Our school has adopted Project Based Learning (PBL) as a method of instruction. In PBL, the students work on solving real world problems that they are interested in. The most powerful projects have been developed around idea the students have brought forth. They are very interested in technology.
Our school is a neighborhood school in an urban school district.
We have a high concentration of students who live in poverty. The students may not have much, but they feel empowered by the choices our school offers. They love to work with technology and they love to help others. Our middle school students have worked on projects that helped animal shelters, helped to create awareness about the school lunch program waste, and learn how to program and code on the computers. We are all working together to become life long learners who are curious about many things. According to Code.org, there will be over 1 million unfilled jobs in computer programming when my students graduate high school. Technology is the wave of the future. My students should be exposed to all of the wonderful new technology in the world. Unfortunately, due to the high cost of implementation, most of my students don't have access to those things. I hope that DonorsChoose will be a way for my students to have access.
My Project
In this project, I am requesting support for a complete video camera package. Included are video cameras, camera mounts, and microphone hook ups. There is also a carrying case to protect all of the equipment.
I would like to run a six week exploratory class where students will use the equipment to record action videos of their choosing. They can mount the cameras to their bikes, heads, chests, or suction cup it to about anything! Then they will take their footage and edit it using the free software. They will publish their videos online and present them to others at an official viewing.
The students in the class will then serve as mentors for other students who would like to use the equipment. They will train them until a majority of the middle school students know how to use them. Once they have been trained, the students will have the option to use the equipment in a number of different Project Based Learning Projects if they choose to.
This project will impact the lives of my students greatly.
It provides a high interest way for students to learn. It helps them to become collaborative learners. It helps them plan and execute a task while problem solving. It sparks their creativity, and allows them to express themselves. It is the prefect storm of a learning opportunity. These skills will help students directly in video editing and creation, as well as indirectly through skills that are applicable in many different situations.
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 Mr. Creighton and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.