come to school excited, ready, and wanting to learn. They want to rise above their circumstances. Each girl takes her learning seriously, and I want to serve as a tool that helps them improve academically, behaviorally, and socially in my classroom.
As a female scientist myself, I want to motivate the girls in my classroom to love learning and having fun with different aspects of science. Through science, I want the girls in my classroom to learn how to effectively question and investigate things that they see out in the world.
My Project
Coding continues to be one of the most important job skills for the present and the future. More than 80% of the careers of the future will require STEM/STEAM skills. Unfortunately, through no fault of their own, my students are not prepared to be part of the future of coding and computer programming. I would like to change that. It is my firm belief that, with the correct resources and support, my students can learn, enjoy, and appreciate coding and computer programming as well as integrate STEM/STEAM in the process.
Dash and Dot Wonder Packs will prepare my students with the skills they need to help them become dynamite coders.
My students will learn how to code in a fun manner and at their own pace. The Dash & Dot curriculum has lessons ranging from simple to complex that will help them program their group's assigned robot.
The great news is that students can now use Chromebooks to program their robots. I am blessed to have a class set of Chromebooks. The district that I work for has aligned the activities from Dash and Dot with the state's Common Core requirements for math, science, reading, writing, and even art. This means that while the students are having fun creating codes for their group’s robot, they will be learning valuable skills that are required by the state.
My goal is for my students to be able to create their own code in groups for their assigned robot and present it to their class during a culminating activity. Through regular use of Dash & Dot, I am hoping that my students will have the confidence in themselves to want STEM/STEAM careers.
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. Neely and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
