Within the NYC Public school system is District 75. District 75 houses the highest needs special needs students and oftentimes, these students also fall into the highest needs economically disadvantaged category. Over 90% of my students fall into this category.
My students are part of the largest school district in the country (the NYC DOE) and fall into the highest needs category.
For years, I have poured my own money into my classroom, but it is not enough! I have reached out to local community members and collected used and refurbished computers, but they do not meet the requirements to run modern software.
I teach grades K-8 and a total of 9 classes, a daily lunch club and a weekly positive behavior intervention club as a reward for students. All students would have access to these resources!
That is why today, I am reaching out for global support to help our highest needs students get an equal chance to succeed! We truly need your assistance to level the playing field. Many students come from homes that do not have internet access or technology. This further increases the achievement gap and starts them off at a disadvantage.
My Project
Each day in addition to teaching technology, I host a computer/technology club during lunch, and a special technology event once a week for students who work hard and behave well. Each day, many students choose to join my technology club instead of going to the gym. I can completely relate to this choice – having always preferred technology to sports as a child.
The downfall is these kids are missing out on valuable physical fitness and establishing healthy practices each day.
When I mentioned Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) and showed my students videos of kids in other schools, dancing and having fun with their favorite characters they were ecstatic! I purchased 2 foam pads and they were quickly destroyed from getting so much use. When I researched, it became clear it was metal dance pads or bust!
My goal is to bring fitness, paired with fun to my tech-savvy students and to start intermixing the two groups getting more athletic students involved and bringing different students together, to create a warm, welcoming, fun environment for learning and play!
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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. Kamer and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
