I teach a self-contained fifth grade class, which means my students stay with me and I teach them all the subjects. A high percentage our my students live below the poverty line, so my school is considered a federal Title 1 school.
Since our school is in a low socio-economic area, money for technology is hard to come by. Our school's Parent-Teacher Association does not have the financial resources to help us out. My students crave technology, and they deserve to have the same advantages as students who attend other more affluent schools.
Through previous grant funding, my classroom received a DLP projector, and it has added a lot to our instruction. My students definitely do not miss the old overhead projector. Now we want to add a document camera to our classroom, mainly for use in the areas of math and science.
A document camera would allow me and my students to work out math problems on a dry erase board and project it on our screen. Also, hands on manipulatives that we use in class can be shown on the document camera for examples and clarification.
In science, objects and images can be projected up on the screen instead of me holding them up in front of the class with my students straining to see. Animal specimens, design models, and other experiment materials can be put up on our screen for plain viewing.
The document camera also has the capability of recording digital images of science objects or math problems we have worked on for later viewing. This would be very helpful in math, to bring a problem back up on the screen that we have already worked to review a concept.
Your help will make it possible for my students to gain much needed exposure to new technology while at the same time enhancing their learning and our activities in class.
Most of my students are visual learners, and a document camera would be a valuable tool to help my students understand information and concepts in math and science.
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